Do you ever feel like you just want to sit down and
enjoy a hot cup of tea?
Perhaps add a shortbread cookie and a nice comfortable chair.
Then add to that a great book and hours of quiet reading, sipping and resting?
I pray that on this sabbath day ~
a day for rest and little work ~
you will find a moment of quiet enjoyment.
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem on the sunday community.
This book was written by a new ‘friend of mine’.
After reading many reviews and chatting with her a few times on line I decided to give her book some attention on this blog site.
It is a part of my ’31 day challenge’ to be real.
I have not read the book as my own copy has not arrived yet
but I do know her story is real.
Her story is true.
Her story is the story of many who pass by us every day.
So much of our society is based on how much weight we carry how much exercise we should be doing or how much food we should consume in a 24 hour time frame.
I find myself thinking about it too every day as I log into my live strong food site.
This book shows us the extreme side of eating disorders and thought processes.
I can relate to some of this because at one point in time I do believe I had a ‘non’ diagnosed eating disorder.
Part of the reason was a blockage next to my stomach which made me nauseous and not wanting to eat and part of it was the ‘need’ to feel invisible.
It wasn’t an obvious thought process for me.
It was subtle and slow moving.
Often it is like that.
Eating disorders can go two ways.
Too much eating or not eating at all.
I can clearly remember one time when our children were little
I had been very sick for many months and not really able to keep food down.
I was sitting across the desk of a nutritionist listening to her say,
“can you eat a piece of toast and drink some tea?” while she took notes on my answer.
Remembering the thought bringing nauseating and queasy feelings to me I told her I could eat a quarter of a piece of toast maybe but to eat the whole piece would be ‘too much’.
During that time frame I drank pots of coffee and ate little food.
I went to a weight loss group only I was there to log in every bite so I could be accountable to them for weight gain.
They were my cheerleaders.
Food is still is not a high priority of mine.
I eat because it keeps me alive.
I don’t eat because I thoroughly enjoy every bite.
I am learning to enjoy it more but in that process I am also learning that too much weight can be a problem.
Too much is just as dangerous as not enough.
Emily presents a down to earth very real portrayal of the disease and it’s dangerous path.
If you can read one book before the end of this year.
Make it this one.
You will gain insight and you will learn to understand what is in the hearts of many young people these days.
May we read her story and pray we can learn to help another in a process like hers.
http://www.chasingsilhouettes.com
For all of October most of the ‘blog’ world are choosing
to write every day on a challenge called 31 days.
Some are picking a word, some are picking a topic,
some featuring pictures,
it is an individual choice as to what each day or theme would bring for the author.
I am not officially joining that challenge so I created my own.
Today I will start with 31 things about myself you may not know.
1. my favorite time of year is the fall ~ love the cool days and crisp nights
2. my favorite thing to do is go to the beach
3. my height is five foot
4. my weight needs an adjustment
5. my favorite cozy clothes are sweat pants and baggy shirts with soft socks
6. my favorite dessert is breyers heath bar ice cream ~
don’t have it very often.
7. my favorite dinner is fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy ~
don’t have it very often
8. my favorite breakfast is a crunchy homemade waffle with real syrup and real butter
9. my favorite sheets are flannel ~ love a warm cozy bed
10. my favorite way of decorating is with antiques and roses
11. my favorite way to drink coffee is with real half and half cream
12. my favorite way to relax is a dim lit room with little noise
13. my favorite sound is my cat purring next to me as I type
14. my hair is generally cut short and is low maintenance
15. my hair is becoming curly the older I get
16. my dog is a red heeler and my cat is a tortoise shell calico
17. my dislike is over head bright lights
18. my other dislike is rude people
19. my career has been a variety of many different jobs the last one in a pharmacy
20. my most expensive gift for myself was a massage bed the second was diamond earrings
21. my house is clean but not spotless the atmosphere is cozy and comfortable
22. my favorite chip is Frito the next favorite is kettle potato chip with sea salt
23. my favorite music is good old southern gospel with hymns
24. my personality is more introvert than extrovert although I do visit with people I don’t know
25. my blog is three years old and my online world is stretching to meet ‘new online friends’
26. my six grandchildren are my joys each one unique and special to me
27. my Saturday’s are always sleep in days at least until eight am
28. my doctor said my case was unique since he diagnosed my mumps two times in two years
29. my case of shingles triggered the last case of mumps
30. my face was so swollen only a husband would love it
31. my other favorite food is tacos on a hard shell
Well I am sure many things were missed but that is a small grouping
of who this writer is and how you can get to know me better.
Sometimes we must be willing to walk up the stairs
towards a new ‘direction’ and not really be sure
of what our new life will be like at the top.
We trust and take courage with each step.
We make an effort to grow and believe
in the good of this new ‘phase for our lives’.
We learn to trust others and ourselves.
We begin to hold our head up high and be thankful for the lesson and the courage to begin again.
Not knowing or understanding the challenges that are ahead of us
we choose with each step
to not look back.
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
[photo by Larry O of Oregon]
This is the time of year for reflection.
Fall always does that to me.
I step back and do deep cleaning and deep thinking.
Not in that order.
It is the moving into a season for giving thanks
that always brings me into a more thoughtful
reflective space.
I value thanksgiving.
Learning to be thankful is a gift we all can give ourselves.
Going for a walk outside and really look around and
see and feel the fresh air blowing against our face.
Giving thanks with a grateful heart is something we can learn
no matter how hard our hearts have been.
As school begins again for many it represents a new direction.
A new place in life and a new season and
a new year that is clean and clear and not filled with clutter.
You know the calendar clutter we put down and wonder why.
Oh and I don’t mean my house clutter goodness if you saw my den or my spare room
we would have quite a chat about my disorganized mess.
I am talking about the clutter that takes space in our hearts or
our heads
not leaving room for reflection on that which is most important.
In prayer sometimes I find myself saying,
“Oh lord I would love a clean ordered beautiful home”.
Then I hear, within a quiet stirring:
“Your home is sufficient… see and remember
those who live in less than what you have.
How they worry and fret over not which store they could shop in
but which river or stream is cleanest to drink out of.”
My grace is sufficient for you.
When I feel myself moving into the complaining room
He always sets my heart right back
to a place of acceptance and thanksgiving and gratitude.
What is most important as we move into a time for reflection
is remembering we have much to be thankful for in this time of
thanksgiving.
I love thanksgiving.
It is not just in November when we sit around a festive table and a well cooked turkey.
It is a place in our heart.
It is a ‘spirit’ we hold onto when we remember to ‘give thanks’.
When we remember to allow ourselves a time for reflection.
This last weekend I went to a ladies retreat.
The topic was called: ‘living a legacy’.
Not LEAVING a legacy…it was living a legacy.
I loved the concept.
I loved the idea.
To make each and every day full of moments aligned with a living statement
of what I wish to share with others.
Right now ~ this moment ~ this time in my life.
So that…
So that…
if something should ever take place and for some reason
my life is cut short
they will have a visual or an idea of
‘who I was and what I wanted to teach them’.
This is so important.
When we live a legacy we are teaching each and every day.
We are sharing life as we speak positive affirming words.
We are sharing heart to heart conversations with each other.
We are sharing matters of our hearts with one another.
We are learning to be intentional with our words and careful too.
That is my message.
That will always be my message.
BE REAL~ Be truthful~ Be loving and kind to each other.
Love God for that is all that really matters and
always be intentional towards each other
for life is short and we never know when we might miss an opportunity to say we care.
Living a legacy is our calling…
Are you ready to live yours?
There is more to come:
We continue to shout our praise even when we are hemmed in with troubles,
because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.
In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged.
Quite the contrary ~ we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything
God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:3-4 the msg
————————
Joining Deidra on Jumping tandem on the Sunday Community
{photo by Larry O at Neskowin beach in Oregon}
Continuing with with writing a letter to your teenage self:
As you grew confident in the church ‘youth singing group’ you would sing this song during most every concert.
They thought because you were 4 feet 10 and weighed under 90 pounds you fit the song very well.
The audiences loved your energy and your ability to entertain them.
You toured with the group about two years singing at assorted churches, youth events and even prisons.
You didn’t mind doing solo’s and even did a few duets.
You found purpose and a reason to get up in the morning when you found your voice.
You became engaged to be married during your senior year and you soon found out the wedding plans were not really your own.
You relinquished the task to your mother and grandmother.
Your grandmother handmade your dress and you planned on keeping it for years as it was a keepsake.
At age 18 you were planning a high school graduation and also a wedding.
The colors would be fall colors, yes, you would have avocado green, fall oranges and yellows with a touch of white in your wedding.
The guys would wear yellow tuxedos and the girls would have dresses using the fall colors .
The flowers were fall mums and some roses mixed with greens.
You created your wedding announcement, thank you notes and rolled up scroll to hand out to the guests in your graphic arts class your senior year.
You not only received all of them without cost you also received dual and triple A’s on your report card.
You were responsible for paying for your wedding so you had to make good inexpensive choices.
A family friend took your pictures and your ‘new’ mother in law made the cake.
At age 18 you stood between girlhood and womanhood.
Somewhere in the middle your childhood left.
You would find yourself soon walking down an aisle to a new and different life and another move.
As Karen and Richard Carpenter would sing, “we have only just begun”.
You would leave your old life to begin a new one
only this time it would be a choice of the heart instead of a choice made by others.
Continuing on with writing to your teenage self:
As your teen years continued you moved from your first year of high school into your second.
Somewhere in this time frame your mother was remarried and you knew you were mostly in the way.
With someone new in the home you also learned to lock doors.
You learned to be hypervigilent to not go home alone if someone else was there.
You learned to be cautious with all relationships.
You dated some but none seemed a good match for you and of course how would you know at such an early age.
You began to go to church and you found God in a solid miraculous way.
You sang in the church singing group and you took first and state in speech competitions in the serious interpretation and poetry category.
You also remember there was no one in the audience to watch you
receive your reward telling you that you did a great job.
Church became your main ‘out of the home’ experience aside from school.
Church also was what you got grounded from.
There was a prayer room above the upstairs in the church and you would sit there for hours sometimes after school just waiting alone in the quiet.
One of your good friends had cystic fibrosis and you knew she prayed for you always.
Her faith was strong and you didn’t fully understand it.
You had some very serious ups and downs in this time frame of life.
There was also a motorcycle accident which injured your knee in a serious way.
You listened to Janis Joplin and related to her type of escapism through music.
Music was very important to you.
It helped you manage what you felt inside.
Even if the feelings were very numb a song sometimes would give them life.
Somewhere in your sophomore year you met the man you would eventually marry.
But neither one of you knew that at the time.
You continued in your art and your speech classes and still didn’t academically improve.
Those who knew you said you were funny, serious, and easy to know.
You were faithful to those who were faithful to you.
You were still always very concerned about your sister.
Continuing on the topic of writing to your teenage self.
I have been going back in time…
like a time warp of some kind whirling back and back and further back as if I am in ‘the twilight zone’.
I sort of see her … now what would I say to her?
Looking at her… eyes and standing beside her.
At age 14 you have been through many things.
Most of them difficult and yet you navigated through them.
You have moved many times.
You have gone to many different schools.
You learned to not attach because if you did you might not be there in six months.
Your junior high years were chaotic.
You learned to pull in and tightly wrap an imaginary ‘bubble’ around you.
Personal space was important to you.
Time alone was your place of refuge.
There were two different high schools in your freshman year.
This time it was different the last school was the one you finally stayed in till you graduated.
Your sophomore year you were searching and struggling and this is the kind of song you would surround yourself immersed into the music sitting on the floor in your bedroom leaning against the bed.
Your place of refuge.
Your safety zone with the door shut.
Yes you would be alone a lot.
You felt safest alone.
With one sister married and the other a runaway on the streets you were left to pick up the pieces of responsibility.
The mother required that of you.
You always did what was expected of you and rarely did you say anything about it.
There really wasn’t any choice.
Your best friend was Joyce and she came to stay with you a lot when the adults were gone.
Your other best friend was Cindy. She knew you in junior high.
You could be good friends with those who cared and you knew who didn’t.
You excelled in art as you drew pictures of black and white trees.
You loved Choir and hated PE.
You were not much of a student academically and you kept the ‘world’ away from you.
You were quiet, responsible, funny and very serious.
You were a rock not ready to be opened.
Simplicity
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