Hopes and Dreams

Sometimes it's really hard for me to take my hopes, dreams, and plans that I have for my life, give them to God, and say,

"Here. Take them. As much as my heart wants things to go the way I had planned, if they are not part of Your will for my life, take these away from me. I don't want them."

It can be physically painful to pray that prayer, but it's necessary in order to live totally in God's will.  I'm not saying that we shouldn't have hopes and dreams, and plans for our lives.  However, when I may want something or think I've got a pretty good plan worked out I think God would sometimes say, "That's a good idea.  But wait!  I've got a better plan!" Tonight, I'm leaning heavily on Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.")

Read it.
Memorize it.
Highlight it in your Bible.

You'll probably need to be reminded of these words many times in your life.

I know I do.

Homemade Veggie Soup

In honor of the soon arrival of fall, I thought I'd make some vegetable soup tonight to take to work this week. I took the recipe for the "Cabbage Soup Diet" (one of those "lose weight fast" diets that I think are a waste of time and effort unless you plan on eating that soup for the rest of your life) and I kinda ran with it. I wanted some soup packed with veggies but few calories for a healthy snack or meal. Here's what's in this:

8 green onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1/2 head of cabbage
1 bag of pre-sliced carrots
2 cans of diced tomatoes with sweet onions
1 packet of onion soup mix
Other seasonings (I added some bay leaves, salt, pepper, low-sodium Misty's seasoning, garlic and peppercorn seasoning, and some onion something-or-other Mrs. Dash. I go with the "little of this, little of that" methodology.)

Spray your pan with cooking spray and sauté the green onions and garlic and let that cook a bit until the favors are released, then add the rest of the veggies. Fill your pan with enough water to cover all the veggies and simmer on low for two hours. Oh, and I added some beef bouillon flavoring. You could easily add some ground beef, chicken, whole wheat pasta, etc. I just wanted an easy way to get my veggies with few calories, so that's all I added...for now. With the hopefully cool temps to come, I imagine I'll be adding to this recipe and playing around with it more in the near future. Enjoy!

*This made a huge pot that all together was just under 800 calories...for the whole thing! I estimated 15 cups total, for an approximate calorie count of 60 calories per 1 cup serving.*

Waiting.

Waiting.

I.  Hate.  To.  Wait.

I'm not sure where this complete disdain for waiting comes from, but I possess it.  I simply want things to happen NOW.  "They" say the best things in life are worth waiting for.  Miss Impatient Me wants to know why, if it's so great, should we have to wait for it?  Why can't we just have it NOW!

Yes, I realize that makes me sound like a little kid.  If you could envision me standing with my arms crossed, stamping my foot, that's what I want to do when made to wait for something...if that were socially acceptable.  It's not, so I just pout internally and go on about my day....most of the time.

Lately I've been trying to learn to deal with waiting, and to just accept it as part of life.

Ha.  That's funny.  It's much easier said (or typed) than done, I assure you.

Seriously though, what I've learned is this:  If I'm going to live in the Lord's will, waiting is going to be part of my life.  To me, it's a huge part of faith.  His ways are higher than my ways.  His timing is so much better than my timing.  If I'm going to live a life in tune with God, I'm going to have to do so on His time schedule, not mine.  Psalm 130:5-6  says "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."  This is going to be my prayer, to be like the psalmist and put my hope in His word.

Here's what His word says that's worth hoping for:

"The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;"

Lamentations 3:25 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."  

Proverbs 3:5-6 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Galatians 6:9 

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." 

Hebrews 10:36 

Just reading those verses puts my anxious heart at ease.  And, to be perfectly honest with you, lately it's my heart that needs the most peace.  My current relationship status has been at the forefront of my mind and heart lately...well, more so than normal.  When I was younger, I just assumed that at age 26, I would not be single.  But, I am.  And for this hopeless romantic girl, that's a tough pill to swallow.  

But knowing "...that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28), my impatient heart is put to ease.  I think God teaches us so much when He calls us to simply wait on Him...I know He's teaching me.  Talk about growing your faith in Christ.  

Really, when I think about it, I should be thankful that God calls me to wait on Him.  Without these times of waiting, my faith would run the risk of becoming stagnant.  And above all, what I desire more than anything, is the exact opposite.  I want to grow in Him; to seek His true and perfect will for my life.  Because I know that it's through Him and in Him that I find true happiness, true love, true hope, true joy.  And really, what more could a girl (or guy) ask for?

"But it's the time in between

That I fall down to my knees

Waiting on what You'll bring

And the things that I can't see

I know my song's incomplete

Still I'll sing in the time in between."

Dying to Yourself

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. Philippians 1:21 NLT

I was sitting at work the other day and I was singing to myself (hopefully not too loudly) the new song by Mercy Me: The Hurt and the Healer.  I LOVE music and I love a good song, and normally when I hear a new song, I really dig into the song by looking up the lyrics and really try to grasp the meaning of whatever song I'm interested in at that particular moment.  Strangely enough, I hadn't done that with this song.  I'd just learned the words (sidenote: it always amazes how our feeble brain--well, MY feeble brain--can memorize an entire song without even trying to) and didn't really focus on the meaning of the song.  If you haven't heard this song, it's about God meeting us at a place when we're broken, hurting, and just want to be healed by the Healer himself (this is my summary, anyways.)  


I liked the song, but while I was singing away aimlessly, I suddenly realized what the words were to the first part of the chorus: 

"I'm alive, even though a part of me has died."  

Now if you read this in the context of the song, I think what the writer of the song meant by "a part of me has died" was relating to possibly an event that caused terrible pain.  However,  where I am in my own life right now, it reminded me of something else.


The verse above (Phil 1:21) is immediately where my mind went when I realized what it was that I had been singing.  The Bible says that to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  It also says that we have to die to ourselves.  And the more we die to ourselves, the more alive we become in Christ.  Beautiful.


Let me confess this to you: while I've known Phil 1:21 since I was a kid, it wasn't until recently that I really started to understand what "dying to ourselves" truly means.  Yes, at 26 years of age, I'm just really starting to get a grasp on some things.


Here it is, in a nutshell, what God has been teaching me lately about dying to myself:

Like actual, physical death can be, dying to oneself can be PAINFUL.  But it's NECESSARY. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty independent.  I can make my own decisions, can develop my own opinions, and set my own goals and aspirations for my life.  Sometimes, my own little plans have a way of developing their own goals and dreams.  Here's something that I'm learning: my goals, decisions, aspirations, opinions, etc., can, and, albeit painful at times, MUST, change sometimes to be in line for God's will for my life.  Now, do you all know what it means to change?!?  It means that my stubborn self has to let go of what I thought was right and good for me, and allow God to mold me and my decisions, goals, etc. into what HE wants them to be.  Sometimes, my current goals for my life, well, I'm kind of fond of them.  And I want them to be fulfilled RIGHT NOW.  But God's plan is far better than mine could ever dream of being.  


Thankfully, in walking with Christ daily, a lot of these goals, desires, decisions, etc, end up being right in line with Christ from the get go.  However, we're all human, and this world has a way of influencing us even when we don't mean for it to.  And that's where dying to ourselves comes in.  


God's will is far greater than anything.  His timing is perfect.  His plan is perfect.  If we (myself most definitely included) can learn to die to ourselves, the part of us that dies allows room for Christ to dwell. And it's through Him that we truly live.

You're Not Alone

Jesus said, (in John 16:32-33 {punctuation and emphasis added})

"...but the time is coming--in fact, it is already here--when you will be scattered, each one going his own way,

leaving me

alone.

Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.

I have told you all this so that you may have PEACE. IN. ME.

Here on earth you WILL have MANY trials and sorrows.

BUT...

Take HEART!!!

BECAUSE I have

OVERCOME

the world."

I love this verse. As a Christian, we're not promised a life without struggle. We're not promised a life without pain. We're not promised a life without disappointment. In fact, I've found that stronger your relationship with Christ, the harder the devil works to make your life more difficult.

HOWEVER, this verse reminds us to "TAKE HEART!" Because our GOD has overcome the world. He is in control. We do not walk alone in this life.

There's a song by Meredith Andrews called You're Not Alone. Here's the chorus:

"You're not alone, for I, I am here. Let Me wipe away your every tear. My love I've never left you side. I will see you through the darkest nights. And I have love you all of your life. All of your life."

As you encounter everything the world throws at you, know this:

God has overcome this world, and

He's not leaving us to face it alone.

"Forgetfulness"

"Holiness, holiness is what I long for

Holiness is what I need

Holiness, holiness is what You want for me"

Do y'all know that song? It's a simple praise and worship song, that repeats, but you replace that first word with these words: Righteousness. Brokenness.

I think there should be another verse with this word at the beginning: Forgetfulness.

Now, I know that seems weird, but consider this verse:

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b-14

This verse has been a focal verse for me lately. Not many of you may know, but in September of last year, I started a weight loss journey. I have struggled with my weight since I was a kid. I remember playing basketball in grade school, then junior high and some in high school, and always being referred to as the "big girl" by the opposing team. With a few people that knew my sisters and me, I was known as the big sister.

I tried so many times to lose weight. And I failed. If you know me very well, you know I don't like failure. I don't like not accomplishing something. But that's what happened every time I tried to lose weight. I would lose a little weight, then give up after a few weeks. In my mind, I'd failed. After failing numerous times, that hung over my head like a dark cloud. For a long time, I stopped trying to lose weight, because I just KNEW that if I tried to lose weight, I'd probably just fail again. I couldn't forget all the times I'd failed.

But something happened last September. First, I met a now friend of mine who had done something that I had never been able to do: she DIDN'T fail at losing weight. She told me her story and what she had done to lose weight and get healthy. She inspired me. The next week I started using myfitnesspal.com to figure out how many calories I should consume each day to lose two pounds/week, and used that website to log my calories daily. I also started an Advocare cleanse and cut out soda all together. I started eating well-balanced meals--whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, veggies, healthy fats, minimal dairy. And water, water, water is all I drink! I was doing good!

I was started on my weight loss journey, but once again, the fear of failure started sinking in. Until I came across that verse in Philippians. I really studied it, and I realized that it was time for me to turn this fear over to God. It was time to forget my past failures in losing weight. To press on toward my goal of losing weight and being healthy. 1 Corinthians 6:19 reminds me that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and I need to treat my body with the respect that a temple of the Lord deserves.

So far, I've lost 42.2 lbs. It's a slow but steady weight loss, but you know what? It's not a journey that's going to end in failure. Because I know that God calls me to forget my failures and move forward. With Him, I know that it's possible. With Him as my strength, I can forget. And I will NOT fail this time.

Forgetfulness, forgetfulness is what I long for

Forgetfulness is what I need

Forgetfulness, forgetfulness is what You want for me

AFTERWORD:

So take my heart and mold it

Take my mind, transform it

Take my will, conform it, to Yours, to Yours, O Lord

"My Heart is Spoken For"

"Take this world from me,

I don't know need it anymore.

I am finally free.

My heart is spoken for.

Oh, and I praise you.

Oh, and I worship you!

Covered by Your love divine,

Child of the Risen Lord!

To hear you say, "This one's mine!"

My heart is spoken for!"

-Mercy Me "Spoken For"

Isn't it so nice to know that we're HIS? We have been spoken for. The devil and all his evil servants can try all they may to get a claim on us. But they will try in vain, because the Lord of the Universe, the Creator, the very One who put the stars in the heavens, placed the mountains on the earth, that very same God--has claimed us as His. Our hearts are spoken for! PTL!

"For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, WE BELONG TO THE THE LORD."

John 14:7-8