A HEALTHY ME – WHAT IS MY FOCUS?

Sometimes we cannot see because our focus is all wrong.

Ramblings of an OVEREATER

Lately, I have been letting the difficulties of life get me down. Once I am down, I respond with eating or watching TV. This is my escape, my addiction, perhaps. Many of us, probably all, have had times when we needed a break from the daily schedule. I have heard it said more than once that we are each either just coming out of a trial, currently in a trial, or about to enter a time of trials. Yes, there are probably people who enjoy their career, or are happy with the way life turned out for them. There are people who are more outward focused and rarely think about their own desires. This is not me.

I think I see the glass half empty most of the time. I see things that could be better, things I should have done. I look back and wonder many times “what if I had responded another way?” Or “if only I hadn’t done that.” This only brings about guilt and makes me want to eat more. I have made my decisions and sometimes the consequences are not what I would have liked. I look back and imagine a different life, perhaps a better life. When those around me who are close to me disappoint me, it makes me sad and angry and makes my overeating worse; and I again want to escape into the TV.

But I cannot allow other people’s actions to make me angry. I cannot allow other people failures or shortcomings to lead me astray. I cannot allow thoughts about what shoulda, woulda, coulda happened to make me feel guilty about my past. I am living the life I am in as a result of 1 of these 2 reasons: 1. God led me to this place and/or 2. I have made decisions that produced consequences leading to this place.

Here I am. This is me. The past is gone and I only have the present to live in and the future to look forward to. What I do presently will change the course of my future either for better or worse. What will my focus be? What will my course entail? Where will my steps lead me? I have to be mindful of how my thoughts and actions can change the course of my future and the health of my spirit.

I must:

• “Set my mind on things above” Col. 3:2
• “Set aside every hindrance, weight, extra baggage, anything that slows me down and run the race with endurance.” Hebrews 12:1
• “Keep my eyes on Jesus.” Hebrews 12:2
• “Change my way of thinking” Romans 12:2 (GW translation)
• “Watch and pray so that I will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.: Matt. 26:41
• “Walk by the spirit, and I will not gratify the desires of my flesh.” Galatians :16
• “Submit to God and resist the devil.” James 4:7
• “Be alert and of sober mind.” 1 Peter 5:8
• “Take delight in the Lord.” Ps. 37:4
• “Flee evil desires.” 2 Timothy 2:22
• “But on the armor of God (truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, God’s word, faith.” Eph. 6:10-17

So, today, I declare: “I WILL SET THE COURSE FOR MY LIFE AND I WILL NOT LET OTHERS OR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE THE DIRECTION I AM HEADED. I GIVE GOD, ALONE, CONTROL OVER THE DIRECTION I AM HEADED.”

What is my focus? JESUS FIRST

Once I start focusing on Jesus, my need for food diminishes. My appetite is lower because I am doing other things. I have 3 goals:

• I will stop watching TV during the day. Life can be more fulfilling by stimulating my mind and exercising my body. So instead, I will read, put jigsaw puzzles together, be creative, find something to do around the house.
• I will keep journals daily. I have made a spreadsheet with different sheets in it including an emotional journal to vent my feelings, food log and weight loss graph to keep my health in check, and an activity log to record things I do to replace the TV. I also have a spiritual journal sheet which leads me to the third thing I am determined to do:
• I will start each morning seeking God. I have made a spreadsheet/journal which includes activities I can do which brings me closer to God. Worship, prayer, bible study, reading inspirational books and Guidepost magazines, etc. I will be serious about this and record what I learn from His word and how I can apply it to my life.

I will keep you informed on my progress.

This is Life’s Journey with Terri Byars

Surviving the 2021 Winter Energy Crisis

Winter storm Uri has brought historic cold weather and power outages to Texas as storms have swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This past week has been an adventure to say the least. Due to the cold temperatures here, the demand for energy increased greatly. The demand became more than the energy sources could supply. Gas pipelines were frozen. Wind turbines were frozen. And the power grid could not produce enough power to make up the difference. So the state decided to start rotating power outages. A rotating outage is an electric power outage that rotates from area to area so no single neighborhood is down for very long. They were planning to have each power outage to last only 15-45 minutes. This will lower some of the demand so that we would not have a total state blackout.

Our turn was early Monday morning, February 15th. I woke up to see the power was off. It came on a few minutes later for a few minutes, then clicked right back off. We live in a totally electric neighborhood and, although I don’t totally understand it, I guess it is like blowing a circuit when you are running to many appliances on the same circuit breaker. So, every time the electric company tried to turn the power back on, it went back off. Many people in town were out of power as you may have heard on the news.

Well, having a church home is a wonderful thing. My family is in Tennessee/Kentucky. And my husband’s family is in Oregon and California. So, we couldn’t just hop over to one of their homes. I told my pastor that we were out of power. He and his wife first tried to get a generator for me. They were sold out. So a couple from church offered to let us stay at their house for a couple days. So I packed a few things and stayed there. Church friends are just as close than family. Maybe closer than some families.

Our house was out of electricity from about 2 or 3 AM Monday morning to about noon on Wednesday. I think the food in the refrigerator is still good, though. The temperature in the house got down to 49°. And the refrigerator stayed shut. But I did notice the mixed berries in the freezer were melted somewhat and the juice collected at the bottom of the bag and refrozen in one big chunk, LOL. So I just put it in the refrigerator and defrosted the whole bag. The chicken and vegetables were all still good. If the chicken tenderloins or vegetables had defrosted, they would have refrozen stuck together but they were not stuck together.

Once we were back at the house, we turned on the heater. It took 7 hours running constantly to get from 49° to 65° where we had it set at the time. After that, the system would turn on probably 80% of the time. The heat pump in the outside part of the HVAC unit was frozen and didn’t work so we had to use emergency heat which comes from a heating coil in the inside part of the HVAC unit. This uses much more power. I pay my bills online so I have a TXU (Texas Utilities) app on my phone. I can see how many kilowatt hours I use. This month’s bill is estimated to be 3 times as much as we spend on average. Good thing we have some savings built up. We turned off the emergency heat today as it is now over 40°. So soon it will get back to normal.

HOW THIS AFFECTED MY EATING

WEIGHT LOSS: Staying at another house for 2 nights and 3 days kept me from going to the kitchen to eat every time I was bored or craved food. It is there house and I didn’t want to do that. The past few months I had been eating too much and gained quite a bit of weight back. When I returned to our house, I weighed myself and had lost 5 pounds in 4 days. I didn’t keep track of calories while I was there.

EATING FREQUENCY: They worked at home and were in their offices much of the time and just ate 3 meals a day. Maybe one snack, but not always. At home I had been known to eat a meal, then an hour later go back to the kitchen again and get a little more. I may now try to keep it at 3 meals a day and maybe a snack if I am really hungry, not just bored.

TYPE OF FOODS EATEN: They used to be ranchers before they moved into town and raised cattle and grew wheat. They ate a lot of beef and are not overweight at all. They ate potatoes too. I used to be low carb, tried keto or vegetarian, or not eat beef because I thought beef was not as healthy. But this in itself did not make me lose weight. This made me think that it is not always the type of food we eat but the amount we eat. They do eat healthy though. For breakfast they have smoothies with rice protein powder, clementines, avocado, chia seeds and hemp hearts. I am beginning to think I was too strict on the diet I had chosen and it was not satisfying me so it caused me to eat too much or cheat on my diet.

CHANGE IN FOCUS: When I came home I decided to do more important things with my time than watch TV. First, I love to write and am starting to blog more. Also, I want to start my day in God’s Word. I haven’t been doing that much as a habit and will get back to it definitely. After my morning time with God, I will walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes or so. I also want to make this a habit so the weather will not influence whether I walk or not. If it is nice outside, I will walk again; but at least with the treadmill being a daily habit I will definitely get one walk in.

So, with morning God time, blogs, and treadmill on my definite must-do list, I find myself with a steady flow of activity from the time I wake up to at least 2:00. After that I can try some hobbies like puzzles or reading novels. And, like my work-at-home friends, I have to tell myself to take a break so I can eat.

HOPE FOR AMERICA

2021 – WHAT WILL IT BRING?

2021 is finally here. Many of us have been more than ready to but 2020 behind us. But what will 2021 bring? Is there hope for America? Throughout the years we have all seen our share of tragedy—natural disasters, famine, economic collapse, drought, wars, and racism just to name a few. And now we are in the midst of a plague. 2021 is here, but the plague is not over. Hospitals are still full of patients who are sick with COVID-19. Where do we go for relief? Can we look to our leaders? As we look up to our national leaders, even there we see conflict as Republicans and Democrats fight against each other more and more, deeper and deeper with each new election year. The world is not perfect. And neither is anybody in the world. So where do we go for help?

WHERE DOES MY HELP COME FROM?

I look to the hills! Where will I find my help?

It will come from the Lord, who created heaven and earth

The Lord is your protector, and he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble.

The protector of Israel doesn’t doze or ever get drowsy.

The Lord is your protector, there at your right side to shade you from the sun.

You don’t be harmed by the sun during the day or by the moon at night.

The Lord will protect you and keep you safe from all dangers.

The Lord will protect you now and always wherever you go.”

Psalms 121:1-8 Contemporary English Version.

GOD IS ALWAYS AWAKE AND AVAILABLE

This passage says ‘he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble’ and he ‘doesn’t doze or ever get drowsy’. God is always alert. He always knows what is going on. He is our help that is always available to us whenever the need arises.

GOD IS ALWAYS NEARBY

“The Lord is your protector, there at your right side…”. God is always just a call away. He is at our side. He is ready and willing to come to our aid, and as soon as we call on Him, He will answer, sometimes even before we finish the request. The problem is that sometimes we do not ask. We do not go to Him for answers. He is waiting for us to ask Him. Only when we ask, will he answer us.

GOD PROTECTS US FROM ALL DANGERS, IN ALL PLACES, AT ALL TIMES

If we trust in the Lord, he will protect us from all dangers. He protects us “now and always wherever we go”. He does not bring calamity, the devil, Satan, is the one who brings calamities. But God sometimes allows calamities to get our attention. Is God trying to get America’s attention? I believe He is. God is trying to get the Church’s attention. He is calling all Christians to rise up and be accountable for our actions. He is calling all Christians to rise and reach our destiny, fulfill our purpose, and extend a helping hand to the lost and dying world.

2021 RISE OF THE CHURCH

Our church is going through a series this year called the RISE OF THE CHURCH. You can listen to this at any time by just clicking that link to the Trinity Fellowship Church Website. This is a call to the church to rise up. The series will continue for a few weeks as Pastor Jimmy Witcher leads us into 2021 with a call to pray and fast for our nation.

Rise up church! Who wants to be counted on the Lord’s side as we go through these hard times? Who wants to be blessed with joy in the midst of hard times. I know that does not seem to make sense. How can we have joy in the midst of hard times? Joy is different than happiness. We may not be happy; happiness is based on circumstances. But we can have joy because Jesus walks beside us in every place, at all times, and in every situation.

WILL YOU STAND WITH ME AND BE COUNTED WITH JESUS CHRIST, THE LIVING GOD?

WHERE DOES OUR HELP COME FROM?

A New Year – We Have This Hope

What Can We Hope For in This New Year?

We Can Have Hope in 2021

What is Hope?

Hope in Webster’s dictionary is defined as, “to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true: hopes for a promotion, hoping for the best, I hope so.” This is a hope that is unsure. We do not know whether or not we will get promoted, we just wish our boss will give us a promotion. It is our desire, but it is new a certainty.

What are many of us saying about 2021? ”I hope this is a better year.” “I hope COVID-19 ends soon.” 2020 was a year of great suffering for many people and we all hope better days are soon to come. But can we be sure that better days will come? Nobody but God really knows what this year will bring. But I believe. I know. I trust that better days are coming. Because I know Someone who gives us a better hope.

We Have This Hope!!

“God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to Lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

Hebrews 6:18-19

Hope here means more than a wish or a desire. This hope means, “to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation or confidence.” (from Strong’s Concordance). We can have confidence in God. We can be sure that what He says is true because God does not lie. We have this hope as an anchor for our soul. An anchor holds us secure and we can trust that He will show us the way out of our struggles in His time. WE HAVE THIS HOPE!! We all can have this hope if we put our trust in Christ.

Hope That Does Not Disappoint!!

“we rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured our in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:3-8 (CSB)

We have troubles in this world. They come to everyone no matter what kind of life we live. But as we endure through these struggles it produces patient endurance in us and proves our character. If we hope (with confident expectation) in Jesus Christ, we will never be disappointed because God is always good.

Hope in God

“Why are you in cast down, O my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him my savior and my God.” Ps. 43:5 (ESV)

“Then I will say to my soul, ‘Don’t be discouraged; don’t be disturbed, for I fully expect my Savior-God to break through for me. Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise him all over again.’ Yes, living before his face is my saving grace.” Ps. 43:5 (The passion Translation)

-Psalms 43:5 in the English standard Version and The Passion Translation

The Greek for hope in the Bible is also translated, ‘to wait’, ‘to expect’, to be confident’, or ‘assurance’. Hope is a sure thing. Webster’s dictionary also had a second definition: “2. Archaic: Trust”. We don’t usually use the word hope to mean trust. Most people use it to mean wish or desire. But we can have a hope assured and confident that God will work on or behalf. He is a good God.

Putting Our Hope in God

Putting our hope in God, or trusting in God is as simple as a short prayer. Tell God, “Lord Jesus, I give you my life. Take control, Lord, and show me how to live. I will follow you wherever you lead me. The only ways I know lead to sin and death, so I turn to you to bring me everlasting life.”