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Garbage in…..garbage out!

30 Jul

For the last couple of years, we have made a conscience effort at our home to eat in a healthy, balanced way.  Although we are BIG into treats,  and try never to become legalistic with our eating habits (can you say Coldstone’s???), we try to eat lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and nuts as our staple foods.

When my husband and I took a trip to Miami last spring (can you say SWIMSUIT????), I was much more careful with what went into my mouth!  I ate only veggies, fruits, and nuts.  Everyday I had a fresh spinach salad full of  raw, sliced vegetables.  The salads were beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.  I got to the point that I didn’t even care for dressing- just a little lemon juice splashed on top.  The funny thing was, the more I ate these spinach salads, the more my body craved them.  Salads from restaurants, with iceberg lettuce, lots of cheese and loaded with heavy ranch dressing, usually my favorite menu item, became repulsive.

Another strange thing began to happen to my eating habits.  Normally an avid dessert eater, I avoided sugar until my trip.  And, the strange thing was, the longer I fasted from sugar, the less I craved it!  Saying “no” to sweets eventually became easy (definitely NOT normal for me!).

After a couple of months eating this way, I was so excited when our big trip finally arrived.  I thought I would have so much FUN eating all of the foods I had been “denying” myself.  Funny things was, when I finally DID eat the juicy steak, scrumptious cake, and all of the goodies, what I really was craving was my homemade spinach salad.

There were definite benefits when I changed my eating habits.

I lost a lot of weight!

I had so much ENERGY.

I felt GREAT!

My body, once purged of all the “bad” food wanted the “clean” food.  It craved the healthy food.  Once I had gotten rid of all the “junk” food from my diet, I no longer wanted it.  My body was functioning GREAT.

But, then…..Father’s Day arrived and with it, a new grill for my husband.  It was a new “toy” and Brian starting cooking on it DAILY.

We immediately became CARNIVORES….eating LOTS of meat- hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs…..  And, for some reason, chip and dip, breads, and desserts just seemed to go so well with the meat.  Even though I continued to prepare the salad, we began eating less and less of it.

After a few weeks of eating this way, I began noticing a few things.

I was CRAVING sugar again.

I was feeling tired and cranky at times.

I gained back weight!

This didn’t happen immediately, but little by little.  But, before I knew it, I really didn’t “want” the salad any longer.  It just didn’t “look” good anymore.  I really just wanted to eat chip and dip and brownies!  The more I gave in to the cravings, the more I craved the junk.

Interestingly, the same thing was happening to me spiritually.

I had been getting up and spending time with God.  My mind was being renewed and His Living Water was refreshing my soul.  I was CRAVING God, wanting more and more of Him and desiring to spend my time with Him.

But, little by little, I began choosing “junk”.  I overslept in the mornings, making for just “snippets” of quiet time with God, not really quality chunks of time alone with Him.  We were traveling often and missing church weeks at a time.  I wasn’t keeping up with my Bible Study.  Before long, I found it easier to turn on the TV and “veg out” instead of spending time with God.  Picking up a magazine, flipping through and reading it seemed “more fun” than reading my Bible.  Just like junk food became easier to choose, junk “activity” became easier to do.  I began filling up on the “world”, instead of drinking in the life-giving Presence of God!

And, after a few weeks of living this way, I began noticing a few things.

My soul felt downcast.

I was cranky.

My mouth “got me into trouble,” and I don’t mean with eating!

But, most of all, I just felt “off”……something was wrong.

I missed God!

And, for some reason, it seems harder, both with eating and spiritually, to “get back on track” then to “fall off the wagon”!  But, thankfully, God is  patient, loving, merciful, and forgiving!  He LONGS for us to come back and drink Him in!  He misses us even more than we miss Him.  All we need to do is turn to Him and tell Him we need Him.  He waits with arms open wide.

“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You.  My soul thirst for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water……Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You….My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”  Psalm 63:1-5

This is war! (again..)

15 Jul

I have been been in a war the past few weeks, and at times, I must admit, I have felt DEFEATED!

With whom am I battling, you ask?

Who is this enemy?

It is the dreaded Japanese Beetle!
When we returned from our wonderful Chicago vacation, I went out to inspect my beloved flowers. I was pleased with how they looked from afar. The colors were breathtaking. The scents lovely. The plants were exploding with blooms.  I cherish and enjoy God’s amazing creation and beauty~ roses, lilies, petunias, impatiens…. But, with closer inspection, I could see they were being attacked by a dreaded enemy- the Japanese Beetle! Oh, I was already familiar with this wicked insect. They had destroyed my petunias last summer and had killed a plum bush. I knew the destruction and the havoc they reek.
These beetles ravage the plant, chewing out tissue between the veins, giving the leaf a “characteristic skeletonized appearance.” One morning when I looked out my kitchen window, I saw at least 25 beetles on ONE rose bud, devouring the beautiful petals until they were devastated…broken…unrecognizable…beauty destroyed…
It made me think of the battle each one of us faces as a child of God. We, too, have an enemy who wants to devastate us, break us, until our beauty in the Savior is unrecognizable, and our faith is destroyed.

He wants to eat away at us- our passions, our dreams, our confidence, our worth- until we resemble those gnawed away leaves with only a skeleton remaining. The green, healthy, foliage, or fruit is missing. We remain just a shadow of who God created us to be.
Battling the Japanese Beetles becomes weary at times. Just when I think I have them “licked,” I look out my window to see a new squadron has flown in and is eating away at the precious blooms and leaves.
And so it goes with the enemy of my soul. He wears me down. I become weary at times. And, sometimes, just when I think I have a temptation or deception “licked,” he comes in again with a whole host of help. And, like the beetles who come in large numbers, it is often NOT just one I battle, but Satan throws all he has at me. The dishwasher breaks the same week Brian is traveling AND the kids (all five of them) come down with the flu. I then realize I have forgotten to pay some pressing bill….on and on~ you get the idea.

“I will restore (repay) you for the years the locusts have eaten…” -Joel 2:25

Isn’t it amazing that our loving Father, our Savior, our Lord will take the devastation that the enemy causes and restore what has been lost? He prunes away the damaged leaves, the eaten blooms, and brings new buds, even more beautiful than the previous ones. The Lord restores whatever the enemy has tried to devour- hope, dreams, relationships, finances, our faith….

In my battle against the beetles, I have come to rely on some very important tools and habits. I need to check and recheck the flowers all throughout the day. First thing in the morning I need to make sure all the plants are healthy and beetle free.
In my spiritual battles, I need to also use important tools and habits.
The greatest tool against the enemy is the Word of God. I need to KNOW the Word and USE it by quoting it OUT LOUD when the battle comes. I MUST spend time in the Word.
So, in our battles against bugs or the enemy of our soul, we must remember we have a God who is BIG, who loves us, who is ALL powerful, who desires to rush in to defend us, to save us and to restore what the enemy has stolen. He loves when, broken, we cry out to Him to be our defender, our Shield, our Fortress. Jesus is the Armor of God.
I first wrote this devotion last year, but decided to repost it because I am BATTLING these horrible insects again this year.  I remembered the devotion as I was outside plucking off beetles and spraying my flowers.  It was a reminder that the “battle” is constant and I have to be ever-diligent.  I can’t “let my guard down.”  I must remain alert as both Paul and Peter remind us.  One new fact that I learned about the beetle from last year is that they burrow in the lawn all through the winter and hatch as grubs.  So, not only do I need to be watchful in the summer for beetles, I must treat my lawn in the fall for grubs to totally be victorious over these horrible pests.  This applies spiritually as well.  Even if I can’t see what the enemy is doing, he is in “my lawn”, growing while I may not even be aware.  Even when he is not reaping destruction by eating my flowers- my fruit- I must be alert and aware and get rid of him when he is a “grub.”

Father, I come before Your throne, boldly, praising You, thanking You for Your power and grace and love. I thank You that You are an ever present help in trouble. I thank You that You have equipped me with everything I need for battle. I thank You for Your armor. I thank You for Your protection. Lord, remind me of Your Word, Your Truth when the enemy comes against me with his lies. Help me to replace every lie with Your Truth. I love You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

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Tending the Garden

30 Jun

I spent several hours today tending my flower gardens.  I have to admit that I have neglected them for several days weeks which caused me to spend so much more time today……

weeding…..

“deadheading” and pruning…..

fertilizing……

and spraying for insects.

Just last month the flowers were beautiful and producing gorgeous blooms.  One month later, however, they were looking like they needed attention!  I marveled at how quickly pests moved in to feast on the beautiful flowers.  Due to several weeks of hot temperatures, weeds had sprung up like crazy.  And, because I had neglected to fertilize for several weeks, I wasn’t getting the explosive bounty I had earlier this season.  As I worked this morning, I realized that my spiritual garden needed some tending as well.

I had been neglecting quiet time with my amazing God lately.

And….pests and weeds had crept in…..

negativity……

a spirit of complaining…..

an easily offended heart…..

a grumpy attitude.

I had allowed busyness and activity distract me from what was important.

I had not fertilized my heart in the Word.  I have not seen the bountiful fruit that comes from a well-fed heart.

I had not spent time in His presence, asking Him to prune away the dead parts of my life.

This morning as I worked in my garden, I realized that my “spiritual garden”, the garden of my heart, also needs constant tending.  I need to spend time alone with God, pushing away all of the activity and distractions.  I need to water it with the Living Water.  I must feed it with the Word.  Then, my spiritual life WILL produce a beautiful, abundant bounty of fruit.

“I am the Vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.  Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Father God, thank You that You are a patient, gracious Gardener.  You long for us to come to You to be watered and fed.  You want to remove the weeds and pests from our hearts.  Lord, thank You that You give us so many reminders of these Truths.  Lord, do what You need to do in my heart so that it produces a beautiful harvest.  In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.

Thirsty for Him,

Tracy

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