Some Fave Pictures of Lately...

My new yellow walls and bamboo floors. This is a dream come true! I LOVE worshipping the Lord with Selah; He comes in power all the time when we stop for a while and praise Him, read the Word together, dance, sing, and intercede for others. He has spoken some things to Selah in these times, and it is so meaningful. Yemi Abigail. What a cutie-pie! Amber, Joanna, and the kids at the park...So much fun, except for the goose poop!

Just What's On My Mind

Forewarning: this is going to be random!

I am thinking about:

*worship, having great times of worship with family and friends, sometimes just me and Selah, or just me and God. I am overwhelmed by the exchange that happens when I stop and adore Him, and lay everything down before Him (again). He fills me up. It's silly to think I don't need to go back over and over.

*Yemi giving out more and more hugs and kisses and smiles and all-out chuckles every day. Still screaming, but these breaks are nice!

*my house looking kinda new! Spring has arrived here, I am telling you! Yellow paint where there used to be cranberry, new lighter floors, glossy white trim and doors, my african stuff brought upstairs to decorate with for the first time in a LONG time. Fixing up both inside and outside of my house has been a therapeutic blessing to me.

*speaking of therapeutic...I have been on treatment for adrenal fatigue for 2 months now, and this past week I have actually felt good. I also have had several tests to find out what is wrong with my throat/voice, and it is (drum roll) acid reflux. Not a friend. I've tweaked my "body for life diet lifestyle" to reduce carbs and sugar, at least most days of the week. (I can't help but cheat every now and then!) I've rested when I needed to, I've learned what this illness is, and I've gotten a really good kick in the booty with some great information. It all makes sense. I feel like my healing from the Lord is simply in implementing this info. Why would He heal me just for ME to bring sickness back on myself? I am learning how to recover and not get back here again. (LORD-WILLING!)

*more thoughts on home schooling...lots more!

*a friend in Africa who sliced her toe and had to have stitches with no (sp?) anesthetic. Her life there...

*my life here.

Dieting

Ugh. Dieting! I am "tweaking" the "lifestyle eating plan" that I have been on for 1 1/2 years. I didn't really want to tweak it, but the following reasons are making me:

#1 I haven't lost a pound since last July, and I see some middle spread coming back.

#2 Finding out I have adrenal fatigue has led me to learn exactly what happens when I eat sugar. Yikes. It is not pretty for my insides, let alone my outsides. It honestly scared me, and led me to believe that if I don't go low-carb and quit eating sugar so much, I will not get better. For the first week or so after this discovery--that my diet might have been making me sicker even though I've worked really hard to eat well--I was overwhelmed and even somewhat defeated. But now I'm digging in and trying my best.

#3 Several different people have told me lately that eating low-carb and very low sugar can lower your cholesterol (which I found out was a slight problem for me), stave off diabetes (duh, but I needed a wake up call), get rid of acid reflux (which my throat is telling me I have), plus of course to lose weight and have more energy. Sounds like it's well worth a try.

So, I'm counting. Trying to have about 85 grams of carbs per day and about 15 grams of sugar per day. I do not count vegetables, because as I looked up the info on them the amount of carbs is just trivial...and seriously, when would I overeat veggies? Unfortunately never! I do have to count fruit though, because it is pretty loaded. I'm trying to have 5 veggie servings and only 2 fruit servings. The counting (and writing down every gram!) is tedious, and hard if I am not going to be home. But otherwise, I know that in a few weeks, I will just know what adds up to be enough for the day.

The hardest thing is just to not reach for that candy! For about 2 weeks, I haven't had in the house but I had REALLY gotten used to it! Christmas goodies really bled into Easter candy for me, just about every night, chilling out with Jack, watching TV. Good times...good times. No more. Just kidding. One day a week I am not keeping count, and this free day will be FUN!

Quilts!

I love...

women, girlfriends, sisters in the Lord

amazing works of art made by patient hands of many colors

cultures around the world, different languages, new traditions & ways of life

ministries that reach women in their most desperate times with the restoration of Jesus Christ

women feeling creative and successful and worthwhile and in touch with the Lord.

This is precisely what some ministries around the world are doing. They are not reaching the masses and the multitudes, but they are taking the time to show people, small groups at a time, that they are important to God. They are showing justice and compassion, and changing lives, as Jesus did as He walked the earth. There is something about small ministries that feel so very, very right. It's like giving out worth to people who have been dehumanized, to stop and say, "I'm not passing you by. We are putting down the anchor right here, for you, and we aren't leaving for a good while. You're worth it. God says so. If we only help you, it was still worth our time and energy and resources." I just feel such an agreement from the Spirit, in my spirit, with this type of thought...much different than how I would feel even 3 years ago. Very exciting.

Right now I am doing nothing more than selling quilts, hand made by women who are truly the least of these, in Cambodia. They are mostly HIV+ widows, many with children. New Hope for Cambodian Women is a small ministry helping these women by giving them a source of income, through quilt making. They receive their medicines, their kids receive schooling/preschool, healthy meals, and knowledge of the Lord (most importantly). Each quilt comes with a picture and description of the woman who crafted it, so that we can connect and pray for her. Children can be sponsored also through NHCC.

Their website is www.newhopeforcambodianchildren.com. Pictures of all the quilts I have right now are on my facebook profile. Just let me know if you'd like to look and don't have a facebook account. I hope to partner with a couple other organizations that do this same thing, with a variety of arts and crafts, and am praying for other women to join me in connecting, supporting, and celebrating women across cultures for the Lord.

Here are few of my favorites!