Zingers and Pictures

I posted these "zingers" in April...I am posting it again for my own sake.  I am not sure why, but I am still dealing with the urge to eat.  Still no bread, chips, sugar, etc., but I have had sugar free candy.   It didn't seem to bother me before, but I am wondering now if that has something to do with my yearn to feed.   It's not overwhelming, but I can't deny that it's there.  I guess I need to reevaluate, readjust...rethink.

Weight loss zingers for the Child of God

• It’s going to take more time than you planned for or wanted it to.
• If you weigh every day, be prepared for fluctuations and say no to discouragement.  Patience is vitally important.
• You may possibly temporarily gain weight with exercise.
• There will be days you don’t do everything “right.”
• There will be days you don’t do anything “right.”
• If you rely on your own strength, you will invariably struggle.
• If you rely on God’s strength, you can pick up on Monday where you left off on Friday…after that weekend food-fest.   And He will help you to overcome those overdone weekends and/or nights.
• God hears every prayer for freedom, but He requires you to believe that you have what He has already paid for with the blood of His son, our precious Jesus.
• You will hit plateaus.
• Some plateaus last a long time.   Again, patience.
• You may need to give up sugar.  It certainly helped me.
• You can do this…even if you need to lose 175 pounds.
• You don’t have to wait until Monday to start.
• You don’t have to wait until tomorrow to restart.

News Day Tuesday: The Prisoners of War Edition

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12  

Do you know about American citizen Kenneth Bae?  There has been more coverage of Pastor Saeed Abedini, but today, I’ll tell you about Kenneth, who is languishing, in poor health, in a North Korean “special labor camp,” for such crimes as crossing the border to feed orphans, deemed by North Korea as hostile acts to bring down its government.  From the Huffington Post: 

Bae's trial on charges of "committing hostile acts" against North Korea place in Supreme Court on Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
He was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, state media said. The exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes has not been revealed. Friends and colleagues say Bae, a Korean American who was living in Washington state, was based in the Chinese border city of Dalian and traveled frequently to North Korea to feed orphans.

There is a petition to prod our government  to step in and do as much as we can do for his release.   You can visit/sign that petition HERE.

Both Mr. Bae and Pastor Saeed, and their families, desperately need our prayers.  There is a petition for Pastor Saeed as well…you can find that HERE. 

Please consider signing these petitions.

Though it's not always in the mainstream media, not only are Christians being imprisoned, they are persecuted, tortured and killed daily.  If I were in their shoes, my continuous prayer would be, "Come quickly!  Even so, come Lord Jesus!"  praying for the rapture.   

I wonder how much longer God will listen to the desperate cries of His children before Jesus comes back to take us Home? 

Are you ready?

Monday Musings: The Musings Edition

Making a low carb commitment last week really helped.   There were a couple of times when I had to cling to my integrity that I did, indeed, make a commitment.  I had added “no chips and fries” in a comment on that entry, so that helped when I was eating out last week.   I lost 5 pounds, and I feel much more in control today than I did one week ago.  Well worth it.  I have lost a total of 73 pounds.   Relosing the 22 pounds I regained.   I’m thankful.

I’m working on my Margafesto.  Yes.  Really.   I started writing it two weeks ago, but within the first paragraph, I found my mind rebelling…recoiling from the responsibility of being a better person.   I am long used to doing things like water…following the past of least resistance.   But I really need some change in my life. 

Do you ever consider giving up all social networking?   Or at least taking a break from the countless hours spent in front of a computer screen doing…not much?  I do.  I also think about giving up this blog.   I’ve had it for four years…but I have been blogging for much longer than four years.  I probably won’t give up Margaret’s Musings…I keep thinking that one day I will actually write in it.  Write, as in words of substance, words that matter. 

Yesterday, Ole Boy and I went walking on the TVA Nature Trails…my foot is a little better now because my doctor put me on a dose pack (prednisone) for five days.   I have today and tomorrow left.   My foot is not nearly as “better” as I wanted it to be.  I keep hoping and praying.

I Now Have The Answer...

Sometimes I question myself on my “Dear So-n-So” entries.   I wonder if I am being unchristian-like in my sometimes pointed, sometimes fun-poking questions and statements.   The jury is out…I don’t have the answer on that.   What do you think?

What I do have the answer on is sugar.

It’s not like I didn’t have the answer some months ago.   But now…I feel the answer is reinforced.   When I look back over my now-defunct “diet” journal from last year, two things I was certain of:   I couldn’t eat sugar without repercussions, and I was being obedient to God when I abstained from it.  God made a way out for me and it’s up to me to choose the path He so graciously supplied; to choose, and to be thankful that I do, indeed, have an escape. 

I have been struggling (and gaining weight) because I allowed myself to fall for the ole “you can have a little” trick.  I now have made a commitment to abstain from sugar/bread for one solid week.  I have to clarify, and say that I do not plan to ever have sugar again, but because I have struggled with it so, I am committing to one week, and prayerfully believing that I will be “detoxed” from the poison that sugar is to my body.  I must remember that I can’t rely on myself, but that I can definitely rely on His strength. 

When I first realized I was struggling, I fell back into the mindset of “I have to…” trying to rely on own willpower, a mindset of being on a diet, limiting, counting...all those things that I prove over and over again that I can't manage to do.   I even made a new unpublicized blog (because I am ashamed to have fallen so far, walking a road I never thought I be on again) to write about getting back on the right track.   Well…Jesus is the right track, He is my freedom.   The new blog will go by the wayside, and I will write about struggle vs. freedom here.  It’s only fair, is it not, for the ones who cheered me on to be aware that I fell down.  Thanks to God, (who is for me, not against me) I can (and do) refuse to stay down.  

Thursday Thunderings

Dear Local Blogger:

I remember having a conversation years ago with a loved one.  I told her that if everyone is disagreeing with what you’re doing, they can’t all be wrong.   I wonder if perhaps there’s a bit of “no one is going to tell me what to do in my own space” type thinking going on right now, which is perfect within your legal rights.  It is, after all, your blog.  

You asked those disagreeing with you to name one 9/11 victim, referencing that we all could name the Twin Towers, but not any of the victims.   However, you may want to consider that 9/11 happened 12 years ago in New York; the local young girl hasn’t even had a funeral yet.  That makes a big difference when naming names. 

I really hated the old building is gone, too.  I am at a loss, though, to understand what you are thinking on this one.   I don’t believe you are as hard-hearted as this situation is making you appear.

Dear Student:

I couldn’t help but listen, you chose to sit next to me…and believe me, I tried to block you out.   Maybe you don’t realize that you say “like” no less than 8 times per minute.   And when you are gossiping about a conversation with your friend, that total doubles.   “Like, I was like, you can’t like do that.   She was like, well, like, I don’t know what she said.   But, like, I was like OK, like do what you want, and she was like do you think, like, I shouldn’t?”     The thing is, I could tell you and the young man weren't very well acquainted, and I just don’t think you impressed him…but I think you really wanted to.  At one point, I tried to tally how often you said it, but you went into a roll of “likes” and I like, lost count.

Dear Hair: 

Sometimes, because of the way you misbehave, I really do consider a wig.

Dear MidSouth Vendor: 

It just looked funny to me, for some reason, to see you in the fast food drive through line in your MidSouth Van ordering coffee.

Dear Jacks:

“Extra ice” isn’t to be confused with “hardly any ice at all.”

Side note:  I am a little hesitant to post this particular entry...but have decided to anyway.  For you non-locals, there was an old landmark building (I have photos, but can't find them!) that was destroyed by fire after a terrible accident that resulted in the death of a beautiful 25 year old girl and critical injuries to a 25 year old young man.  When I first heard the news, I was immediately saddened that I would no longer see the old building on my many trips to Tennessee.   I will miss it.   But I am more more saddened by the tragic loss of life.   There are too many variables to speculate on the facts of the case, who was thinking what...why...so I won't.   I do know that people of all ages make really stupid mistakes, and sometimes, those stupid choices cost lives...sadly, at times, the life of the one who made that last bad decision.