Measuring Up?

Very fitting words I needed to hear... thought someone else might too... quoted from a blog I read...

Don't Try To Measure Up ...

It is a nasty cycle trying to measure up all day long as a wife, mother, friend, daughter, or sister ... I have given myself permission to NOT get it right all day long EVERY DAY ... There are some days when I am a really good wife, but not such a great mom.   Weeks when I am good friend, but stink as a wife and then there is the rare moment when I do a pretty good job with all the titles God has called me to be ...

It is funny when people ask, HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL ...?  Well, I really don't very often ... I am a type A personality, so organizing and check lists are my DREAMLAND, but that doesn't always work in the moment ... And I have decided to just laugh it off when things don't go my way or I lose my sanity !!!! hee hee

Give yourself permission to FAIL because it is in those moments when God can do a great work in you ... It is like you give HIM permission to mold you again into the person HE wants you to be ... ... always check in on how [you] are doing in [your] marriages and [your] relationship with the LORD ... These two relationships are the corner stones for all the rest ...

So always remember on the days when it just isn't clicking don't hold on to that feeling ... Open up your heart and let the LORD re-direct you and refine you ... It is important to feel defeated at times in our flesh ... It puts ETERNAL things in perspective ...

You are fearfully and wonderfully made according to scripture, so if the God of the Universe made you then HE can use you just the way your are !!!

... I am real, I am a mess, I am normal, I am crazy and so much more ... I just want to be a vessel for God and I know you do too, so DON'T TRY TO MEASURE UP to anyone, but the person God has called you to be ...

That last line really summed it up for me... who am I trying to be anyway? Even if I attempted to be the best wife ever (trust me, I'm far from it!!!) without God and pursuing that end for the right reasons (to minister to and love my husband, and to glorify God), it's pointless anyway. Thankfully I have a Savior and a husband that loves me for me. A reminder again that it's not about me anyway. Thank you Lord!

Phil 1:6 

"being confident of this, 

that he who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion 

until the day of Christ Jesus."

Memphis SNOW

SNOW. We've had it more frequently than I've ever seen in Memphis, usually not much, but it has fallen more often this year than ever before. Today I actually took the time to take some photos and video of the snow and activities. The thought and especially the sight of snow sends Memphis, TN into a frenzy.

My drive to and from work usually takes about 30 minutes.... today however, it took 1 hour, 45 minutes to make my way home and once I arrived, I was unable to pull into the driveway to the combination of the slope of the drive and the multiple inches of snow accumulated... I slid down every time I tried, so the hubby did it for me... he drove up the neighbors driveway to get up and went through the "grass" between our driveway and theirs to park in the appropriate spot. Took some photos with my phone on my way home of the view (below). Saw lots of folks slip, slide, and bump into one another on my way, but thankfully I made it safe and sound... slow and steady won the race!

2:05 pm - Collierville Town Square Area

3:35pm - Estate and Park Ave - Car on ride slid into the curb

Mr. McGoo likes the snow, I on the other hand like how it looks, but rather not have anything to do with it... I told Mr. McGoo today that when we have kiddos he'll have to be the one out playing (shouldn't be a hard stretch for him) and I'll just take some photos and make my way back into the warm house to prepare hot chocolate for their arrival back indoors. Good plan, huh?

Shot from Mr. McGoo with his clever quote from Dex: "And to think I could have been pulling a sled in this..."

5:20 pm - McGoo house snow measurement.... 3.75 inches

The furbabies enjoyed some time in the snow. Dexter loves eating it and running in it. I guess Kodi could take it or leave it. We took some videos of the boys once I got home... most will not care for these videos, mostly because I'm horrible at videography it seems and also because all of them are of our dogs enjoying the snow but I couldn't help myself since they're MY babies... enjoy if you dare.

 

 

Now that I've completed some necessary homework, I'm enjoying the rest of the evening with my boys... McGoo style chili is on the stove thanks to Mr. McGoo, Mmmm, Mmmm (he made dinner last night too...yeah, he's a keeper). Hope this posts finds you warm and toasty tonight.

Yummy McGoo Homemade Hot Chocolate courtesy of my hubby!

On a totally unrelated note (because I'm waiting for these videos to load onto blogger)... The game show "A Minute To Win It" is on the tube... that show, although I'm entertained by it, totally stresses me out. What about you? ha!

Furbabies

Haven't shown off our furbabies in awhile and realized we had a couple new photos of our boys... so here they are in all their splendor. We love our furbabies and are thankful for them.

Ready for some warmer weather so I can be a better momma and take them on some regular walks soon. I know they'd appreciate that change of pace too!

Lazy Evening with the furbabies

Dexter and Kodi - McGoo Furbabies

Pouring on the Pounds?

A friend shared this article with me today... take a read and definitely watch the ad at the end of this post. As a "drinker", I consume more beverages than I often eat. Always a beverage nearby (water, coffee, hot chocolate, sodas, juices, etc, etc). I definitely need to do better about my choices of beverages. I love the quote in this article that says,

"It does make sense to target sugary drinks as a behavior modification and encourage people to have something else instead," she said. "It seems to be one of the easiest changes people can make in terms of the overall calories they're taking in."

Maybe this article will also assist you in making better choices in the things we put into the body God has blessed us with. And even though Paul is talking specifically about sexual purity when in this section of the Bible, I'm prone to believe that it also applies to our health...1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)- "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

Health Officials Unveil Explicit 

Anti-Sugar Diabetes Ad

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans

An overweight man is shown drinking a bottle of soda in the morning, a sweet tea at lunch, a giant frothy iced latte in the afternoon and more soda with dinner. The number of packets of sugar in each heavily sweetened drink appears, ending with the staggering total of 93 packets gulped down that day.

But then the PSA abruptly shifts gears, going into shocker mode. An obese man, presumably the same person later in life after he has gotten diabetes, is seen riding down the street in a motorized wheelchair. Images of blackened, gangrene-infested toes and the man being resuscitated after a heart attack flash across the screen.

The jarring ad ends with the warning: "Don't drink yourself sick" and asks, "Are you pouring on the pounds?"

Is this what it takes to get through to people about the dangers of sugar-laden drinks? The New York City Health Department thinks it is.

"Too many sugar-sweetened drinks are fueling the obesity epidemic," Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said in a statement. "Obesity and the serious health consequences that result are making hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers sick or disabled. This new campaign shows how easy it is to drink a staggering amount of sugar in one day without realizing it."

The Health Department says the graphic ad intentionally tries to frighten people into curbing their consumption of over-sweetened drinks and adopting better eating habits.

Nutritionist Megan Fendt of the Gerald J. Friedman Diabetes Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center said such shock ads can have mixed results.

"Scare tactics are going to work for some people," she told AOL Health. "Other people are going to totally ignore it and shut it off."

Fendt believes the Health Department does have the right idea when it comes to raising awareness about the health hazards of overly sweetened drinks.

"It does make sense to target sugary drinks as a behavior modification and encourage people to have something else instead," she said. "It seems to be one of the easiest changes people can make in terms of the overall calories they're taking in."

But the PSA's depiction of blackened, gangrenous toes as a consequence of diabetes is questionable, since the condition is so rare.

"Those [effects] are not that common. They're usually very end-stage," Fendt said. "Those are generally in people with very, very poor control and not a lot of follow-up. It's not like you get diabetes and you wake up a day later and your toes fall off."

Heart attacks like the ones shown in the ad more frequently befall those with the disease, she said.

More than 700,000 New Yorkers currently have diabetes and more than a million suffer from a condition known as pre-diabetes, according to the Health Department. The blood-sugar illness -- which has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers -- leads to about 1,700 deaths, 2,800 amputations and 22,000 hospitalizations just in New York City alone, the news release said.

It isn't the first time the city's health officials caused a stir with a public service announcement. Last month, an AIDS ad showing explicit photos of anal cancer sparked controversy.

The diabetes campaign was launched on Monday and will run through February 22.

Check out the full PSA.

One Less - the least of these

Heard this song for the first time today. The lyrics are beautiful - be sure to listen below. Although Mr. McGoo and I have not been called to adopt (at this time or never, who knows what or when God will lead), we've been led to care for the least of these through giving financially and being fully involved physically with The Forsaken Children (TFC) ministry in Ethiopia. TFC works to care for the least of these in Ethiopia, the street children. Daily the ministry strives to care for the street children and the community around its compound, working to be the hands and feet of Christ while giving them lasting hope.

You see, too often as believers we either ignore the scriptures calling for us to do something, to care, to give, or to share our lives with someone else. Or we believe the lie that the problem is too big and my "help" would not be significant enough to matter so we stand idle. For too often I fell into the latter category - I felt the pull of what God was telling me to do, but felt trapped and insignificant in how to do so. The thing is, God has shown me over the last year and half that my "little" offering is all that He's calling me to... just like when Jesus took the small offering from the little boy of bread and fish to feed the multitude (John 6), He blessed the boys obedience and took the small amount of bread and two fish to make a whole lot! God simply wants our obedience, do our part, answer His calling, and allow Him to turn our little into what He plans.

Bring your small loaves of bread and two fish today to the Lord... whether that means answering the call to adopt one child personally, supporting someone that is on that journey, or by partnering financially (even $5 a month makes a difference) and physically with an organization like The Forsaken Children that are daily working to provide and care for the least of these... bring what you have and let God take it from there!

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

James 1:27 

Guilty Pleasure

The hubby and I were able to visit with my brother and sister in law (Mr. McGoo's brother and his lovely wife) and our niece on Sunday evening. We learned that Mr. McGoo's brother received a jerky maker for Christmas (totally up his alley) and is now making homemade beef jerky on his own. We were able to sample some of his creations and he even sent Mr. McGoo home with a few.

During this discussion and seeing how the jerky maker simply took raw meet and heated it while pulling out all the liquid within the meat, I came to the realization that I had never really known where jerky came from or what it was made of, just something I never thought about.

I knew I had a guilty pleasure, LOVING SLIM JIM's, but I had never really thought much about the tasty treat to acknowledge what it was made of and possibly how bad it is for me... maybe that's why I never thought about it, I was afraid of the results.

Anyway, today I did a little research on my guilty pleasure. The history of the "slim jim" is actually pretty interesting... see...

Overview

Slim Jim is a convenient, one-of-a-kind snack with the intense flavor and snap that consumers love. Slim Jim's unique combination of spice and attitude is captured in its advertising, sponsorships, and promotions. Slim Jim is the No. 1 brand of meat sticks and is available in a variety of flavors of meat sticks, beef jerky, beef steak, and beef and cheese. Snap into a Slim Jim! 

History

Adolph Levis sold pickles, relishes, sausages, and other popular snacks and condiments from his basement in Philadelphia during the Great Depression. But these foods just weren't the easy, spicy treat that bar patrons craved. Levis experimented with different ways to serve sausages, culminating one day in 1928 with the development of a cured beef sausage that would curb consumers' cravings. Printed on the jars that the beef sticks were sold in was a picture of a tall, elegant man complete with top hat and cane. Levis named him "Slim Jim," and the now-famous spicy snack was born. Early advertisements for Slim Jim touted "the ready-to-eat spiced sausage treat" that was packed in cellophane and sold for a dime.

I love how the name originated. ha!

So I checked the nutrition facts on my guilty pleasure treat... turns out it's about 3.5 grams of fat and 40 calories - however, as long as I only eat one of them instead of the 4 sticks per serving size, I'm looking good on my daily values of fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrates. I'm only in trouble if I consume 4 at a time, then I'm over my limits for fat and sodium. Also, I confirmed, the slim jim is made of actual beef - it's the first ingredient listed on the nutrition label, and I learned in nutrition class that means it is the most plentiful of all ingredients listed. The only disturbing this is that the second most used ingredient is "mechanically separated chicken" - huh....

Regardless, I've introduced you to my guilty pleasure, the Slim Jim.
Eat happy, my friends. I enjoyed one today (sorry, dad, if your stash is depleting sooner than expected)!

Power of Acknowledgement

Do you ever have days, weeks, or just times in general when you're beat up by the enemy? When you feel a little overwhelmed by all the things you do? You feel like maybe it wouldn't matter if you did it or not? Or no one cares?

I get this on occasion, challenged by the enemy. And at that moment I have a choice: believe the lie and be beaten down or rebuke the lie and choose to replace the lie with the truth.

You see, Mr. McGoo and I have an interesting and busy set up and lifestyle these days - he does school full time plus is the manager for the U of Memphis men's soccer team with typical life thrown in there, and I work full time (40 hours a week) and go to nursing school at night. Although my husband regularly works very hard to assist me in household responsibilities (he's "that guy", as UFrank would call him from the jewelry commercials)... The enemy's greatest trick with me and attempt to mess with my marriage is whispering the lie to me that I do SO much, I do everything, my husband does not see, does not care, does not do, etc, etc, etc. - anyone know what I mean by this? Hear those creeping thoughts in your head?

I repeat, at that moment I have a choice: believe the lie and be beaten down or rebuke the lie and choose to replace the lie with the truth. When I'm strong enough and on guard enough to be able to do the latter, the enemy becomes silent, but when I choose to buy into the enemy's bull... I can create a negative, miserable environment around myself.

With all this in mind (kind of back history above), I was reminded last night about the POWER OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT. The power of acknowledging the things people do and have done, whether for ourselves or those around us.

Last night I was able to experience/receive the power of acknowledgment when my handsome hubby stopped his studying to ask me to come to him. I was in the middle of cooking dinner, but he told me to head that way anyway. When I got to him, a little reluctant because "I was in the middle of something", I received a wonderful hug and words I needed to hear at that moment. He told me how thankful he was for me and for all that I do for him and our furbabies (the boys, as we call them all together). In short, he acknowledged me. He acknowledged that he saw me, that he knew what I was doing and had done, and he let me know. There is power in that! It spoke to my heart and will give me the extra ability to fight off the enemies lies next time he tries to get me to believe my husband does not see, does not care, or whatever.

As I began thinking about the act of acknowledging or thanking someone else, I came to the start of the book of Philippians. Paul begins his letter to Philippi by introducing himself, defining who he was writing to, and then by acknowledging the people at Philippi. He says, (Philippians 1:3-6) "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident in this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  What an acknowledgment, as Paul tells the people at Philippi that he sees them, thinks of them, and is thankful for them and the work they have already done! There is power in acknowledgment.

So the question is, who do you need to acknowledge today? Who do you see and can take the time to let them know by acknowledging and thanking them today for all that they do?

Now that I recognize the power of receiving such acknowledgment, I want to do better myself, working to  acknowledge and thank those around me for the work that they do. In the fast paced world in which we live, full of technology, I think we too often forget to take a moment to acknowledge one another - bless someone today by taking the extra time!