food for thought

What is your favorite food?  I have been sitting here thinking what is my favorite and I can't rightly say.   I like healthy, whole foods.  I like chicken or fish, fresh vegetables cooked lightly and peppered heavily, I like a hearty salad.  My favorite dessert is chocolate cake and whipped cream!

Lately we have been 'watching what we eat'.  I am currently trying to only eat 1300 calories a day.  I will admit:  I am hungry!! I am hungry even as I write this, but instead of eating crackers with peanut butter (yes I enjoy that!) I am training myself to drink water instead.(gulp gulp!)  And I want to know why is it when I lose weight it is on my face and my butt??   Just not fair!  :-)

But that isn't really what I want to right about.  

I want to write about another type of hunger:

spiritual hunger

I want to write about another type of thirst:

spiritual thirst

this is where I spent my morning time with Him

I believe that we can replace spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst with activities that in an of themselves are good but they don't fuel our souls or connect our spirits with the Father.  I remember someone once saying 'we aren't human doings but human beings'.  In order to fulfill the spiritual hunger deep in our souls we need to learn to STOP.

  I am once again learning to be still, to be quiet before Him again.

I had lost that for awhile now.  No that isn't quite true, I didn't  really 'lose it\ I had 'left it'.   On Sunday, 

Hank, from the church in Pandy Town preached from Rev. 2 about the church of Ephesus.

"I have this against you.  \You have forsaken your first love"

~~~forsaken:  give up, left~~~

I haven't lost my times alone with Him and my devotion to Him

I have given them up for other things.

Yes that is the truth.

But on Sunday morning I bent my knee before Him in repentance and declared my devotion to Him.  My desire is to truly be close to Him.  I am inspired by young Samuel who slept by the Ark of the Covenant in order to be close to the presence of God.  Nothing matters more then walking in His presence, because where He is there is blessing, love and light.   I am ashamed to admit that sometimes my feet hit the floor and it is late in the day before I think to pray.  It never used to be that way but over the years I have slipped.

But I want to be like Samuel who listened and heard His voice, and spoke His words.

So this morning while I was quiet before Him I sensed Him saying, "Don't assume"

I asked, "Don't assume what?"

Don't assume anything!

I realize I often assume what the day will hold, I assume I know what is going on people's lives, I assume I know what I will do, where I will go, I assume I know how Bob will react.. etc etc. etc. etc.!

Don't assume anything!!

So being a dictionary type of person I looked up the word 'assume' and it means:  

suppose without knowing, or take upon one's self.

OUCH!

So I prayed,  if I am not supposed to assume then what should I do??

If you know the answer to that then you are my new bestest friend and mentor!!

EXPECT CHANGES

In other words, don't assume I know what is going on, or going to happen

in the day or in the lives of those around me, but

expect that He will bring change!

I love it!!

So I prayed this and you can join in if you want to:

Lord, You are always active

You never slumber or sleep

You are working all things out for the good of those who love You.

Help me to not assume things because by doing so I am limiting You

and I don't want to do that.

I believe You are at work in my life and in the lives

of my family and friends.

I expect You to continue to do the work You began.

You are always at work

I expect change:  in me and in my world around me.

It's wonderful to trust You and I do!

One final verse:

Jer. 2:2

"I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me 

and followed me through the desert"

Let's pray that He won't have to remember the devotion of our youth, 

but the devotion of today and yesterday and tomorrow.

xo

Look what I can do!

I want you to think of the one thing you are the MOST afraid of.

Perhaps it is heights

or spiders

or change

or snakes

or commitment

or dying...

For me:  I had a fear of being over my head in water!!

I can't swim.

When I was a girl my brothers thought they would 'help'

and they would throw me into deep water thinking I would 

suddenly just start swimming

but all it did was increase my fear of drowning.

When I was 18 years old that fear hit our family hard when

my brother Rob, his two friends and the dog all drown

in a canoeing accident.

Believe me that only cemented my fear that

the deep water is a dark, dangerous and ominous place.

So how did I get to the place where I am now snorkeling

and as of yesterday:  diving down?

victory pose!!

Well it was a long slow process that involved patience from Bob,

and lots of prayer.

The first fear I had to overcome was the fear of drowning.

Everytime I went over my head I would panic

so I needed to learn to believe that the equipment I had

(snorkel, mask and fins)

were my friends and would help me breathe and float.

I remember the day I said to Mattie

"I am going to go out to the reef today!"

(which is definitely over my head!)

Once the decision was spoken it released faith in my soul!

When we speak words we begin to believe them.. good words and unfortunately bad words

I was blessed to have Bob and Matt hold my hands as I snorkeled out to the reef.

Did I enjoy it that day?

NO!

But did I do it?  

Yes.

So little by little I have been overcoming this fear and becoming more 

and more relaxed in the water.

I have tried many times to dive down but I just couldn't do it.

Well yesterday out in about 40 feet of water Bob said,

"Just look down to the bottom, and let your head drop down and your body will follow"

Amazingly enough it worked!

The tricky part now is staying relaxed and learning to clear my ears

from the pressure of diving down.

I have to admit I don't like looking up and seeing about 10 feet of water above me

because I keep thinking I am going to run out of air, I am going to run out of air!!

So you might be wondering, 

why is it so important to dive down?

Well I guess the main reason is to be able to see better.

Instead of seeing fish about 10 feet below me I can swim over top of them

I can see the coral and fans and the tubes better.

Everything looks better close up!

And the other reason - diving down is awesome exercise!

I have been carrying around 30 extra lbs. for TOO LONG and 

I am hoping this will help to shed those.

This is such a huge accomplishment!!

I thank Him for small victories

like overcoming fear and tackling a new skill.

Some new news!

I  realize I haven't written in quite a while.

We are in our 'slow season' right now and yet 

things haven't really slowed down they have just changed.

I am loving the changes though!

So what's new?

Well, as you may know we go to church in French Harbour,

and although they have alot of meetings during the week we usually just

go to church on Sundays to keep the cost of gas down for the long drive.

BUT, here's the bottom line:  we need fellowship!!

So we bit the bullet (not literally of course)

and we are now going into French Harbour on Wednesday nights

and it is very refreshing spiritually for us.

Bob was asked to teach on leadership to those in charge of various

ministries in the church so he does that while the rest of us 

(non leaders.. haha!)

enjoy a time of worship, the word and prayer.

It is sooo good!

celebrating canada day (roatan style!)

I have also just recently committed to meeting with 

another girl for one on one mentoring and fellowship.

We are doing an online study called

Lyfe

and it has been such a blessing.

Last week we focused on the importance of solitude

and I can honestly say that my times of quietness before Him

(I am not talking about bible study or prayer) 

but stillness before Him was incredibly rejuvenating!

It isn't easy for me to 'stop' but I am learning what it 

means to 'be still and know that He is God'

Part of the solitude is learning to listen

and DO what He prompts.

The other day, I woke up thinking about Harla who just had a baby

in the Roatan Hospital.

I felt Him prompting me to bring her some food since it isn't provided

and it is up to the family to bring in food for the patients.

I am so glad I went because that day was the day she was being

released from the Hospital and she didn't have any taxi money to get home,

nor did she have any clothes, blankets or diapers for the baby.

sweet little jarrod

Now before you go tsk tsk tsk you need to understand that the level of

poverty on this island forces people to live day to day.

I am reading a book right now called 

Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne PhD 

and it is really helping me to grasp the depth of what they face

and what we can do to help them break out of the generational belief

that it will 'always be that way'

photography forces me to stop and see HIS beauty!

Another awesome new thing is that Emily has come to Roatan!

Yes that's right!

I am so happy to have her here.

emily reconnecting with buddy

She is going to be volunteering at the Library in French Harbour

working with Miss Joan in organizing and helping out with after school programs.

As you know, being away from the kids is very difficult for me so I 

am always grateful when they can come down!

Today we went snorkeling so I made a collage  for you to view.

It is a beautiful world down there isn't it?

click to view large

Another new thing is that I have been teaching

3 girls on the island how to make jewelry.

You can read about it here

if you haven't already.

I am so thankful for the generosity of the people who 

come in on the cruise ship!

They seem to be really catching the vision lately and we

are blessed to be partnering with them to make lives better here.

Thanks again for your prayers, your support and love.

We couldn't do it without you!

xo