Coffee for Breakfast

  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Gal. 5:13-16 This verse strikes a very raw nerve in me this morning. I wonder if one of those desires of the flesh might be a human feeling of being understood? Do we bicker, argue, and gossip because we feel like no one understands us? I hear it and I say it. "They don't even know me. They couldn't possibly understand my pain. They would understand my reaction if they only knew what I've been through." EXCUSES. I think we all have them. We excuse our own behaviors. We know how our own heart aches. We excuse our own words to others. We know what we were try...

"Do what you can with what you have." These words have been on my mind all week. Especially when I come up with excuses for not doing certain things. "I don't have (fill in the blank) to do this or that." "I'll do it later, when I have more (time, money, etc.)." Or one of the most common... "I'll start (fill in the blank) on Monday." Monday comes and goes, week after week. Time moves forward. I get older with each passing day. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. I want to be a part of this new thing God is doing in my life. I want to be fully aware of His presence working in my life. I want to obey His words to my heart. "Do what you can with what you have." I believe the time is now. No more procrastinating. God says He is doing ...

I've been on a quest (a long drawn out quest) for a healthier lifestyle. I won't pretend to have it conquered. Not even close! On the other hand, we have started to make some positive changes. We are attempting to eliminate all processed foods. This is going very well. I say attempting because we will continue to use things previously purchased. I grocery shop on a very tight budget and can not bring myself to throw some items out. I'm happy to say we don't actually buy very many processed groceries to start with. This change has been fairly easy as long as we are eating at home. The only challenge has been eating out (very seldom) and fast food (daughters, quite often). The choices may be limited at fast food places, but they usually do have a few items that could be considered "healthy". I have chronic thirst. I am known to have something to drink at all times! I know this could signal a health problem or dehydration. (I'm working on it!) The ma...