Category Archives: MUSINGS

Don’t Go There

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My morning burst forth like a classic night terror movie scene. With crisp precision, my eyes popped opened, scanned the room and wondered why I saw him, felt that way and what I was doing there. We just talked, but nothing about the encounter was holy and I hesitated about leaving, wondered what life would have been like if our paths hadn’t diverged. At that moment I woke up, transported back to reality and left with a memory of what happens when we allow ourselves to “go there.”

We go to our past, pick up the scraps and try to piece them to our present, not recognizing we are jeopardizing our now and future. We are Lot’s wife, knowing we have—even being forced—to leave our old way yet looking longingly back and finding that the look paralyzes us (Genesis 19:26). We are a pillar of salt, a lump, unable to make moral decisions even though God has saved us. He came into our cities of sin, told us where to go and why, but we want to stay. So we become an unusable seasoning, salted by God to create great flavor in the world but our turning keeps us from being sprinkled (Matthew 5:13). Still belonging to God He again steps in to save us, sending us a dream, a friend, a song, a verse, a sermon, anything to warn us to not go there, to come away from there so we don’t wreck our lives.

Whatever place you have a yearning to go that will threaten your life, protect yourself before you turn back. Get an accountability partner, avoid triggers (like listening to certain songs or hanging with certain people) and dwell on the right thoughts, with the right people and in the right places (Philippians 4:8, 1 Corinthians 15:33; Psalm 91). We recovering strong black women need to do these things because so often we think we are strong then we fail (1 Corinthians 10:12). Even if we struggle, we must remember God is faithful and will jolt us back to reality, saving us from needless heartache and helping us maintain our ability to sprinkle the world with our flavor just as He intended (1 Corinthians 10:13).

My One Thousand Gifts List

#241-250
Joshua’s stomach feeling better
A self-inspiring blog
Sharing One Thousand Gifts with Christen and seeing her moved by it
Reading Nichole’s essay and her excitement about writing again
Getting my two books by Priscilla Shirer
Swiftly reconciling with my sister after reacting to an old offense
Feeling free after confessing my fault to my sister
Running with Joshua
Playing Hangman with Joshua
Playing the Matching game with Joshua and Nathaniel as Justus ate an apple and watched us

Friday Feature: Protect Yourself from Meat

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I know it’s the fourth Friday, but this week I wanted to say more about eating meat. Look next week for Friday Feature: Roundup Seven, this month’s installment of a compilation of links from around the Web that speak to the same subjects I have discussed in my Friday Feature posts.

Cutting meat out of your diet is not for everyone. I told you that God told me to cut the meat. But even if you continue to have meat in your diet beware of risks associated with doing so, like having slower digestion and additional effects (hormonal and otherwise) on your body from artificially fattened livestock. God did not forbid the eating of meat for believers, but I can confidently say that the meat in Jesus’ day did not have the contaminants we have to contend with in our meat supply today. So, all you carnivores, protect yourself by doing the following:

Limit your consumption. Try to only eat meat a few times a week, like on weekdays. You can also limit your portions each time you consume it. Another idea would be to choose a weekly ounce quota, like only 9 ounces of beef per week. Once you reach your limit, no more meat for you.

Select safe choices—Choose Kosher, Amish or organic meats. Kosher animals have to be killed according to Jewish dietary laws, which include the animal being healthy before being killed. For the most part, Amish chickens (if raised the traditional Amish way) have not been injected with any chemicals, like preservatives, and have been given low-fat feed to give you more meat and less fat. Organic means animals were given organic feed and not given antibiotics or hormones.

Prepare safe meat.

• Remove skin and fat. Eating skin and fat increases your chances of high cholesterol and puts extra fat in your body.
• Clean meats with food grade hydrogen peroxide. As I have written before, this decontaminates your meat.
• Cook meats well. You have seen the warnings at the bottom of restaurant menus. Many food-borne diseases are eliminated with high temperatures, but eating undercooked meats puts you at risk for catching these diseases.

As always, my goal is to educate you concerning natural ways I have learned to care for my body. Please pray for the Lord to direct you concerning your health. We only have one life to live and we must redeem the time that we have to be fit to do God’s work on the earth. Make a healthy choice today.

Joy Killers

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What Do You Think? Wednesday

We all have joy killers. They can be internal or external. Regardless of how they come to us, we can decide whether or not we allow them to fulfill their purpose. We can choose to cast aside our soul suckers and allow life to reign in our souls even if pain rages in our bodies or we are being buffeted in some other way. This is what Sara chose.
And when I read her story I cried, less for her and more for me daring to choose my joy-killing duo. What do you think of your joy killers in light of Sara’s courageous decision to choose joy? Leave your comments below. I look forward to your perspective.

Cultivating Contentment

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Usually, I murmur and complain about the same things: the children being children; my husband working late; me being a married single mother most days; and me not having enough time to do everything I need or even want to do. I even occasionally employ the joy-killing duo when other stuff doesn’t go my way. Maybe this sounds familiar to you, you too busting into a dissertation about your children’s failures, parenting disparities, unmopped floors and bushy eyebrows. Last week was ripe for murmuring and complaining, but I didn’t pick from that tree. Instead I created a tree of life:

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life…” (Proverbs 15:4)

I didn’t consciously create that tree last week, though I had practiced planting for months. I had gotten tired of hearing myself fuss when I already knew what that child was going to do, that my husband’s schedule was our current reality and that I rarely get to do everything I want or need to do. God had shown me that interruptions to my plans are the moments I was supposed to get. I have to take those moments, teach in those moments, grow in grace in those moments, laugh and understand that no one would die in those moments, except my flesh, if I let it. So I had worked hard at having a ready response for my children’s predictable behavior, celebrating my hardworking man, joking about the layers covering dirt on my feet and rejoicing that my hair still grew. Each day when my husband asked me how my day was, “It was good” easily entered my mind and fell off my lips. While last week tired me out, I shared with a friend that I was not weary. And at the end of the week I declared “This was a good week.” I noticed then that I had not once murmured or complained about my situation. I rejoiced that I had learned to be content.

“…for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Philippians 4:11

This verse came to my mind this morning after God told me to strive for contentment. I had just experienced the greatest feat of discontentment in my life—a whole week without murmuring and complaining, even under the guise of sharing the busyness of my week—and this God commands me. I was perplexed, my party crashed and there was no more celebrating until I examined the verse and noticed the phrase ‘whatever situation.’ I sensed God telling me to prepare for ‘whatever situation,’ any that I had yet to encounter. There would be new situations coming. I had conquered the usual ones, but there would be more to test my contentment. Just because I had learned to be content in certain areas did not mean that I had arrived. No one arrives until they see Jesus face to face. I look forward to that day but until then I have to go from contentment to contentment, continuing to learn to be satisfied with the moments that come my way and knowing I can do so—not in my strong black woman strength but only that which comes from Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 4:13).

My One Thousand Gifts List

#231-240
Christen helping me with the boys on Sunday morning
Christen watching the boys while at her play rehearsal
God keeping us safe on the highway when our car stopped in the left lane
Kyle and Saretha coming back to wait with us on the highway until the police arrived
Kyle and Saretha driving us to Andrina and Floyd’s
A friendly and helpful police officer
A hard working husband
Getting home safely through about seven inches of snow
A warm house
Andrina and Floyd bringing us home

Friday Feature: Cut the Meat

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When God tells you something you better listen or there will be dire consequences. This I know and I know you know. Though God is gracious, longsuffering and a divine power of peace He commands and expects us to obey Him:

“If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)

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For years I suffered in my body and was telling God I didn’t love Him when I ignored His nudges to get me to eat a more plant-based diet. Every time I ate this way, I had great physical, mental, emotional and spiritual results, but I always resorted to what was my norm: a helping of meat, and vegetables, legumes and grains as side dishes. God was telling me that my body needed a helping of plant-based foods and a side of meat. But I got stuck in my comfort zone and in poor health with skin and digestive problems, mental fogginess, internal emotional struggles and great lulls in my spiritual consistency. So on June 2, 2011 when I heard in my prayer time “Cut the meat,” I knew 18 years of God’s gracious nudges had ceased and He was shouting His calling for me, at least in this season. I am now a semi-vegetarian, more specifically a pescetarian, eating mostly plant-based foods and occasionally eating fish or other seafood. Almost immediately my spiritual antenna grew, my body felt lighter, my skin got clearer and my internal anxiety disappeared. People ask me is it hard not eating meat or poultry, but I had already scaled down my meat consumption, often only eating vegetarian meals. Already being used to eating less meat made my transition easy. I’m also loving a better body and rich spiritual life and don’t want to miss another two decades of such an abundant life. I want to redeem the time and we don’t know how much of it we have here on earth. Without a doubt, obedience to God is our key. With obedience we can open many doors that only God could imagine and He wants us to walk through. Don’t miss YOUR new body, mind and spiritual walk. Do whatever He has told YOU to do.