Let's See How It Looks

     Much of the news lately has dealt with state legislators drafting bills allowing a business to deny service based on religious beliefs. One of the first things that comes to mind for me is our favorite middle eastern store/restaurant. They have the very best spices, coffee beans, hummus, and babaghanouj. If this law is passed in Missouri, they could deny me service based on my Christianity. If an atheist family buys the local restaurant that serves the best homemade tenderloins, they could deny me service. If some non-denominational church buys the local grocery store, they could deny me service because I am divorced and remarried....the list goes on and on and on...as a Christian I could be denied service! What atmosphere are we setting up for ourselves?

     Due to my Mom being 83 years old and realizing that her time left here with us is limited, she and I have had conversations about life after death. So, I am wondering what it looks like at 'the pearly gates' if these bills get signed into law......

     A small business bakery owner passes away, he has his 'interview' with God before entering heaven and it goes like this:

God: what was your job on earth?

baker: you blessed me with the gift to bake delicious cookies, cakes and confectionaries and to decorate them beautifully

God: and did you use your gift wisely?

baker: oh yes

God: please explain

baker: well, my wife and I went to church faithfully, we were always in a Bible Study, we prayed before meals and followed your commandments. we ran our business together for over 55 years in the same location.

God: hmmmm, interesting. And what did you do for your community and neighbors?

baker: in the early 2010's we volunteered for a political campaign and took left-over cookies and cupcakes by their office 3 times a week. we wanted him elected because we believed like him that we shouldn't have to serve people not living by Your commandments

God: really, and how did that work?

baker: wonderful, we no longer had to bake birthday cakes for that unwed mother

God: did you know that her son was fathered by the married son of your banks president and that his family gave him the money to move his wife and children to Italy, he never provided any child-support and his wife never knew about the child?

baker: well, no I didn't know that. but we also turned away that lesbian couple who wanted a wedding cake

God: did you know that they always tithed 10% to the same church you attended and started the clothing closet for women who needed professional clothing for job interviews and couldn't afford the clothes?

baker: well, no. but we also turned away baking cookies for some back-to-school night for that lady the leader of my small group saw going into an abortion clinic.

God: did you know she was raped and beaten and left for dead while staying late to clean up after a support group meeting for abused women?

baker: well no. I suppose you also saw the time we refused service decorating the 'welcome home' cake for the lady whose son was getting out of prison on drug charges?

God: yes, I did. Did you know he was selling drugs because alcohol and drugs were all he knew from his childhood, he never knew another way of life, no one ever showed him love, compassion or what life with Me would look like? No one ever volunteered in his community or school. Did you know he found Me in prison and started a Christian prison outreach program later that year? He brought thousands of men to Me.

baker: my wife and I served on many committees at our church

God: what did you do with unsold food at the end of the day?

baker: we marked down day-old items, this helped those who couldn't afford fresh baked goods and the rest was thrown away

God: was any of it donated to the food pantry down the street?

baker: no, those are people too lazy to work...You help those who help themselves

God: you might have misinterpreted that scripture

baker: we followed the laws of our state, helped out at our church when we could and followed Your commandments

God: in all of your Bible Studies did you ever come across a commandment regarding loving your neighbor

baker: yes sir, no matter where we lived, we were always good to our neighbors, except for that one time when foreigners moved in. we were pretty sure they weren't Christians

God: did you know they had to leave their homeland to escape prosecution from having a weekly Bible Study in their home?

What does God do at this point? Get out His 'ACCESS DENIED' stamp and check the 'due to a difference in religious beliefs' box?  This is NOT Matthew 22:36-40 Love your neighbor. Nor is it Matthew 25:34-40 where God calls us to help others and we are helping Him.


     I am not saying any of this to put myself above or ahead of others. There are times I know that I have fallen short of the mark and don't deserve God's grace and mercy. Where I struggle is passing laws that now allow for segregation and discrimination based on religious beliefs. What some Christians are attempting to do to others will also be done to us, that frightens me!

 

7 Articles of Clothing

     The past three weeks have been interesting. I didn't even wear all 7 articles of clothing. My job requires me to wear a uniform, so I didn't count that clothing. My pj's also didn't count mainly because there is absolutely no fashion to consider. I could get into the whole 'what type of pj's I prefer' but that would be WAAAY TMI! A normal day for me is getting dressed for work - I have two pair of pants and four shirts, this requires washing a load mid-week. Working from 6:15-2:15 (clock out at precisely the correct time, over-time is forbidden!). Normally I run errands on my way home from work because once I am home I prefer to stay home. During the past 3 weeks I chose to put pj's on when I got home. Upon looking back I realize I could have chosen a pair of pants and top for 'home and leisure'. The only times I needed to wear my real clothing was any evening activities, usually Thursday night at church, and weekends. One weekend we had to move my Mom's things from Sue's house to my home - preparing for moving Mom into a long-term skilled nursing facility (fancy words for nursing home) and of course that day was spitting snow and ohhhh soooo cooooold! that meant going outside my 7 clothing and finding two layers of sweat pants and three layers of tops!
     The most interesting part of this monthly experiment was cleaning out my closet in preparation for the month. I have plenty of things to 'give away' during month three. While cleaning out the closet I took into serious consideration whether or not I had worn the article of clothing during the previous 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and in some cases not for several years. There were also a few things that I very simply do not like anymore - wondering how much I ever liked them?!
     Anything spiritual I might have gleaned from the clothing experiment is how little I consider my clothing. Comfort seems to be my number one priority for any clothing. In fact, this is so sad, but I don't seem to give much attention to my physical self at all. I do shower regularly and use my Bath & Body Works bath wash and lotion; daily hygiene is extremely important; applying a little bit of make-up to 'keep up appearances' is important - that is more about feeling confident enough to face the world; and making sure my clothing is wrinkle-free and clean. For breakfast I am serious about what I eat and the need for it to be healthy and keep my body functioning through my work day. Lunch is always a healthy option because I so dislike that afternoon drag about 1:30 pm and they don't have 'nap-time' at work. But once I get off of work the healthy options are off the table. This is a serious malfunction in my life and disrespect for God.
     If this month showed me anything, I am two different people during the day and I would like to reign them into one obedient child of God!

What will Month 3 - Possessions bring to the table?

Month Two -Clothing

   'what did you learn the first month with your food restriction?'

Thank you for asking!  

   I went into this knowing it was more a state of mind than physical restrictions and changes. Honestly, I'm glad the food was first and it is over with. The biggest lesson for me is that fooling around with a high fiber, balance diet should not be fooled with and changed! Now, I am well aware of the fact that I'm overweight. A normal breakfast for me is old fashioned, cooked oatmeal with cinnamon and stevia. Lunch is fresh spinach, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, carrots, 1\4 avocado and about 1 tsp. salad dressing (sometimes, not always). Some days I add a small amount of meat to my salad and always have fruit. Some days I add a serving size of pretzel crisps. Dinner and after dinner snacking is where I go wrong.... very wrong. Stress from the day send me into the comforting arms of food. The 7 food items only for 3 weeks have left me bloated and gassy... maybe TMI...I am miserable... can not stress enough how uncomfortable I am even a week out and back to high fiber diet. The only good thing to come out of 7 was figuring out how to make iced Yerba Mate tea for lunch in place of rootbeer.
   If I were to give any advice for someone thinking of starting this experiment it would be this: figure out a course of food that is healthy and beneficial to YOU. Perhaps stick with 7 foods each day, but okay if it is a different 7 foods each day.

   Starting tomorrow I am onto another adventure. For the next three weeks I have 7 articles of clothing I can wear. Preparation was cleaning out my closet. I finally got all of my clothing on those skinny hangers, a project I started last summer! I now have a whole trashbag full of clothing that I can giveaway during next months experiment. I am not including my work uniform for obvious reasons. And I will probably be wearing pj's around the house because I didn't want to waste any of my 7 on my grungy clothes... the ones no one that doesn't live with me should ever see. My 7 clothes are: jeans, black pants, two sweaters, hoodie, green long sleeve pullover and sweater/shell combo. If the weather suddenly changes and we experience a heat-wave, I may need to reassess my situation. I will stick with a pair of slip-on shoes and my boots. Underwear is a given... so it doesn't count... unless you don't have it... lol!

   I am looking at this experiment in excess from a state-of-mind. The food was difficult, not only did it upset my stomach, but was darn near impossible when I was out with family. And it involved a lot of prep time for the next days food. The clothing may actually save me time because I won't be standing at the closet door wondering what I will wear. The challenge will be not having my 'go to' outfits or based on my mood. Honestly, I do so many things without any thought. This experiment is setting me up to stop and think... how much of my life is spent doing the easiest and fastest... not always what is best for me, best for my family, best for the environment, best for the world.......

   How is having only 7 items to wear going to play out.................?

Holy Camoly

Chicken...chicken...chicken...balk, balK, baLK, bALK, BALK!!!(yes, I googled the spelling of the chicken sound)Everywhere I look it's chicken. After one week I am so done with chicken. At lunch on Friday I had turkey - well, you've heard the phrase 'birds of a feather flock together', so turkey HAD to be an acceptable exchange for chicken. I have even considered tuna from Chicken of the Sea brand...see, it says chicken right there on the can  so it has to be okay...I haven't bought any YET!

     This really is hard, not that I thought it was going to be easy. On Thursday I had a bit of a melt-down. My car was back at the mechanics, that would be #5 in about 6 months! Two days after getting it back with a new clutch the engine was revving at 4 rpm's at each stopped intersection...UGH! DeWayne delivered the bad news...he and his guys have no idea what the problem is...$100 for a treadmill visit with the Ford dealership should give them the answers. Tuck rolled his eyes and explained in detail that it is not a treadmill for cars, it is...blah...blah...blah...sounds like a treadmill for cars to me! I am dependent on my son for a ride to and from work every day without wheels of my own. Yep, Tuck is sick, his phone is acting up and he wasn't there at the end of my day! Now I am freezing my tail-feathers (freshly grown from all the chicken and eggs I am eating) off for 20 minutes waiting in the parking lot at work...waiting...waiting...calling and getting voicemail...calling and getting voicemail...texting...it is now getting ugly!!! Finally I call my son-in-law, he will come and pick me up. By the time I got home I just wanted a root beer and a small piece of chocolate to take the edge off! This is where I went wrong and Kari Jobes knows the right answer:

         I believe you're my healer.
         I believe you are all I need.
         I believe you're my portion.
         I believe you're more than enough for me.
         Jesus, you're all I need.

Here she is on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v_PWr98uuk . We had the privilege of experiencing her gifts at the Women of Faith conference. 
     This first week I have come to realize that I am not preparing in advance enough. Not to even mention what this different diet is doing to my digestive system, I am used to a lot more fiber! Enough said! This is a new week and I am not giving up, a few adjustments to my food prep and a lot more changes to my state of mind, attitude and not thinking of food first to 'take the edge off'...wonder if that is a side-effect for those of us who don't drink, smoke and do drugs? What do you go to when you just need a little breathing room? 

Everythings-a-changin'

     Well, here I am, the 6th day of the year and living out My One Word, the 2nd day of my '7' experiment, retraining myself to read every day and attempting to clean and organize. 
     Yesterday was a good day. I have a few food items that I am trying to finish eating so they are not wasted. We had Chinese food on Saturday, mine was chicken and I decided to finish it off for lunch yesterday and today. There is my birthday pie that will be gone tomorrow...today if I didn't show a little bit of restraint... Oh, and the waffle batter will be wheat in a day or two when it is gone. Wheat bread is on my list, so I'm thinking that wheat waffles in the mornings with a poached egg will make a fine breakfast. I make the batter from scratch and am using stevia in place of sugar. There is only one packet for batter that lasts about 6-8 days...not too shabby if I do say so myself! And I'm only making half a waffle each serving. Along with my breakfast I am enjoying a chai tea latte...it is NOT on my 7 food list...I took artistic liberties and decided that tea, water and juicer juice with my fruit and veggies is acceptable. 
     My biggest concern this first week is that there is waaaay toooo muuuuch focus on food when I am trying to not focus so much on food. Making sure I am eating from my list of 7, planning ahead for the day so I don't find myself eating something not on the list because I don't have anything prepared from the list...UGH!...food in my face! Okay, calming breath....inhale.....exhale. I am only looking at 7 foods, not from the plethora of options in my kitchen and pantry. There is a stash of junk food snackies waiting for the end of January. They are from my Christmas stocking, I know, it's amazing that they even still exist. Before you give me more credit than I have coming to me, I have been sick since November. This sinus/cold/flu virus thingy invaded my body and likes it in there, has created a beach-front home and doesn't plan on moving out anytime soon. I tried to evict the little buggers, but they are standing their ground! Perhaps after eating nothing but chicken, eggs, spinach, carrots, apples, nuts and wheat bread products for 3 weeks they will figure I have gone bat-dung crazy and move on out! 
     My One Word for 2014 is Authentic. After reading Made to Crave by Lysa Terkuerst I really wanted Jesus Girl to be MOW...I know, that is two words...I could take out the space between the words and make it one word?! It's obvious I like to make up my own rules. So, I started thinking about what constitutes a Jesus Girl, what kind of qualities does she have and 'authentic' kept coming up. I want to be authentic in my relationship with God, with being a better wife, in intentional listening with my children, spending quality time with my granddaughters, and the list goes on. 
     My goals for today are to read another chapter in 'Enough' and answer the questions and to clean off the shelving around the computer...that should take me up to bedtime.