Five-Minute-Friday ~ World

The prompt for Five-Minute-Friday this week is WORLD.

Click to visit Kate's blog, and this is the link if you want to join us.

Here is the link where you can read other's writings on the prompt. 

"GO"

God is so good at turning any upside-down world we might be experiencing, right-side up!

As we view the world through the eyes of a sixty-something-year-old, it is different than the view we had in our fifties. That decade fine-tuned our world, so we have the beautiful view we do now.

The forties were a whirlwind of life, along with the agony of losing the parents.

God was not testing us, he already knew where that journey would be taking us.

As we tested the new roads ahead of us, the world, on the other hand, tested us almost daily!

Expectations!

They were overwhelming, and at times inconvenient, but we never gave up!

As if going through a loss of three parents in 13 months, wasn't enough, the arrival of our first grandchild just days later and the announcement of a wedding several months later, had our emotions bouncing from excitement to grief almost regularly.

Lately, I've been reminded of those years as I put together some long overdue albums. These photos showed so much love during those times, there was no other path than the one we took.

Reconnecting with Jesus during those times, showing us that God is in control of everything, was just what this family needed.

Yes, there is still some...

"STOP"

...work to do, but it is the same work that others have or will typically be doing, just the routine everyday ups and downs this world deals.

It's just not about this world, it about praising the one responsible for it, so that we receive the gift of eternity in the world that matters most.

Believing in that faith, even when it is dark, will shine a light on it.

The only thing you can do when the world is stacking things up against you is to pray, just maybe that stack of stuff turns out to be what was protecting you in the long run.

For the most part of the last seven weeks, we've been trying to get a special MRI done that kept having one set back after another.

Usually, this test is done as a CT and w/ and w/o contrast. Since I can't have iodine, the only way for them to see what they need is with the special MRI that requires a nurse and medication. I'm so thankful He had me landing where I did.

Though those weeks were stressful, causing several anxiety attacks, it is being done today. By Gods grace, it took those turns to get to a tech who knew exactly what needed to be done. I will be walking in with the armor of God on, praying the whole time that it goes smoothly, so we get the best results possible.

If you would like to shout out a prayer for me as well, His ears are open.

See ya next week!

John 3:16-18 New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Five-Minute-Friday ~ Question

The title above, along with the picture, always announces the prompt for Five-Minute-Friday every week. I usually then add some type of intro, sharing Kate's blog, and a brief statement about how it all works with the link on where to join us, and a link where you can read other's writings on the prompt. 

Without further ado...

"GO"

Does Kate peek through my windows when she picks her word for the week? So many times, it is a word that can define certain things going on around here.

Like this weeks word!

Each day when I log onto my Noom, I am asked a series of questions.

Why do we walk 10,000 steps a day?

What type of eating habits do I have? I learned I am a fog eater...and that it is the most challenging eater to overcome. No wonder I have been having a hard time!

How can you conquer your craving?

At the end of each day, it's time to test my knowledge. They are helping train my short term memory to become long term. It seems like I have been doing this in other areas of my life for a while. Might as well apply it to what I eat as well.

Have you ever come home after a long day and heard a little voice in the back of your mind that convinced you to ditch your healthy, prepped dinner for a bag of chips?

Even Noom knows my greatest weakness...potato chips!

As long as I continue to do the daily activities, answer all these questions, and truthfully, my end result will be what God has planned for it to be! 

Yes, even though I am using Noom to motivate, track, provide tips, hold me accountable for what I eat, I still need my Father, God Almighty, to have full reign over it. 

I am reminded of a photo quote I did a few years back...

"STOP"

I was watching an interview with Matthew McConaughey when he revealed the Biblical truth behind his son's name.

"Levi's another name for Matthew in the Bible," McConaughey said in an interview on Good Morning America. "We had talked about possibly Matthew, Jr. if he were a boy."

McConaughey said his favorite Bible verse, Matthew 6:22, also influenced the decision: "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light."

What does this have to do with the word question?

Simple, I am asked these questions to help develop a healthier eating habit. I must first see what these foods I have been eating are doing to my body. By answering them, my eyes than watch what I eat, making my whole body healthy, combined with my love for God and His love for me, it will surely be full of light!

Five-Minute-Friday ~ Goal

I'm going to forgo the introduction on Five-Minute-Friday if you don't mind, after all, the rules remain the same!

So here I "GO"...

What a perfect word for this week!

Last weekend, after our Friday Summer Splash day, I decided it was time to change my eating habits, and try to get this unrecognizable body under control. We've, well, mainly hubby mostly, started losing weight about six months ago, I was just tagging along and bouncing up and down on the scale. He needed to lose weight before his upcoming knee surgery, and I just needed to lose weight. 

LOTS of weight!

I had basically, "Let myself go..." and it wasn't on a cruise, nor was it a fun trip of any kind. 

It began back in 2014, when test taken for my liver, came back GREAT! With my next appointment set for one year, for the first time in three years, we decided to celebrate with starting a new journey, one that didn't include doctors, so we bought a new trailer and began planning to do just that.

By then, I had lost almost all the weight I had gained over the years before, only having about twenty-five more to go when wouldn't you know it, my thyroid stopped working. Seriously! Out of the blue, it hit me like a rock. Sixty pounds found my body in the blink of an eye had taken up residence.

Even last year, we had made a goal to do 40 adventures, big or small, to celebrate 40 years of marriage! Again, we succeeded in that as well, but not this weight thing. I lost fifteen pounds when I broke my shoulder, only for it to come back almost doubled!

SO why is this weight loss goal giving me such a hassle!

..."STOP."

Because I had myself believing it had nothing to do with what I ate, whether it's healthy or not! That it was my thyroid that controls this body and has been creating a roller coaster of distractions. 

True, but still wrong! 

It didn't cause me to drown myself in potato chips! Depression didn't either. I was the one allowing them to hold me hostage to this weight! Like I use to do when I smoked. 

I quit them, I can quit this too!

I am an OVERCOMER! 

I have proven it to myself over and over again. 

I BELIEVE I can do it again!

But just like cigarettes, I needed help.

With the help of Noom, I am holding myself accountable, just as I did with those cigarettes!

Going cold turkey quitting smoking, is a whole lot different than quitting eating!

For my first week, I didn't lose any weight, but I was accountable.

I have a GOAL!

God knows! 

Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)

Reaching Forward to God’s Goal

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ June

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window...everything is looking good!

Added more crystals to the grand's rainbow maker. We claim it's better than "Pollyanna's!" The rainbows can last longer by moving the rod up or down as the sun sets. 

I am thinking...this summer is going to be a HOT one!

With a cooler and a most pleasant May over, June arrived with us still able to leave the doors open with the cooler temperatures than normal for this time of year. That was until this week! We will be seeing the temp rise from the 105 yesterday to 110 today, to 114 on Wednesday, and back down to 104 come Saturday.

Yesterday's forecast has even lower temps lasting longer if you consider 101 cooler temps! We do around here, though, and will take them as often as possible till the fall when the heat breaks!

I am so thankful...for the advocates in my life. Not just my case manager or the many nurses, but mainly my daughter who absorbs the frustrations we deal with and handles them with the grace she does. Our boys have the same talent, as I see them deal with things in their lives the same way. I think about when their days are like what our days were when we were their age, only there wasn't all this social media stuff, and cell phones were becoming more available, but we had to help the parents with things, too, with the same love driving us. I love the adults they've come to be. I love watching them, parent.

I am wearing...levis and a red, white, and blue paisley blouse.

I am creating...more and more notes on the pages of my books notebook. Once this medical path we are on has been resolved, I hope to put those note to practice and see them come to life. It's always is the first thing I set aside during detours. After all, God knows more than I how all this works out. 

I am also creating more photo quotes. I really enjoy finding the perfect Bible verse or quote to enhance one of my many photos. Using the Five-Minute-Friday has been fun, too. As I share them, I hope they will encourage someone who might be going through some bumps along their road. 

Oh, and I joined another club...Anna's Block of the Month Club!

Which means I will be creating this beautiful afghan of the next year. I will utilize the hours we'll be driving to Phoenix over the weeks ahead, as I refresh my aged brain on some stitches I have forgotten how to do. The results should also produce a few others as well. 

I've been watching...a couple new things, Northern Exposure and Designated Survivor on NetFlix, to name just two. On my down days, I tend to binge watch somethings, like Grace & Frankie, who makes me laugh! We get a kick out of the Bachelorette! Of course, we rarely miss NASCAR. 

I am learning...that things can grow in containers, just don't forget to water them. Almost lost the cantaloupe and watermelon because I didn't water them the evening before or the morning and the heat showed up, drained them, and they looked very droopy that evening. By morning, they had perked back except for few leaves. They both are vining out producing lots of flowers, so we should have some fruit. The pumpkins are getting big and should start vining at any time.

In the garden...hubby is repairing the water pump that delivers the water to its storage tank. Though it's late to do anything out there this season, we should be ready for our fall planting. In the meantime, and when our temperatures allow it, there is some clean up that still needs to be done. We would like to lay down the pavers and rocks that create a path between the raised planting beds. Plus the gazebo needs its new canopy put up. 

From the kitchen...we are changing it up even more! From the way we shop, to what we purchase, to how we prepare it, it's all part of our new healthier eating campaign we started. Hubby has done very well on his low carb/no carb diet but still has 25 pounds to go to his ideal surgery weight, while I now top in at a whopping 225 pounds. It's like what he lost, I found! I hate typing that, but it's my reality right now. With my thyroid finally under control, it's time I do something to get rid of the 80 pounds it and potato chips left behind. (see the photos at the end. In the first one, you can see them! I came home from that wonderful day and decided it was time to do something about them, it was time to lose those Lays potato chips you can't eat just one of!)

I am not happy with who I see in the mirror.

So I decided to join Noom for help with a plan, along with the accountability, encouragement, suggestions,  and support. I used an app similar to this when I stopped smoking. So I know I can do it!

I thought last year when 15lbs came off so quickly after my fall, the therapy would have shown more results besides mobility. Though my steps were increasing, my calorie counts didn't decrease. It won't happen if each side keeps fighting with the other. Something had to kick it into gear! 

ACCOUNTABILITY!!!

As I did when I quit smoking, if I don't buy them I won't smoke them, if I don't buy the snacks, I won't eat them. Using the app Smoke Free  - Quit Smoking Now for that habit was such a big help, I'm giving Noom the same dedication. 

For the most part, our dinner meals tend to be healthy, we rarely eat out, except for when we're traveling. It's the lunches at those fun, fast food places that help make the calorie counts go up. Of course, chips are a big part too!

With Noom, my goal is to retrain my brain, do the steps each day, and in 8 months, I should be at my target weight, the goal I set for myself to just not be ready for a cruise next fall, but for next summer as well. 

How I felt Friday is changing as of Sunday! 

Hopefully, after hubby's knee replacement in November, he'll join me on my walks, too. With everything that is going on medically for hubby and I, changing how and what we eat will be a big help all the way around. I already see some other changes, and I'm already impressed!

One of my favorite things...is watching the grand's having fun, sliding, splashing, and floating at the annual Summer Splash at our local waterpark. Its put on by our local contractor association group and supported by us and other local business in town. It's always a great day for all! 

With that, my June Daybook is a wrap. 

Speaking of wrap, I have a few more shower gifts to get wrapped and mailed out. 

See ya next month!

* click on the image to view the original size *

you can join the simple woman's daybook where every day is a blank page,

and participate in creating a list of the simple things and everyday moments of our daily lives.

Five-Minute-Friday ~ Well

Time for Kate's Five-Minute-Friday link-up, with the word "Well."

The rules remain the same, each week we write for five minutes, using a one-word prompt that Kate provides. Write with "no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write." then link up to her blog. 

"GO!"

Well, well, well...

I know God's timing is flawless, I understand well. I've been patiently waiting for things to fall into place so we can get some answers.

I certainly was not expecting what I heard. But God knew!

Which is why the Holy Spirit has been flying with me, reminding me not to blow my top, break down in tears, or cuss like a sailor. The journey to this point hasn't been all joyful. With our insurance carriers case managers assurance, we've had no insurance issues, but the people who are supposed to receive those authorizations to schedule say there are! The number of times we have had to tell them the hold up is with them was ridiculous. What a circus!

Yesterday's appointment was actually made for Thursday since we had plans to attend a Splash into Summer event with the grand's.

Well, let's just say it didn't go as smooth as we were told and had prayed on. I was definitely not prepared for the pain! I'm just a bit bummed that it interfered with me truly enjoying yesterday. I know the time spent was full of so much fun, but I could only take a small number of photos and float around the lazy river. Usually, I'm walking the decks and waiting at landings capturing all their fun!

When something like this comes along, that tries to meddle in my joy, I know that all is well with my soul when calm comes over me that only He can deliver.


"STOP"