Christmas In July

My daughter received these peonies to celebrate the birth of her first-born.
No, you're not cross-eyed.  They are out of focus.

I played Bible roulette again this morning with my Women's Devotional Bible.  I pick it up from the side table and read whatever page it opens to.  Do you ever do that?

Today I happened upon this poem by Anne Ortland, a Christian musician and author.

Incarnation

"The Lord is in His holy house"-

Oh, grace beyond describing,

That Christ in me should please to dwell-

Immanuel residing!

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,"

I sing with lowly Mary,

That God should choose to enter in

This

      humble sanctuary!

I read it through a couple of times, marveling at her word pictures and the truths of which she spoke.  Her inspiration came from Luke 1, the story of the angel's announcement to Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Luke 1:35 & 37 jumped out at me:  

The angel answered...

"... no thing (word change and emphasis mine) is impossible with God."

Luke 1:37

A favorite daydream came to mind immediately.  For several years my Dear Husband and I have been mulling around the idea of moving closer to our children.  We want to experience life with them on a WAY more regular basis.  We want our visits to be unhurried, not sandwiched between two 3-hour drives.  

This dream is my impossible thing for these reasons:

We'd need to sell our home.  

In this market?

I would have to quit the job I love.  

Not work with my students?  

How could we afford to replace the health insurance benefits it provides?

DH would need to continue being self-employed.

In this economy?

We would need to forge new lives for ourselves, individually and as a couple.

This means a new support system of church and community friends-can't expect the kids to fill all of our time

This dream and the accompanying thoughts are never far from my conscious mind.   They often surface causing my heart and tummy to ache.  But this morning, as I read Anne's poem and the Truth from God's Word, I laid those cares at His throne of grace.  Because Jesus, the One that Mary bore, in Whom I "live and move and have" my being,* lives in me and with Him no thing is impossible.

What is your impossible thing?

May God give you grace to trust that He is living and moving in your life

with the knowledge that His plans for you are wonderful.

Love, 

Karen

*Paul is quoting the Cretan poet Epimenides in Acts 17:28.  I didn't know that.  Did you?

P.S.  I WILL BE ON VACATION FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR SO AND DON'T EXPECT TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS.  I HAVE SCHEDULED ANOTHER POST FOR WEDNESDAY, SO Y'ALL COME BACK AND VISIT, 'KAY?  WHEN YOU VISIT AND, PRETTY PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT, KNOW THAT I WILL VISIT YOU TOO WHEN I GET IT TOGETHER RETURN.  

Playing along with 

Beverly for Pink Saturday

Charlotte & Ginger for Spiritual Sundays

God Rejoices Over Me!-Day #13 of Thanksgiving

The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you, 

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Wow!  Thanks, Lord,

for all the ways

You actively love me!

I need to be grounded in that

because this week I'm facing a big challenge to my weight loss goals.

My scale has only changed 1/2# since my weigh-in last week,

but Julie says to think in terms of

NON-SCALE VICTORIES.

So the verse above is my NSV, my anchor, for this week.

Let me back up just a smidge.

On Saturday, it was meal planning time again,

times 3!

1. My DH and I needed nutritious meals between Saturday and Wednesday night.
2. We are hosting our daughter & SIL and our son and DIL for Thanksgiving.
3. So that means 6 of us will also need meals on Friday and Saturday.

I gathered the usual suspects:

my Weight Watchers' cookbook, my grocery list, pen,

and a pile of recipes.

Panic and confusion hit me.  I couldn't settle down to the task at hand. 

Does that ever happen to you when faced with lots of choices and/or a mountain of work to do? 

Then I asked God for His help, asked Him to quiet me with His love,

to guide my choices.

Guess what?

He  did.

Within an hour, I'd planned 14 meals,

including our Thanksgiving feast,

and all our meals from last Saturday to next Saturday.

Here's what I came up with:

*recipes from Weight Watchers cookbooks

Saturday-Dinner:  Ham Calzones*-the DH loved these so much, we had the leftovers on Sunday night

Sunday-Lunch:  Fried eggs, toast, thick cut ham

             Dinner:  Stuffed Cabbage* [I will make this next Monday]

Monday-Vietnamese Chicken Thighs* and Rice; Green Salad

Tuesday-Shrimp & Pineapple Saute*, Rice, Green Salad

Wednesday-Herb-stuffed Pork Chops*, Green Salad

Thursday-Brined Roast Turkey and all the fixins-I'll try to post our whole menu later gator.

Friday-Breakfast:  scrambled/fried eggs, bacon, toast, cantelope, orange juice

           Lunch:  Deli Ham Sandwiches, Green Salad, fruit

           Dinner:  Turkey Tortellini Soup, Green Salad, French bread

Saturday-Breakfast:  Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast, sausage patties, fruit, orange juice

               Lunch:  Fajita Beef Tacos (slow-cooker recipe), Green Salad, Refried Beans

                Dinner:  Leftover Beef Tacos and Salad

Sunday-Anyone who is hungry on Sunday will have to cook or take the cook out to eat!

Monday-Dinner:  Stuffed Cabbage*.

I know that our Thursday through Saturday meals are higher in calories/points than usual.

But I can work my point system and I'll be alright.

It's good to have a my Weight Watchers points plan already in place.

How will you navigate this week?

What is your game/meal plan?

I weigh in tomorrow at my Weight Watchers' meeting. 

I'll let you know how I did.

However that goes,

I've got my NSV verse above.

Linking with Annett @  FitMomsFitKids for

and

Blessings on your week!

Love, Karen



Fruits, Vegetables, and Accountability-Part 1

 My goal for this week is to eat my way through this yummy assortment of fruits and veggies.   

 

It was so fun picking them out at the grocery store on Saturday.  You know the scene:  a vast array of colors and textures, shapes and sizes that bedazzles the eyes.  Would have been even more fun at my local farmer's market.  Truth is, I didn't want to be rushed through my quiet time outside.  Something tells me it was one of the last warm-enough mornings of the year to enjoy myself there.  

It is with a great deal of trepidation-that's a five-dollar word for fear-that I post this.  I'm on my own in this quest, for the love of my life is not a fan of this part of the food pyramid.  He is my mostly-red-meat-and-potatoes-man. 
A few (many?) of you are nodding knowingly. 

Now I'm accountable to you.

You will be rooting for me on the sidelines, I know.

Don't hesitate to let me know that, 'kay?

What if I fail?

NO!  Don't go there, Karen!

 

It's been so long since I challenged myself to set any meaningful goals.  

You know (don't you?), actually planned to achieve something for me.

Using the words goal, achieve, plan, and challenge in a sentence about me is scary.

Seriously.

I've let some of my circumstances distract me from

dreaming

about what

I could achieve

for me.

And quite honestly, I've been plain ol' lazy. 

**Cleansing breath**

Begin to think of yourself as the person you are beginning to become. 

How about that word:  Beginning.

I can let myself begin.

I won't achieve my goal in one day. 

But I can achieve my goal, one meal at a time.

My ultimate goal is to fit into these jeans again by summer. 

Let's just say I'm a few sizes north of this.

 Here's what I've achieved since Saturday: 

Conquered nearly all of the strawberries. 

Used the corn and 1 onion in a recipe I'll post later.  

My DH (dear husband) liked the meat and a few of the veggies in it.  That is a big deal, folks.

Ate a banana with my Life cereal this morning. 

Steamed the cauliflower and plan to enjoy some of it at lunch.

Tonight, I stir-fried a broccoli crown, some mushrooms, a few baby carrots, 

and an onion that aren't pictured above.  

Cubed the cantelope and served it for dinner, too. 

By prepping the fruit and veggies ahead of time I've planned to have healthy food on hand for my lunches and for snacking.

Oh, I feel so good about that!

Good night.  Sleep tight. 

And don't let the zimperumpazoos bite!

(From Mercer Mayer's Just Go To Bed)

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for You alone, O LORD,

make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

Love, Karen

 
*p.s.  My friend, Tiffany, over at Become Shoppertunistic, says she has
fresh fruits and veggies delivered to her home by a Community Supported Agriculture program.  That's a great way to ensure we have healthy food on hand every week and support local farmers.  (You can Google CSA to find a farm close to you.)  She also teaches classes about how to save money as you shop for items you need so you can spend it on things you want-as your budget allows.
You can also check out Watch My Weight Wednesday, Living A Changed Life, and The Year of Living Healthfully
for support in dealing with weight loss.  I do.

Linking with Roz at La Bella Vita for