[cp_dropcaps]M[/cp_dropcaps]ay the LORD be with you and bless you this day! He is so gracious to us all and His mercies are new every morning. I share this before I share my letter with you because I know that each time I share a letter on marriage, there are sisters whose hearts are breaking and the pain of marital difficulties weighs heavily on them. So it is with this in mind that I write and pray to offer a bit of hope today. What I’m sharing with you today is a message I wrote many years ago and have continued…
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[cp_dropcaps]Y[/cp_dropcaps]ou know, some ways of the LORD are very easy to accept and then there’re times when His way is a bit more challenging and the price seems a bit higher, perhaps a price too steep for us to consent to give. But, you know, in those times His mercy and grace seem greater. These are the proving grounds, these are the testings of our faith. I used to think that the testing of our faith was part trickery and part unrealistic expectation, something akin to being doomed to failure. O, but that’s not God, that’s not the God of…
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[cp_dropcaps]S[/cp_dropcaps]o much on my mind lately that I’m overwhelmed if I indulge in thinking too long without something to specifically direct my thoughts. Were it not for prayer, singing and morning Bible study, I don’t know where I’d be. I know that’s an over used phrase — I don’t know where I’d be — but it’s over used bcz it’s true. More true than we might realize, I’m sure. If you’re a believer — redeemed by grace through faith in Jesus — think where you’d be without Christ. Think of where you’d be without that precious hope. Think of where…
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IF YOU FALL OFF THE Trim Healthy Mama plan WAGON —– after having smashing success —– DON’T SMASH THE WAGON! GET UP… TO YOUR KNEES… GIVE YOUR PLANS TO THE LORD, CRY FOR HELP, CRY FOR HOPE —- DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF THE SILLY nonsensical repetitive INDULGENCE THAT GOT YOU TO AN UNHEALTHY PLACE/WEIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE. So you fell off the wagon. DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE LIE THAT YOU ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT THE PLAN–THAT YOU HATED IT ANYWAY — THAT YOU JUST WANT TO BE FREE TO EAT WHAT YOU WANT and just be normal…
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The beauty of a plan is the presence of accompanying grace. I think this is true with most any plan. Well, except for plans with deadlines, specific time frames, appointments, etc. So it is, with the Trim Healthy Mama “plan” for health and optimal weight or finding your trim. With grace. Grace doesn’t mean carelessness, though. And it doesn’t mean neglect. I know that. Now. The result of neglecting the plan is sort of like how money evaporates in California. Or how the reaching of an optimal weight goal is erased by consuming bags of sea salt & dark-chocolate covered…
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October 17, 2013 I received my book… and I wrote about the THM journey here with additional entries following. I wasn’t so much seeking to be a trim healthy mama as much as I was determined to be a healthy mama who happened to figure out how to be and remain disciplined and trim. I had such determination and such confidence. And success, too. Life happened. And failure. This morning I’m cleaning up from a few different events in the last several days and all I see around me are large bowls, serving platters, large carafes, stacks of other dishes,…
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I began working on my new This Beautiful Life journal/planner/notebook, and once again I’m stymied by my answers. I see the designated spaces for specific answers and am reticent to write mine down. My tendency is to be very tentative about what goals I write (thinking if I write it, I’ll be committed to doing it). One day I might only write a few goals — another day I might write down things that would take two lifetimes to accomplish. My abstract sequential / concrete random thinking style seems to prevent me from ever making a definitive list. Have you…
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Have you ever asked yourself what you’d do if you knew you were dying? Or, how would you live differently if you knew this year was your last year to live? I was talking with my friend on the phone this morning and as I was recounting different ongoing family situations, I related that even though we had a real “wake-up call” last summer, we haven’t changed things we do or don’t do all that much. As I hung up the phone, it occurred to me that I must not take, or respond to, wake up calls all that seriously. …
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As I mentioned in my previous post, one evening a month, I have the privilege of sharing a message with a “TitusTwo” group of women. As I wrote out that message on Communication, I was mindful that there was going to be a presentation by another sister at the meeting. My friend mentioned that her friend had written a book and would be sharing about it with the group. Thinking there really might not be time for me to share a message, I still wanted to be prepared — but looking back now, I’m not sure it was necessary for…
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All the information, booklets, visits from the different therapists and the remarks of different doctors in the days and hours prior to leaving the hospital following my husband’s open heart bypass surgery didn’t prepare me for the recovery road. Yes, I’d listened intently. Yes, I’d taken notes and appeared to comprehend all the information they were giving me — giving us. I guess I was prepared for what they’d specifically instructed me to do when we returned home, but I wasn’t prepared for the other stuff — the other stuff that they didn’t tell me. And now, looking back, I…