Wednesday January 24^th 2024

Sometimes we find it necessary to create words that have not previously existed. Often this happens with slang terms or medical terms that come into common usage. Back in the 1990s I was part of a group trying to add a profession to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and at that time it was required to find the word in print in such places as a newspaper to support the request.

Today’s word is such a word: PRAYCATION.

I hadn’t heard this word before our senior minister Daniel Hetherington used it. The rest of the day I kept pondering that word.

So what is a praycation?

We know that a vacation is a time away from the usual tasks and schedule of our lives. We have come to refer to a staycation as a vacation spent at home, rather than going to the beach or the mountains or on a cruise.

A praycation then would be a time taken away from our usual tasks and schedule and spent in prayer.

In Mark 1:35 we read “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Jesus intentionally went to a place away from the tasks and schedule, the demands and the people, and spent time in prayer.

In Luke 6:12 we find “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.” So, He not only got up in the morning to pray, sometimes He dedicated an entire night to praying!

And of course, the Mount of Olives finds Jesus stepping away from even His closest followers to pray alone. “He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,” we are told, leaving his disciples to wait for Him.

How would we do that?

A praycation can be long or short – just as a vacation or staycation! It can be a time of personal retreat over a weekend, or it can be a morning or afternoon spent alone. It could even be an solid hour of prayer in a quiet place.

During a women’s retreat some years back, I chose to spend the afternoon free time in prayer and contemplation in the cemetery at the convent where we were retreating. I walked among the grave markers and prayed for each of the women whose bodies were there; I prayed for each of the women attending the retreat. I walked for a while this way, in peace and quiet surrounded by the autumn leaves. When I began praying for the words of the evening session I was to present, God interrupted my prayers with a directive: Go back to your room and re-write the evening session completely. I asked God to repeat that and He did. So indeed I spent the remainder of the free time re-writing, and He made sure it flowed from the fingertips onto the page.

What would God say to you if YOU spent some time on praycation? 

All eyes are on the weather this week – cold, snow, wind…. All forces that create a variety of feelings and also a call to action. Today let’s focus on SNOW.

Here in the mid-Atlantic we are unusually cold, and our lawns are blanketed with snow. It’s lovely to look at from inside the warmth of our homes. And there are some who enjoy getting out and sledding, snowboarding, or skiing.

Typically in winter all the trees are bare and the grass is not as green and lush. Then a beautiful fresh layer of snow covers everything with a clean coat and a little sparkle.

Psalm 51:7 finds David saying “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” When we think of sins we think of dirty transgressions… and when God washes away those sins we become whiter than snow. Not just covered up like the bare dead branches. We actually become snowy white. Our sins are not just hidden – they are gone! – as long as we ask God for forgiveness and we accept it.

Later, in Psalm 148:7-9 we read “Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him,…”

The snow obeys Him, along with the rest of the weather. God uses snow to remind us of the beauty He can make of our lives – He can make beauty from ashes, and allow us to live for Him and serve Him, unhindered by the sin that weighs us downs if we don’t ask forgiveness.

What do you want to give Him today? What forgiveness do you need so that you too can be sparkling clean like the fresh fallen snow?

 

Wednesday Jan 10^th 2024

Here we are again – it’s Wednesday, and for me that is weigh-in day. So today I have chosen WEIGHT as the Wednesday Word.

Too soon in the year for you? Well hear me out.

This morning, as every week, I looked at the weight – and recorded it – while chastising myself for carrying around all the excess pounds. Every time I carry something up the stairs I remind myself that if I just lost (however many pounds what I am carrying weighs) it would be so much easier. Every time I pick up something heavy, I make note that I carry more than (whatever it weighs) that in excess fat on my body all the time.

Every extra pound, every excess roll of fat, puts extra burden on my heart and other body systems. Yet I still do it, knowing full well that it would be better to get rid of it and that I have the knowledge of how to do so.

We do the same thing with the weighty burdens we carry on our hearts and minds. We allow stress and fear and envy and other burdens to hang on when we have the ability to cast them off.

Many years ago I gave my Sunday School class an assignment: each student was given a large garbage bag to take home. Into that bag was to be placed every piece of trash they personally created all week. Anything they would normally toss in the trash can (this was before recycling was a “thing” – I said it was many years ago!). And though I would like to have had them carry it around with them everywhere, that seemed too much to ask. Some had rather light bags, and some had fairly heavy bags when they came the next Sunday.

I asked how they felt about the assignment – and other than dumb and annoying, they agreed that it made them aware of how much trash they accumulated just by themselves.

So how about you? Do you carry around a lot of “trash”.

In Matthew 11:28 we read that Jesus said “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

All that extra weight – those heavy burdens we carry – can be given to Jesus! He can carry them for us!

Do you remember the song “Take it to the Lord in Prayer”? It asks “are you weak and heavy-laden, burdened with a load of care”, and tells us to take it all to the Lord in prayer.

All that extra weight we carry – that burdens our souls and keeps us from being the person God wants us to be – can be given to Jesus, taken to Him in prayer, and left at the foot of the cross.

Shall we pray?

Precious Heavenly Father – please take the burdens I try to carry on my own, and let me walk with Jesus, guided by Your Holy Spirit and ready to serve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wednesday Words - Magnify

 

Wednesday Jan 3^rd 2024

Welcome to the beginning of Wednesday Words.

A few years ago I received the declaration “I gave you words”. Each year God has built on that, so it now reads “I gave you words to encourage focus on MY Word.”

In 2024 it has been placed on my heart to ponder a word each week and share it with you.. So we shall begin with MAGNIFY.

 The dictionary defines magnify as “to make larger”. We use a magnifying glass to make words larger so we can read them more easily.

In Biblical sense the word magnify means “to extol, to glorify, to celebrate in praise”.

 On Sunday I used this as part of the message at worship. Yet I don’t feel it went far enough.

 Have you ever increased the font on a page in a document? From 12pt to 18pt for instance? This is what I do after writing a sermon or other writing that I will then present – I enlarge the font to make it easier to read.

What happens?

YES – it takes up more space and therefore more pages! Suddenly a two-page message is expanded to five pages.

In Luke 1:46-47, Mary says “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” In order to magnify the Lord in our souls – and in our lives – we must allow Him to become larger, to take up more space, to fill our spirit with His Holy Spirit and with joy. And in allowing that, we will find that there is less space for other less important things.

Back to my font example, if you take part of a sentence and make it larger, the rest seems smaller. If you look at a paragraph or page where some print is larger, you will look there first.

We want Christ to be magnified in our lives so that He is who people see first, and so that He takes up the majority of the space.

 Is my life magnifying the Lord?

Is yours?

Shopping Locally

 In this day of online shopping and big-box stores, we often hear the cry "SHOP LOCALLY".

Post-quarantine we are urged to shop locally to support our local merchants and artisans who were affected by shut-downs and online shopping. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we are urged to shop locally for Small Business Saturday. And now we are urged to shop locally because shipping is still being affected by COVID-induced delays.

So this got me to thinking again about the meaning of "shop locally". 

During the season we shop the local farm store for fresh fruits and vegetables. We patronize locally-owned shops and restaurants for meals. Our pet supplies come from a nearby family-owned pet store or are bought from the rescue where we volunteer. This weekend I will patronize local craft shows. Our nearby historic district will be hustling and bustling with shoppers buying unique finds and delicious foods from mom-and-pop shops that were still recovering from flooding when the quarantine hit them. 

I have no doubt this is happening all over the country. 

Yet these small shops cannot provide everything I need for daily life. And quite honestly I cannot afford to buy handcrafted one-of-a-kind items all the time. 

Yet I do shop locally. Because I rarely shop more then three (3) miles from home. 

Many times I hear criticism of people who buy from national chain stores. Those critics say we are supporting big companies far away that don't care about our community.

So let's think for a moment about those purchases:

• I get my hair cut at a "chain salon" - yet my hairstylist lives only a few miles from me.
• I shop at the Target a mile from my home, and many of the people who work there live close by.
• My preferred grocery stores are also within 2 miles of home. Some of those clerks live in that area.
• There is a large chain pet store about a mile away - 2 of my neighbors work in its clinic. 
• We sometimes order from a restaurant that is part of a national chain, but that young man or woman who delivers our dinner lives in our community.

My point: even when we shop at national chain stores - large or small - we are still supporting our local economy and the people who live within our town, city, or county. Though the outside of the store beckons you to a national chain, the people inside are your neighbors:

• That kid who delivers your dinner may be trying to pay for college or his car insurance. He might attend your alma mater or the high school you drove by to get to the store.
• That "older lady" who was your cashier today is trying to pay her bills because Social Security just doesn't cover her needs. She could live in the same senior apartment complex as your aunt, or the one near your house.
• The manager who looks frazzled works hard to make sure everything runs smoothly while trying to make a living to support his wife and children who might go to school with your kids.. 

Yes - even when we shop at Target, WalMart, CVS, Costco or Lowe's we are supporting our local economy. When you patronize those stores, you are helping to pay their salaries, and they can in turn buy things - maybe from a local shop or artisan.

SO PLEASE - shop with local merchants any time you can. Buy from local farmers, artisans, and restaurateurs. Shop as locally as you can. Start with the independents, then with the close by chain stores, remembering that you are supporting neighbors and the local economy. When you do shop online, those products must be delivered to your door, so you are still supporting someone local: that delivery guy or the mail carrier is a local resident.

What are YOUR thoughts? How do YOU support your local economy?

Give up "Giving it up for Lent"

Today is Ash Wednesday. Traditionally this period leading up to Holy Week and Easter is a time when you hear "I've given that up for Lent" bandied about everywhere. And what are you hearing?

"I gave up candy."
"I gave up soda."
"I gave up beer."
"I gave up sweets."
"I gave up TV" ... or Facebook....

You get the idea. In fact you get tired of hearing it. SO may people are complaining about what they gave up, and are looking for sympathy about their chosen sacrifice. "Woe is me" they seem to say, "that I can't have that delicious chocolate cake you have there because I've given up chocolate for Lent."

Then, on Easter, these people who have suffered through Lent are gorging on candy and soda and spending hours upon hours catching up with their favorite shows and all the FB posts they missed. No permanent impact on their life was realized.

When I was in 5th grade I had a wonderful Sunday School teacher: Carol Jean Vollmerhausen. She wisely counseled us to give up something we really wanted/needed to give up. At that time she suggested such things as not making our bed, sassing our mother, procrastinating on assignments, etc.

So here is a suggestion: give up something you really WANT to give up:

• Do you want (or perhaps need) to give up all that candy you eat that is driving you toward diabetes? Then use Lent to give it up for good!
• Do you need to spend less time in front of the TV and more with your kids? Then use Lent to give up shows you don't really need/want to watch (things you watch just because you are sitting there) and use that for some family activity. 
• Do you want to stop smoking? Stop eating carbs? Start making use of your gym membership? (this requires that double negative of "stop not going to the gym")

Again, you get the idea: Use Lent as a springboard toward an improvement in your life.

Oh - because this is really a spiritual season, perhaps that goal is to spend more time in the Word of God and prayer. Then try giving up 30 minutes of sleep each morning to start a new habit of scripture reading and meditation, or giving up 30 minutes of TV time or using your lunch break ... whenever you can "give up not spending time with God" and begin a new habit that will then continue well past Easter.

Oh, and try to only tell a few accountability partners - not broadcast it to the whole world in lamenting tones. You might even tell those people in an excited voice that indicates you are looking forward to this life change!

I'd love to hear what you plan to sacrifice this Lenten season, and after Easter I'd love to hear how it has changed your life.

More Thoughts on Eating Lifestyles

I have no delusions that any of you are following the way we eat with rapt attention. But in the off-chance that anyone is interested, here are a few recent changes and learnings:

GLUTEN-FREE
While we no longer stick to a totally gluten-free lifestyle at home, we remain gluten-reduced. All of the flour and pasta we buy are gluten-free. By the way, if you have not tried Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free flour, I strongly suggest you do.

As always, I continue to recommend that those who are beginning the gluten-free lifestyle refrain from trying to replace every item they normally eat with a store-bought gluten-free alternative. Choose what is most important. An English muffin or bagel at breakfast makes life bearable? Choose that.  A child who will feel more "normal" with a real sandwich for lunch a school? Choose bread for him/her.  Then make changes. Make wraps in a lettuce leaf rather than bread or tortillas. Steer away from pasta dishes (or cut back drastically - once every other week rather than every week or more). Find alternative recipes for things like pancakes and waffles for that big weekly family breakfast (see my note about the flour above - makes it simple to use your regular recipes). Just skip rolls and biscuits and crackers with meals. Use fresh veggies for dipping instead of chips. You get the idea.


LOW CARB
In September my husband's doctor advised him to adopt a low-carb lifestyle. Having adopted gluten-free and leaned toward Paleo over the past few years, this would seem simple, right? But I looked at what we were eating and saw more revision needed. So we cut out a few more things that had slipped back into the pantry. We examined the amount of sugar that had crept in. It has had some effect but not as much as I would like, so I am looking again for ways to cut back. Sometimes a drastic change works, sometimes it's a slow progression.

HIGH FAT
Before you jump up and holler, listen for a few minutes.
Fat has gotten a bad reputation mostly because all the studies have been funded by the sugar industry. And because people also misunderstand the relationship between the fat we eat and the fat we, well, wear.
Also keep in mind that "high fat" does not mean we are gorging on fatty meats - let's not fall into the mindset that fueled disputes over Atkins and other diets. It means that the perentage of Fat/Protein/Carbs in our daily eating is 50%/30%/20%. On an average.
Yes, we have bacon, eggs, and berries with whipped cream every weekday. That's 2 strips of bacon each, one egg for me and 2 for him, and a half cup of mixed berries with 2 tablespoons of whipped cream. We have discovered that this is a perfect 50/30/20 breakfast! It isn't the breakfast for everyone, but it is a balanced and normal meal - nothing overloaded - so that's why I specifically shared it. We each have something different for lunch, but basically meat/cheese with veggies and/or fruit. Dinner is another basic meal - last night we had pork chops (one 4 oz chop each) with mashed sweet potato (seasoned with cinnamon and butter) and a salad (greens topped with grated carrot, some nuts and seeds, a few dried raisins/cranberries/cherries, a couple tablespoons of dressing all in a large bowl). Again, the point here is that meals are normal and easy, trying to keep the ratio of fat/protein/carbs in line for the whole day.
Confession - we still have a dish of ice cream in the evening, but we have cut it to a real serving (1/2 cup) and we figure it into the day right from the start. The same with candy at the moment: I still have 1 ounce o dark chocolate and he has a small handful of his candy-of-the-week. (Looking at cutting that back, but we'll see.)

BULLETPROOF COFFEE
Several people asked about how I drink my bulletproof coffee, and so here's an update:
To a large mug (you'll need extra room - for 12 oz coffee I use a 16 oz mug and it's tight) add:
2T each butter (I use Kerrygold) and coconut oil (I use unrefined, but if the taste bothers you use refined)
1T cocoa
a sprinkle of cinnamon
a splash of cream (or the milk of your choice)
coffee
Put all the additions in the mug and then pour in the hot coffee.
Use your immersion/stick blender and carefully blend for about a minute. DONE!
I know, I had told you to put all of this in a blender, but I recently began using the immersion blender and it works perfectly and the coffee stays hotter. Plus the immersion blender is faster and easier to clean - just rinse with hot water and let it dry! So if putting this all in the regular blender and then having to clean that blender was deterring you, try it this way! And of course adjust the amounts of the additives to suit your taste (more/less cocoa or cinnamon or cream - delete an ingredient completely if you wish) because the important parts are the coffee, the butter and the coconut oil. Cinnamon and cocoa are also beneficial. If you delete the cocoa, you might find that a teaspoon of vanilla extract makes the taste smoother. If you like mint, toss in 1/2 tsp (more or less) peppermint extract. Have fun with it!

BOTTOM LINE
Food is our friend and our medicine chest. Eat to be well, stay well and get well. Adjust whatever areas of your diet and make permanent changes, not short-term (unless you are testing for sensitivity - then you may need to do a short-term change). Eat sensible portions. And don't apologize for your choices or feel pressured to at something you don't want in your diet. Make choices - and if the choice is to have a piece of cake a a gathering, do so without guilt. Adjust the rest of your day. Think ahead.
And most of all - forgive yourself and move on when you do something off-plan. None of use is perfect - least of all me!

Please send your experiences and comments and suggestions!