7 Quick Takes "Friday" - #26

Even though it's not Friday, I have time now (on Monday) for a "7 Quick Takes" Friday, so here goes.

1. I've lost 11.4 pounds with Weight Watchers since I started in August- hooray!  This is so doable for real life.  Yes, I'm having to be intentional about it, but it really hasn't been difficult.  I am planning in more veggies, and forgoing extra helpings of bread, starchy veggies, and dessert.  But I still eat VERY well, and have had ice cream or some kind of treat at least once a week... I'm loving it.
2. Our 14-month old Moses is moving and grooving.  We call him "the Wanderer" because he always is meandering around, checking things out, inspecting cabinets, and generally just a curious little man on the move.  It's so much fun to see his humor and personality developing.
3. We have about 100 days, give or take, left in America, before we hit the tarmac once again.  Remember that quote in Dead Poet's Society about sucking all the marrow from life?  Well, we're going to spend these days sucking the marrow... enjoying times with family and friends... loving the big sky of Texas... enjoying the ability to find good quality clothes at bargain prices... eating Tex-Mex & Blue Bell.
4. I LOVE Pinterest.  I need to buy a couch when we move back overseas, and just joined Pinterest last week.  It has helped me narrow down what I'll want to look for-- which is totally different than what I thought I wanted.  I'm so glad to have a place to brainstorm and clarify what I love.  Are you a Pinterest user?

5. One of the ideas I picked up from Pinterest was using the french knot to embroider the bumps on sheep.  Awesome idea.  It led me to a little project this week-- embroidering John 10:27.  It only took a couple hours, while I talked with Doug and caught up on Project Runway.  I'll frame it in a 5x7 frame, and have another verse for our walls.  I can't wait to do another.
6. Do you know about my food blog?  It's nothing fancy... just tried-and-true recipes we use and love.  I just added a favorite of mine- Chinese Green Beans.  I could eat them by the barrel.
7. Have you been watching the Republican Debates?  If you're a long-time reader, you'll remember that I love to talk politics.  Here's what I thought of the last one-- 

• Perry really blew it.  His answer on foreign policy reminded me of Miss Teen South Carolina's answer about maps... he just bumbled over his words, and tried to throw in as many countries as possible.  His attempted attack on Romney was poorly stated and incomprehensible.
• Herman Cain is hilarious (and it seems Florida was impressed-- they gave him the win in their recent straw poll, far ahead of Perry or Romney).
• Romney came off more likable and at-ease than he ever has, to date.  The last debate was a shining moment for him.
• Newt came across as authoritative and smart, and I think he's raising some important questions and providing some credibility, even though he won't be the candidate in the end.
• Ron Paul got a lot of cheers, and I heard his sentiments (i.e., audit the fed) echoed from the lips of several other candidates.  His ideas are catching wind.
• Bachman keeps fading more and more; she pounded the "I'm a mom" pulpit. Instead of looking presidential, she looks like she ought to be running the local school board.
• Santorum had one good moment- bashing Perry on the college subsidy issue.  He had a lot of smirking and head shaking going on.  He still hasn't established a clear point of view.
• Hunstman keeps trying to talk as if he has a chance, but has not established himself as a major player.  
• Gary Johnson had a few good moments, but he's new to the gig and still seems like a long-shot.
• My main take-away from that debate was that Perry had a REALLY rough night.  Even though not many people watch these debates faithfully, a debate performance filled with stumbles and flub-ups snowball and hurt the candidate's perception by the electorate, and future performance.  By the end of the night, he looked physically spent and sounded self-protective.  I do not think he's going to be the candidate, and I'm glad.  

What have you thought of the Republican field thus far?  Are you leaning in any particular direction?  If you're a Republican, do you feel your candidate has a shot?

As always, I'd love to hear back from you.

Show & Tell: It's Been a Long While

Well, this is a favorite type of post for me, and for many of you-- when I share noteworthy articles, recipes, ideas, jokes and/or favorite links.  Here's a recent picture of our family... and now, let's dive into the links, shall we?

COOKING

• Just made my favorite banana bread this afternoon... ripe bananas at the farmer's market this morning were $1.00 for 2 bunches, and then she ended up throwing in 2 more bunches... we had something like 15 or more bananas, all ripe or even starting to brown.  This banana bread is absolutely amazing... if you need a new easy go-to recipe, this is a GREAT one.
• Last week, I was on a Chinese Green Beans kick, so I wrote out the recipe.  They are so addictive.

PARENTING

• You don't see articles like this one often enough: 10 Things New Parents Don't Need
• Parenting & Technology:  Ever wanted to dropkick an electronic distraction straight out of your home?   Spunky shared her thoughts on the matter
• Justine's story of her abortion, 23 years ago
• What happens when, in a family, we don't "feel" love?  A mom adopting for the 2nd time wrote a very helpful post for all of us: When Love Isn't There
• A friend of mine decided to warn you-- Why Homeschooling is Dangerous
• Need to get organized?  Here's a compilation of organizing ideas all in one place.
• John Piper's "Letter to an Incomplete, Insecure Teenager"-- excellent reading for teens, or for us as parents to remember those awkward years and give grace.

GROWING AS A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

• The ripple effect of one grumpy woman
• We talk a lot about daily Bible reading, but hardly ever talk about exhorting one another-- one blogger challenges us to take the Bible seriously-- "The Daily Exhort"
• Journaling?  Why one woman thinks it's unhelpful.
• Ideas for HOW YOU CAN HELP A PARENT who has a child with special needs
• Do you need to practice personal Spiritual Disciplines more thoughtfully and intentionally?  Have you considered that there are things you can do to strengthen and grow your spiritual life?  Here's a list of regularly practiced and recognized spiritual disciplines.
• WHY practice spiritual disciplines?  (Article: "Taking the 'UGH' Out of Spiritual Disciplines)  :)
• I think these definitions of spiritual disciplines are particularly helpful for sorting out which practices might be beneficial for you, and why.

FUNNY:

• Benefits of Breastfeeding 

Happy reading!  :)

Restless, Worried, Anxious, Unsettled?

Over the weekend, I got curious and ended up studying and writing down all the various times that Scripture uses the phrase, "that you may know", so that I could see those times when God did something specific to teach us something specific.  It was incredibly clarifying-- they all center on this idea: God wants you, me, Israel, Gentiles, the nations, indeed- all the peoples of the world- to know that He alone is God, that there is no other, and that Jesus and the Father are one.  That pretty much sums up all 5 pages of my notes about the "that you may know" passages.


ANXIETY

So last night, I started feeling anxious about a house. We've been talking about buying a house now (since real estate prices are so low), to rent out while we're gone, so that we'd have a "homebase" to return to each time we visit family, rather than scrambling to find a furnished house. Yesterday, we found one online that is priced to sell. So many people are (understandably) trying to sell their house at the price it would have sold for 4 years ago, but this house was priced well under-market, and it has a pool in the backyard.   AND- it's just a few houses down from my parents' house.


Anyway, I began worrying. I'm not normally an anxious person, or at least I haven't thought that I am. But I was nervous about that house. Worried that someone else would see it and snatch it up first. Restless that our realtor hadn't written us back yesterday after we e-mailed him (lighten up, Jess, it's a SUNDAY). Really feeling unsettled about the entire situation, because I was so eager to see and buy the house.


Once I realized how nervous and anxious I felt, I reflected on all I've been learning in my counseling class-- that what comes out of us is actually just the fruit of what we're believing in our heart. I was believing lies-- that it's all up to me, that I can control a situation into what I want it to be, that things will not work out unless I __________.  


At 1am, with no one else awake in the house, I began speaking out loud what I know to be true, replacing the lies with the truth.  It sounded something like this:

God, You are good.  You have always cared for us. Your provision has never come to an end. You let us find this house where we could live while in Texas.  You have led us to good deals for the shampoo bottles (they were right in front of me) we use, You have provided these clothes (my mother in law had dropped her wardrobe "extras" off earlier in the day).  We have always had a place to live, and so many times, God, You have surprised us with a wonderful home You had in store for us-- better than we could've imagined!  If we are to have that house, it will be ours.  I trust You to give us what we need, and to take care of all that concerns us.  I don't have to worry or fret; You are in control.

As I turned from disbelief and worry, and turned to faith and trust in Our Soverign LORD, everything changed.  My heart felt at rest, and I fell asleep so easily.  Simply knowing the truth, or having affirmed it previously in a class or my own personal Bible study, was not enough... I needed to remind myself of it, and reflect on it, and allow it to resonate in my soul, in the moment when my heart was being pulled to trust in something OTHER than God.  THEN, my heart followed.  


My heart remembered the things God wants us to know-- that He alone is God.


Knowing that God is the "blessed controller of all things" frees us from rattling nerves or a worried heart. Focusing on the reality of His sovereignty allows us to rest when our hearts would otherwise be spinning and anxious.




Image:  Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Holding Onto Truth

So, you're sitting in ___(Bible Study, Church, small group, your living room with your Bible on your lap)____ and you read or hear something powerful.  A particular verse, a comment someone else makes, an experience shared, or a principle taught... it hits you between the eyes and you KNOW it's a truth you needed to take to heart and implement in your life.

WHAT NOW?

This is where I've been parking my brain lately.

Throughout my childhood, my late teen years after God drew me back to Him, and the first decade of my adult life, I have had many times of feeling bowled over by truth.  Again and again, God has put truth in my life that I needed to hear and implement.

But I don't know if it's human nature, or my former tendency to cram for a test and then forget the facts/information I studied once I've taken the test, but whatever the case, I've realized something: I don't hold onto truth well.

Below I've listed some ways I've found to hold onto truth and implement it in my life. I would LOVE to hear ways that you've found to KEEP and IMPLEMENT the truth that God reveals in your life.

• Printing out verses/passages/ideas and placing them in obvious places in my home
• Talking about it with Doug 
• Having accountability from women friends
• Trying to hold onto it in my mind as I read through Scripture, taking special note of applicable verses and passages I run across
• All of these things done with prayer and journaling

Of all of these, the first is most helpful for me, which may be a personality thing-- keeping WORDS visually in front of me is extremely beneficial.  At times when we are in-between apartments though (which has been often lately), it's difficult.  Right now, for example, I don't have a printer, and haven't since March; plus, I don't want to mess up walls in a temporary residence.  Just writing this out has helped me realize that this may be a big reason why I feel mentally "fuzzy" lately.  I'm missing those normal opportunities that I rely on to hold onto truth.

At the same time, people have gone thousands of years reaching out to God, and clinging to His truth without a printer and scotch tape!  :)  

Please share ideas of how you have been able to HOLD onto truth God reveals to you.  How do you mentally imprint truth in your heart and life?  Let's help one another to live biblically.



Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Living In the Light

Lately I've been thinking about living in the light.  It's such a useful word picture for our lives as Christians, isn't it?

* Don't have any "dark corners" in your life-- live fully in the light!

* Speak the truth and don't gossip or backstab-- let your words always be so that if they "came to light", you would not need to be ashamed!

* Walk consistently in the light of God!

This idea of living in the light fit perfectly with something Dr. David Powlison shared in a lecture I listened to recently, about speeding-- that you should choose your car's speed by the speed you can drive at without needing to nervously watch for cops.  It makes sense, doesn't it?  Whatever speed you know is acceptable, go that speed, rather than pushing the limits to go 9 or 11 miles over the speed limit, constantly watching for cops and worried about getting a ticket.

It's simply living in the light.  No matter who sees or knows, you're just fine, because you've done everything in the light.

So, today, I did a little bible study on this idea of living in the light.  Read through these Scriptures and be encouraged as a child of the Light!

• In the beginning was the Word...  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  ~John 1:1, 4-5
• Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ~Luke 8:17~
• Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. ~John 3:20-21~
• Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.  The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." ~John 12:35-36~
• Be careful lest the light in you be darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part in dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light. ~Luke 11:35-36~
• (Jesus speaking) "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." ~John 12:46~
• Nothing is covered up that will not revealed, or hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.  ~Luke 12:2-3~
• The Lord has commanded us, saying, "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." ~Acts 13:47~
• Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.  ~Matthew 5:16~
• The Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart.  Then each one will receive his commendation from God." ~1 Corinthians 4:5~
• Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ~2 Corinthians 6:14~
• At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.  ~Ephesians 5:8-14~
• Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. ~Philippians 2:14-15~
• You all are children of light, children of the day.  We are not of the night or of the darkness.  So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.  ~1 Thessalonians 5:5-6~
• You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim that excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ~1 Peter 2:9~

• This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness of all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  ~1 John 1:5-7~
• Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.  ~1 John 2:9-10~

I don't think I've ever put together just how many references there are that clearly place the "setting" of our lives, as believers, in the light.  The Bible gives such a clear picture of a major indicator of our faith-- if we live in the light and do not walk in darkness, that freedom and transparency in our lives gives credence to the creed we profess with our mouths.  

I love the way Scripture continues to pour forth wisdom, and that there continue to be depths of insight and understanding, no matter how long I read God's words.  

God has been challenging me to live in the light in several ways lately-- in the words that I use in conversations with other women, and towards my children; in the speed that I drive; and in the way I eat.  Are there ways He is speaking to you about living in the light?  I'd love to hear about it.



Images:
Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
cbenjasuwan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
hinnamsaisuy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"20 Ways to Prevent Cancer" MEME

Came across this article about cancer prevention today, and thought it might be fun to turn it into a "meme". I've listed each tip and responded with GOOD/NEUTRAL/BAD about how I'm doing on that point, and a brief description of what I do. At the end, there are 2 questions to sum up the meme.

Feel free to participate, for your own little health check-up:

1. Filter your tap water- GOOD "normally", BAD here. We used bottled water when we live overseas, but while visiting here in the US, we're tap water folks.
2. Stop topping off your gas tank- GOOD. I rarely fill up the car with gas, and when I do, we just go to the top and that's the end of it.
3. Marinate meat before grilling- GOOD. I almost always marinate before any kind of cooking.
4. Caffeinate every day- BAD. This one was surprising. I rarely drink caffeine in any form.
5. Drink more than 8 cups of water daily- GOOD. Nine years of pregnancy and nursing have drilled that habit into me. I am a water guzzler.
6. Load up on really green greens- BAD. I ate broccoli tonight, but before tonight, it'd been weeks since I'd had really dark greens.
7. Snack on brazil nuts- BAD. Never tried em.
8. Exercise regularly to avoid breast cancer- BAD, but GETTING BETTER. I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm exercising more lately than I have in years.
9. Skip the dry cleaner- GOOD. It's been more than 9 years since I've taken anything to the cleaners. We're wash-and-wear people.
10. Ask your doc about breast density- NEUTRAL. I'm not to the age for mammograms yet, but I have not asked about and do not know about breast density.
11. Limit cell phone usage near the head- GOOD. Although this tip is inconclusive, it really doesn't matter because I don't use cell phones often anyhow. I'm home so much, that anywhere we live, we just keep one cell phone and one house phone. I probably talk on a cell phone less than once a day.
12. Block skin cancer with colors & hats- NEUTRAL. I do wear a lot of colors, and I'm pretty good about wearing sunscreen or hats when I go out in the sun. But I don't choose colors based on which ones block the sun at greater proportions.
13. Pic a doc with a past for accurate interpretation of mammogram results- NEUTRAL. Again, I'm not yet to the age for mammograms.
14. Eat clean foods- GOOD. We're better at this when overseas, as the produce and meats in Turkey are still produced (mostly) ethically and locally.
15. Read food labels for folic acid- BAD. I don't check for that, and wasn't aware that synthetic folic acid can be harmful to the colon.
16. Up your calcium intake- GOOD. I drink a fair amount of milk normally, and cheese makes up a ridiculously large amount of my diet while here in the US. :)
17. Commit to whole grains- BAD. I need to change this. I enjoy whole grains when I think of it, but I don't always reach for it, and don't have a "commitment" to it. I'd like for that to change.
18. Pay attention to pain- NEUTRAL. This is one I need to remember. When I experience pain, I tend to downplay it and push through.
19. Avoid unnecessary scans- GOOD. I haven't had any CT, MRI type scans. I had x-rays when I was a teenager, for dental work, but don't recall any in the last 15 years.
20. Drop 10 pounds.- GOOD. I have already dropped 3, and am committed to my plan with Weight Watchers.

SO, HOW AM I DOING OVERALL? Good: 10, Neutral: 4, Bad: 6

WHAT ONE CHANGE DO I INTEND TO FOCUS ON & IMPLEMENT? Committing to whole grains.

This was a productive meme for me, and I feel even more resolved to work to make healthy choices after completing it.

Feel free to participate! Here's a linky where you can leave a link to your blog: