Eat, Drink and Be Merry

December 12, 2011 by 18 Comments

Thursday I went to a dinner party at my dear friend Kelly’s house. 

The table was beautiful and the food – perfect.

This is one of my troubles with the holidays…everywhere I go the food is perfect.  

I have this terrible love/hate relationship with food in December.  I seem to not be able to restrain myself very well…a nibble here and a nibble there and by New Years Eve I don’t fit in my jeans! lol!

 

But sweet Kelly had served a healthy meal of soup and salad and then off to the family room we went to talk and laugh and enjoy one another’s company.  

Midway into the evening, I wandered into the kitchen with one of the girls where we were greeted with a plethora of Christmas cookies.

 

In usual fashion, I picked up a cookie and immediately felt guilt…hmph…“I really shouldn’t be eating this” I thought…then my friend verbalized it…she said something like “I have not been able to work out in a few weeks…I really shouldn’t eat this.”   We both laughed because I was thinking the SAME thing!  But here’s the annoying part, we just ate a perfectly healthy meal…why are we in the kitchen beating ourselves up over these cookies?

I’ll tell you why – because very few women feel they are thin enough. 

With every bite we enjoy - there’s this tinge of guilt…stealing the joy of the gift of food God has given us.

Recently I’d been reading in Ecclesiastes and right there in the kitchen with my friend, I quoted this verse:

 ”So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.” Eccl. 8:15NIV
Eat, drink and be Merry!   Ecclesiastes 2:24, 3:13, and 5:18  all say that food and drink are a gift from the hand of God to be enjoyed! 
  

The smiles around this table are gifts from the hand of God.

The food is a gift from the hand of God.

The drink is a gift from the hand of God.

And oh yes, even the cookies in the kitchen are gifts from the hand of God.

And while I want to acknowledge that indulging in anyone of these gifts is not healthy…I also want to add, the enemy does not want us to enjoy the gifts that come from the hand of God.

The enemy loves that I can be having a perfectly enjoyable evening and yet find misery there in the kitchen! He wants to steal our joy!

And so I say with vigor – Enjoy these moments in December.   Savor the food, the drink, the laughter, and the love.  These are all gifts from God’s hand that he intends for you to enjoy.   Give thanks and enjoy!  Eat, drink and be Merry.

“The merry heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs 15:15

Walk with the King,

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Joy

Motherhood is a Huge Time Zapper!

April 13, 2011 by 30 Comments
I remember when my son lost his very first tooth. A funny thing happened, he swallowed the tooth – which made for a little pickle when I tried to figure out how we were going to do the whole “tooth fairy” thing!
Daddy wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation and – good news – the tooth fairy did indeed show up!  But not without my husband and I first having a discussion about the going rate for a tooth these days. My husband suggested a pretty high price – I on the other hand tend to be cheap, so I threw out a low bid and we ended up in the middle.
Considering the cost…do you realize how much these kids have cost us? I’m not even talking about money here – I’m talking about time and energy!
Before I had my first child, I thought the hard part was going to be the pregnancy and delivery. Boy, was I wrong!  First it was my nursing struggles ,which I shared on Monday, and NOW the hardest part for me is taking the time and energy to train my children to do what is right.
The wise mother takes the time to correct her children over and over and over again so they can experience the peace and freedom of living a life in accordance to God’s word and in peace with God and others. But this takes something very BIG – OUR TIME!
How are we doing with spending time with our kids? I have felt myself tempted to get the kids outside so I can get my work done inside. I have felt the pull of trying to get the kids in bed early so I can find some “me” time. These things are not wrong in and of themselves – but it is wrong if we spend the entire day – just corralling them like cattle from one activity to another and never spending real quality time with them during their day. 
Our children need their mommy’s time. They need us to take the time to look into their little eyes and tell them they are loved. They need us to just sit and listen to their goofy story. They need us to look up the answer to that weird question they have, that we don’t know the answer to – but they are really interested in. And they NEED us to take the time to read them God’s word and train them to do what is right.
Deuteronomy 6:7 says it is the parents job to teach our children God’s commands.  “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  The only way to live out Deuteronomy 6:7 is by giving your children time talking together.

Motherhood is a huge time zapper! I see some moms bitter at their kids for the time they require – they snap at them and growl at them for being such a burden. God does not want us to resent our children for taking our time and they should never feel guilty for the sacrifices we make as moms. Let your complaints of motherhood remain between you and God and not you and your children and cling to Jesus and his example in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

Now go let’s go look our sweet peas in the eyes and be there for them.  If this is a struggle  - we need a perspective change.  Let’s View our children as gifts – say it out loud to them – “you are a gift“.  Watch them light up – they hunger for words of love and affirmation.  When we see them as gifts - we open ourselves to the joy that they bring us – like when your first child loses their first tooth! So exciting!
Walk with the King!


This post is linked to Raising Homemakers, Titus 2sdays, and We Are That Family.


Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It’s a Link-Up Day!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

Filed Under: Joy, Parenting, Women Living Well Wednesdays

I Am About to Walk the Red Carpet!

February 23, 2011 by 40 Comments
The Academy Awards are this weekend.

It’s the famous ones who walk the red carpet.
It’s the honored ones who walk the red carpet.
It’s the beautiful ones who walk the red carpet.
It’s the talented ones who walk the red carpet.

It’s the wealthy ones who walk the red carpet.
It’s the gifted ones who walk the red carpet.

And I…I am about to walk the red carpet!
Every morning, I walk the red carpet right up to my sink where I rinse the morning dishes.


I am honored to have a husband and children to take care of.

I am beautiful in the eyes of the Lord, living out his will for my life as a wife and mother.
I am wealthy on the red carpet, for many in the world do not have a sink with running water in their kitchen.

I am gifted on the red carpet – gifted with the riches of God’s grace that come through my faith in Christ Jesus his son.
There is no greater honor than the red carpet walk I do every morning in my kitchen.

Join me, as you step up to your kitchen sink – in welcoming a joy that the world cannot understand.
My red carpet is…
A GIFT.

Thank you sweet Jesus for delighting me with this gift!

Filed Under: Homemaking, Joy, Women Living Well Wednesdays

Considering Your Trials a Joy

January 21, 2011 by 31 Comments
Last night my Good Morning Girls enjoyed a Girls Night Out. (We are missing 3 ladies in our picture)
There are 11 women in my group emailing each other each morning after we have our quiet times – I LOVE it!

We are now at over 1,000 Good Morning Girls Groups and at over 150 Groups from around the world! It has been SO exciting to see women from nearly every state in the USA including Hawaii and Alaska plus from around the world in Croatia, Australia, Korea, Austria, Germany, Scotland, France, and Canada.


Some of the ladies have joined me for a walk through the Book of James. And today we have completed week 1 in our study. Every Friday I will be writing or making a video to go with our study and it will be posted on my sister site at GoodMorningGirls.org

Going forward I will not duplicate my Friday post here but since it’s only week 1, I thought I’d share the video with you all here too. (Sorry it’s a bit too dark)

If you are not reading in God’s word on a daily basis, I invite you to join me in my walk through the book of James!

Walk with the King!


This is linked to Amy at Finer Things Friday.

Filed Under: Good Morning Girls, Joy, Videos
«Older Posts
Newer Posts»