Deprivation

Bible Verse:
Happier were those pierced by the sword than those pierced by hunger, whose life drains away, deprived of th produce of the field.
-Lamentations 4:9

Devotional:
I was scarfing down a pizza as fast as i could. I'd been on three planes that day, without any lunch or dinner, and now, at almost ten o'clock, I was famished. My grandson watched me for a few minutes and said, chuckling, "Grandmother, you eat like a velociraptor."
"Hey, I'm hungry. I was deprived all day," I answered, pushing the last bite into my mouth. Of course, my idea of deprivation wouldn't stand up where people are really desperate for food. I'd eaten breakfast that morning, and each of the airlines had bestowed on me a package of pretzels.
I say I'm starving when i mean I want lunch, famished when dinner is an hour late, and deprived when I've had to skip a meal. Am i just being dramatic, or am I unconsciously scaring myself into overeating? Obviously, I need to revise my eating vocabulary. Otherwise I might turn into velociraptor.

For Further Reflection:
1. What words do you use to talk about being hungry?
I think I fall into the same trap as the author and so many other people. When I have skipped a meal, I am deprived or famished or starving. That is not true. I am nowhere near to starving, but I have trained my mind to think I am, that i HAVE to eat, and I have to eat now no matter what it is. Which leads me to make terrible food choices.
2. How can you change the way you talk about food?
First off, I need to elimate the word starving from my vocabulary. There is no need to use the word, since I am nowhere near starving. I eat everyday, usually two to three meals plus snacks. If i skip a meal, it will not hurt me in the least.
3. Besides food, what do you feel deprived of in your life?
Time with my husband, time with my kids, time for myself. Time, more than anything i feel deprived of time. There is never enough time to do all the things that I want to do, and when I really think about them all, I get depressed that so many things that i have wanted to do have been left undone. But if i would just step back, not expcet to do it all at once, and make a doable plan (like with my weightloss) i think I could accomplish alot of what i feel deprived about missing.

Prayer:
Jesus, when You were on the cross, You said simply, "I thirst". Help me to be less dramatic and more like You. Amen.

It's been awhile since I was able to make a post from my devotional, so much going on with gettign ready for Vacation Bible School and then the actual week of VBS.
On the upside, I did not gain any of the weight I have lost while I have been offline, but I haven't lost anything eihter, but still, i didn't gain it all back.

I joined Jazzercise today. They opened a new one not far from my house, and I actually enjoyed the women that were in the class this morning. I did my first class at 9am this morning. I started my summer hours at work, which means that I am off work on Tuesday now, which allows me to do the Tuesday morning class. They also have a number of classes in the eveings, and now that baseball and t-ball are over, I don;t think I will have trouble making the classes. Plus, my husband is pretty much behind me in the weight loss, so I am sure that he will help make it possible for me to attend.

I have been doing good on my water and my goals. I think I will update the goals again over the weekend, after adjusting them to show what I have accomplished, like drinking my water. I am getting alot better about that one each day, so I may need to up that one a little bit.

Thank you for reading and coming on this journey with me. I hope that we will begin to see more movement in that ticker on the top now that I have committed to the Jazzercise program!

Thought for the Day - June 25th

Help me abide in You, Jesus, so that I will bear fruit in my life. I invite You, Holy Spirit, to fill me afresh with Your love today so that it will flow out of me and into the lives of others.

Daily Thought for June 22

Lord, search my heart and try me and see if there is any wickedness in me. Replace all that is wrong in my character with the goodness in Yours. Plant the fruit of Your Spirit in me and cause it to flourish.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, lonsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
-Galatians 5:22-23

Daily Thought for June 20th

All of us are planting something in our lives every single day, whether we realize it our not. And we are also reaping whatever we have planted in the past. The quality of our lives right now is the result of what we planted and harvested some time before.

Vacation Bible School

On hiatus with my blogging for the week of June 18-22.

I am co-directing VBS at our church, St Paul UMC http://www.stpaulbloomington.org for the week, so I will be there each evening from 6 - 8:30 pm, and before and after gettign everything ready!

Will check back in after VBS is over!!

Thought for the Day - June 6th

Praising and worshiping God with other believers is one of the most powerfully significant things we can do in our lives. Corporate worship causes bondages to be broken, and it makes the way for wonderful changes in us that might never happen otherwise.

The Wind's Song

Bible Verse: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
-Genesis 1: 1-2

Devotional:
I grew up in am Arizona mining town bordered on the east by Apache Leap, a rnge of pink granite pinnacles that lifted into the sky like a rosy crown. And in the wintertime, those mountains sang. Cold air snaked between those pink pinnacles, and when it emerged, the wind sang like a pipe organ.
I've been satisfying my mouth and stomach recently, but remembering that mountain music, I realize the rest of my senses are hungry. This evening, instead of sinking in front of the television with a plate full of cookies, I think I'll feast my eyes and ears and heart. I'll sit on the porch and listen for the song God gives the wind as it dances through the tall fir trees behind my house.

For Further Reflection:
Today, find some beauty in the world around you, and take time to relish that instead of too much food.

Prayer:
O God, You have made creation beautiful. Teach me how to see, hear, and taste it, and to appreciate it's fragance. Amen.

Happy Blogtipping Day

The first of every month is Blog Tipping Day. i heard about this on another Blog last month. What you do is, on Blog Tipping day you give a tip to three blogs of your choice on your own blog, but without telling the owner before hand, then on Blog tipping day, you leave them a comment on their blog that you have tipped them. It was alot of fun last month, so i thought I would do it again this month.

This month I choose three blogs that I found inspirational for this blog, since this is my journey, I thought these journeys might be nice to visit too.

1. http://www.edjoanupdates.blogspot.com

2. http://mswheelchairmass2007.blogspot.com

3. http://1stepcloser2im.blogspot.com


I hope you enjoy today's blog and that you enjoy these other blogs, and that you will think about joining in next month for Blog Tipping Day.