To the Body of Christ

Sometimes I feel like the body of Christ forgets that we all have a function and place to be who we are, with differing gifts and callings.  We need to stop being critical and judgmental of each other finding fault with each other.   The foot needs to stop telling the hand what's acceptable and let the Holy Spirit work in the body to do HIS perfect will.  We need to learn to work together to reach the lost in the way that is fitting in the Lord and not in a way that is fitting to human understanding. (Remember, God's Way's are not understood by the natural man.)  God calls us to be who HE wants us to be. Stop trying to make everyone fit into your space.

Beef Pasties

16 pasties

    1 lb lean ground beef
    1 lb pork sausage
    2 large onions, chopped
    2 large garlic cloves, minced
    6 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped
    1 beef bouillon cube
    1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
    1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
    1⁄4 ounce dry yeast
    2 cups warm water
    1⁄2 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon salt
    1⁄2 cup shortening
    2 eggs
    6 1⁄2 cups flour, unsifted
    3 tablespoons butter, melted



    In large skillet, crumble meat. Stir over med-high heat until meat begins to brown. Push meat to one side of pan and drain fat.
    Add chopped onions and garlic to the meat. Continue cooking until onion is limp, but not browned.
    Add cabbage, 1/2 cup water, beef buillon cube, oregano and cumin. Stir.
    Cover pan, reduce heat and simmer until cabbage is tender and juices have cooked away, about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes.
    In large bowl of electric mixer, combine remaining water with salt, sugar, shortening and eggs. Add yeast and two copy of the flour. Beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl several times.
    Cover bowl and set in a warm place until mixture is bubbly, about 30-40 minutes. Put bowl back on heavy mixer and add 4 more cups flour, one cup at a time. Or you can do this by hand. Knead until soft and resilient, but not sticky, about 5 minutes, adding remaining flour as needed.
    Place in greased bowl, turn over, cover and set in warm place until almost doubled, about 1-1 1/2 hours Punch down dough and cut in half. Put one half back in the bowl and cover.
    Roll the other half of the dough on a lightly floured board into a 12x24 inch rectangle. Cut into 8 pieces, each 4 inches square. Repeat with remaining dough.
    Place about 1/3 cup of the filling on each square. Bring opposite corners of each square to meet in center. Or, you can make it a triangle and pinch 1/4 inch of edges, with water if necessary, to seal. Press with tines of a fork to get a good seal.
    With spatula, transfer each to a greased baking sheet, placing about 1 inch apart. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let stand in warm place about 20 minutes.
    Unwrap and bake in a 375F oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
    Melt tops with melted butter and then let cool slightly before serving. Can be served at room temperature.

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Take Cover

Quiet quitters seem to have this large target on their back titled Discouragement.

 Here are some signs quiet quitters may still need to work through their character a little more to match the calling God has for them.

Sign 1: Excuses become their attire of the day.
They start thinking of them the night before, carefully crafting the perfect-way-out explanation. Excuses are their detour around the movement of God. Left unexposed, excuses will one day become the covers for the bed of regret they find themselves lying in.
My problem with this is that I commit before asking God if it's His plan or man's.. when it's man's I lose my since of peace.

Sign 2: They stop responding to e-mails, phone calls, and text messages about their commitments.
The commitment starts to feel like it’s just not worth their time anymore. They’ve already quit in their heart so they wonder why they should bother communicating about it anymore.

Sign 3: Attendance at meetings surrounding their commitment becomes less frequent.

Sign 4: They pull back from being around other people who ask too many questions.
The last thing they want is one more person to ask how “that” is going.

Psalm 55: 22: Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.   Please don’t underestimate the power of this word sustain.
 This has been a powerful verse for me this week..
  ...Mercy is a fresh supply of strength.

Quiet quitters have a genuine spirit of meekness and often put others before themselves. But often their excuses are concealed as godliness. They are afraid to fight for what’s right because of the fear that it will be taken the wrong way. Big personalities intimidate them, and hard situations just make them want to crawl up in a corner.
But when a quiet quitter whispers a See-Over Prayer of, “God, see over me to sustain me,” something happens. The urge to quit begins to flee, and all of a sudden something changes.

It's not to late
I really liked her football comparison..  "just when we thought the game was over, it wasn’t. Someone would call a time-out, go into overtime, and score the winning, unforeseen touchdown.
I keep getting these time outs, but it's NOT over.. keep looking up and keep renewing my mind!
God is the best with the “expect the unexpected” rulings of the game!  In other words, He's not looking at the scale or what I ate all week, He's looking at the HERE and NOW!

When the quiet quitter starts to rise up in you, remember this: nothing and no one can threaten your purpose in God. The game’s not over; it’s just running into a little overtime.  Healthy eating is not a diet program.. it's about obeying God [honoring God] one bite at a time.. it's acknowledging Him and not being gluttonous or greedy.  It's about the Spiritual Life, not how do I look on the outside.

 Just like it almost feels natural for me to fall asleep with closed fists, it will feel natural to want to control our circumstances around us. Disappointments will make it easier for us to close our fists to God. I close my fist by.. to often I make my health be about my size.. what the scale says, what size clothing I'm in, I make it be about fitting in, looking good.. chasing after the same goals as the world does. It's like closing my fist.. not seeing how it should be about spiritual growth. The world tells us we have to look a certain way, be a certain size.. but, the people who are important to me love me as I am [mainly, my husband] but, even God loves me.. HE sees beyond size.. DO I?  I can have peace in this area of my life if I cling to what it's really about.. it's not about my size.. it's about loving God, honoring Him before greed and gluttony.
A woman whose fists are closed toward the presence of God will often miss:

• The opportunity for God to bless her.
• The chance for God to use her.
• The ability of God to expand her faith and trust in Him

Maybe I'm eating too much or too little.. or still not in tune to Him?

God doesn’t meet us at perfection. He meets us where we are in our process toward receiving His promises.

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This Dream is on Fire

Habit Three: She stays open to the movement of God.

The Fire
When you’re a girl who quits everything, procrastination is definitely something you struggle with.
This has been me trying to get back on program.. It’s been two months of me procrastinating..
I keep saying I'm going to start, but as soon as the fire hit.. I stopped trying to put it out!


Sometimes I feel like I start to take ten steps forward only to take fifty back. Can you relate?   92 lbs off and 10 lbs back on.. will it be 45? (“God, please help me to recognize the enemies voice from yours.. For too long I was not listening and it‘s a bit confusing now when the negatives hit my thoughts.. satan comes as an angel of light [so, help me not to believe every spirit thought].. please guard my mind and heart!  I ask this in Jesus Name.. Amen!)

Quitting becomes incredibly tempting when we make really good efforts and they literally seem to go up in smoke. 
..When we accept our assignment of refinement, follow through with our commitments despite how we feel, then we can begin to live out the third habit of the woman who doesn’t quit: She stays open to the movement of God.
Maybe the weight gain [eating more] will restore my hair loss?  Maybe the quick loss was not a healthy loss and maybe my size is not the issue here; but, becoming healthier is the issue.  I know it won’t be the way to receive praises of men [but, God knows His thoughts towards me] and HIS WAY‘S are higher than mans! Nicki said, “there’s a process to uncovering the plans of God. You have some things in mind for your future, but so does God. Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail. (Prov. 19: 21)”
Staying open to His movement means we stop trying to determine where our commitments ultimately lead. (This kind of backs up my thoughts above!)

God gives favor for small steps of obedience

I struggle with this next one…
God honors those who keep their word. When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow. Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. (Eccles. 5: 4– 5)
I struggle with this because I commit to people out of pressure [manipulation, guilt trips, shamed into performing] sometimes it’s my own stinking thinking.. being taught to people please!   I keep going around this same mountain.. I commit only to find myself overwhelmed [in over my head] even sick.. not able to keep my word.  Frankly, I’m full of anxiety and sickness this morning.. I need to start clinging to HIS TRUTH.. That His WAY’S are peaceable and easy to be entreated.
If I had to sum up this third habit in one word it would be surrender.
When the fires come, and they will, quitting will always seem to be the best escape route. But if we take a few more steps, show a little more effort, and put a few more seeds in the ground, maybe, just maybe, we will start to see something beautiful happen as we see in Ruth’s life.


When we stop fighting for a formula and fight for humility and surrender, then we see God move.

Life feels desperate. Then Jesus straightens the path (Prov. 3: 5– 6). You were broken. Then God put you back together (2 Cor. 4: 16– 18).
2Co 4:16  Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.
2Co 4:17  For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],
2Co 4:18  Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.

To Be Honest
Use the space below to write a “before” and “after” moment of your life. Turn it into a “then” statement. Use the Scriptures in the back of the book or throughout this chapter to help.  BEFORE: was my low moment of shutting down and isolating myself after too much hurt/rejection!  THEN: God saved me! and Praise the Lord.. HE continues to be restoring me! 

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Determined

Don't let feelings dictate your day. Choose to follow through despite how you feel. Her experience of being hurt [the eye/contact story] and the husbands reaction towards the situation (hurting her even more)  is very much like the time I burnt my hand and R. made it worse by HIS non-care attitude in front of Bob.. I felt shamed, demeaned and embarrassed and it clicks that it is these kind of things that I react to by shutting down.

She said, she had a choice. Let her feelings dictate her day or follow through despite all that had happened.  I have a choice too, shut down..by living for R. or other people or don't shut down and live for GOD!
But I knew in my e-mail in-box there were urgent e-mails that needed a response, I had a virtual meeting to run with my team, and I had assignments with deadlines. And darn, I was trying to be this woman other people could count on. I had a choice. Let my feelings dictate my day or follow through despite all that had happened.
 I like Nicki have a calling on my life that is not after the dictates of mans approval: the love God has given me for writing leads me to post on different social media's and to keep a journal.. I share as God leads.. PEOPLE who need me to be a light in their world [salt of the earth] even when others think it's a waste of time and talent writing for free.  But, for me it's all about bringing words of encouragement, Truth, and sharing for free.. there should be NO price tag on the gospel of Christ!  Also I pray for these people.. if I keep letting people shut me down, then I'm not doing what I've been called to do!
Second habit: She follows through with her commitments despite how she feels.

Nicki had to continually pause and ask God for strength to push through. I need to do the same! My friend H. and I have been talking about following through on the things I know to do.. I need to do MORE than know the truth, I need to SPEAK it over myself! I need to push through!!!
With God I can follow through with the commitments I’ve made, despite how I feel ... He thrives in the business of showing strength through our weakness.

My follow-through can’t be dependent on desire. Just because something isn’t fun or exciting is no longer an excuse... I need to work on this area, for I don't follow through unless I feel like it.  Frankly, I don't take the calling serious enough.. I don't see the importance of it like I should (Truth is, I've been put down for thinking it's God's calling.. and I think it stuck in my head / heart.. that it's not important.) Smh!  Here Nicki and a group of ladies are doing it for a living and I've been told to stop.. that it's not a calling of God? that FB is NOT the place for sharing... talk about the thief trying to steal the TRUTH from my heart!

My follow through can't be dependent on desire: I’m talking about the places where our fleshly weakness numbs our commitment level. It’s the place where apathy steps in convincing us it’s just not worth it to follow through.  This is 100% Truth for me!
I believe the people who feel the weakest have some of the greatest God assignments to complete. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, the boundaries of your current assignments are within the strength of God.
First, Find Hope
When we don't feel hope, we have to find hope.

Ruth found HOPE in picking up left over grain..
Whose dropping joy by you today? Pick it up. Is there a little bit of faith someone is leaving with you? Take it. Has someone overflowed with peace in your life today? Receive it. There’s hope in the leftovers people leave all around us. So often I feel that H. has already been where I'm walking and I cling to the hope that, what HE'S done for others He'll do for me!  Bring me through it Lord to the other side!!!
 
...When we choose to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we have hope for today and hope for tomorrow. There is always a filter of hope to put our lives through when we stay with God.
The Filter of Hope
Hope is a confidence that faith will give us the strength to push through every hard and trying circumstance.

Hope is not a wish; it’s a holy confidence that faith will give us the strength to push through every hard and trying circumstance.
The Filter of Hope
1. Recognize we cannot control the things that happen to us, but we always can control our reaction. I can't control people; but, I can control my reaction to people by looking to God and surrendering the situation to HIS control.
2. Appreciate what you have.
 My 5 Blessings: 1. My husband 2. Blessed to be able to see God's goodness [becuz for too long I couldn't]. 3. His provision [groceries & roof over my head]. 4. Holly's friendship [friendships]. 5. My sister and brother [siblings who love me]!
3. Give it some time.
Ask a friend to hold you accountable with this. When we put our feelings through this filter, it will help us step back and look at things with a clearer perspective. Feelings fog our focus. Hope filters failure. H. not only are you my accountability partner; but, we should apply this to why we overindulge.. maybe our feelings are fogging our success [I think my anxiety, fears, and stress make me give up] fogging my goals.  Hope is knowing that God wants us to RENEW our mind...

I can relate to Nicki's In this place I find myself wanting to quit because I feel tired, angry, or upset.

Evaluating what’s in our heads isn’t the fun part of our journey, but it is a necessary step to becoming one who follows through on her commitment despite how she feels.  (So much for people who tell me I think too much! LOL!)

Hope is a confidence that faith will give us the strength to push through every hard and trying circumstance.

What is competing in your head with the reality of what is happening in your life right now? We have to figure this out in order to keep moving forward. List two things you want to quit.
1. I keep thinking about food.. what can I binge on?  So, I've been removing the temptations from the house.. anything I can't control.
2. Surrendering CONTROL to God..

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Quitzilla

For the past 53 day's I've been a SHE QUITZILLA, because I let myself become overwhelmed with fear rather than trust God when Rick and I both became afflicted with ill health.. it made me give up on eating right and instead, I started eating to numb myself and to feel something other than stress & fear.  Now, I get to add feelings of failure and false hunger [thanks to eating too many sugary carbs] .. yay, me! So, lets see what Nicki has to say about quitting...

 What seems impossible is just the peak of a miracle with her God. He’s got more than enough power to overcome any quitting process. And if He is for her, then truly nothing shall stand against her. I don’t want to be a Quitzilla, and I don’t think you do either. It’s time to write new endings to the stories from our past that haunt us. It’s time to learn new patterns so we can begin experiencing victories.

Momentary feelings will always try to convince us to forfeit our faithfulness. (The key here is to know that these hindrances are temporary [hang onto that]; focus on something else, take the time to renew my mind.. to honor God in everything I'm, thinking, saying and doing!!!)

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I used to think my patterns of defeat came from people saying I couldn’t do something. If I felt the slightest tinge of disbelief from someone when I shared a hope, dream, or plan, I’d quit. I’d also sulk in the misery of quitting if I felt someone could do something better than me. And internally I’d blame that person for my giving up. Bottom line, this is some messed up thinking, right? My feelings have led me away from commitments multiple times. 

Defeat comes from my thoughts and my reactions.
How often am I defeated by my own stinking thinking or the enemy of my soul speaks and I don't recognize his voice like I use too.. he's a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy.. who AM I LISTENING TO when I am defeated, fearful, or it's killing me inwardly.. smh!
Usually we are not defeated by what others say or do to us; ultimately we are defeated by what we say and do to ourselves. :(

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It is never too late for God to change and restore the brokenness in our lives ...ask Him to help us start right NOW [this very minute]!

We have an enemy of our souls whose goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. Satan would love for you and me to believe it’s over and it’s never going to be as we hoped. He may be the initiator of every quitting desire, but we have to own our part in allowing our feelings to control our actions.
Feelings don’t have to be what fuels our faith.

Quitting when we are angry or upset almost always leads to regret.

"...if there’s a sting in your soul, there’s potential for bitterness to be produced."

I need to stop replaying and analyzing events in my head; I’m so bad about hitting the repeat button on what went wrong.
I need to stop replaying and analyzing events in my head; I’m so bad about hitting the repeat button on what went wrong. :)

We are going to have to eliminate these two words “I can’t” from our vocabulary. The moment these two words roll off our tongues, defeat is soon to follow. When we say these two words, “I can’t,” what we are really saying...... is, I don’t feel like it!

We waste a lot of time convincing ourselves of what we can’t do. But God’s Word spends a lot of time telling us (with Him) we can do all things.

Php. 4:13  I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].
 Isa. 40:29  He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. [II Cor. 12:9.]
Mat.19:26  But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God. [Gen. 18:14; Job 42:2.]

5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Refinement Redefined

We often discount what God is doing because we are determined to go our own way.

I've committed to this process of losing weight, and have been playing around with it now for some time [10 lbs up] from the 92 that I'd lost.. well, this line in the book stuck out to me... "We accepted the assignment of refinement. And while quitting this dream was an option, we knew there was more at stake.
Rather than focusing on my failure I need to look at what sounds better [I've still got 80 lbs off]; plus, look at whats at stake, weight gain and diabetes flare ups [infections, etc.].  But, mainly focus on the success of 80 lbs off...

Refinement has so many meanings and definitions. According to the wise Google it means the process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance. SIN!

How we walk through an assignment of refinement may determine our next assignment.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. (Rom. 8: 18)
If we quit, we might miss the opportunity to see God work in and through a difficult situation.

Am I desperate enough to become a woman who follows God through an assignment of refinement? With tears in my eyes, I wrestle with these words because some days I’m not really sure.   Maybe this is me towards turning the TV off [the world off] and getting right with God.. putting HIM before everything.. internet, phone calls, people.. books. I know I ought to live, move and have my being in HIM.. The word being.. it's like loving God before all else.. loving HIM with the fullest of heart, mind, & soul.. body, mind and soul. Holding NOTHING back.. I want this assignment, that is, until the TV comes on, the book becomes to hard to put down or some other distraction or hindrance causes a detour ..and none of these are good excuses!  :( God help me focus more and more on YOU and less on these things that are not important!



Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become reality.
When Rick can see absolutely no good in a situation and start speaking “death” over it, I should quote this to both of us.

It was refinement mixed with stress, anxiety, and fear. A quitting formula for sure. It required a transition in my thinking, my prayers, and my belief. I had to make this shift while not knowing the end of the story. This is me for sure with all the stress, anxiety ..I need to set my eyes on the Lord, bring my thoughts, beliefs captive to the Lord!