brrrrrr! oh the things I do for you dear friend Zoanna! errr, and my blog! 
well, you didnt say I couldn't wear a coat over the outfit!!
what did you say? Oh, this is cheating?
oh ok, in that case.. brrrr.. here goes!
Eight months down and a lifetime to go. Funny how as normal human beings we are always looking for a quick fix for our problems with minimal effort on our part. Tend to not want to take personal responsibility for where we have come nor in the solution. We prefer a quick pill, tonic, or a wonder diet that will shed unwanted pounds in 2 weeks like magic. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no such animal. sure, it can work for the short term but in most cases you will gain what you have lost and then some. Funny how life is like that, any time we go for the quick fix in life, we get spanked. Real solutions take time, patience, hard work, and a lot of leaning on God. Personally I know that my journey into self control will not be over when I reach that magic goal weight, I am in this for a lifetime. Praise God that He is able to carry me through some (most ) days!
I will have my honey take a picture in a few days to post.. but for now.. drum roll please
Vital Statistics January 7,2010:
5 foot 6 inches tall 186.1 pounds (13stone 4.1 lb or 84.4kilos) which is a total loss of 52.7 pounds (3st 10.7 pound or 23.9 kilos)
I am pleased to note that, with God’s grace, I was even able to lose 4 lbs over the holiday season. Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I have this whole dieting thing wrapped up and tied with a beautiful bow. Honestly, I still struggle with self control over food. Actually, self control is the problem. I struggle with giving God his rightful control over my life. Thankfully He is good and gracious and is there when I call out in prayer when I am about to dive in to a tin of chocolate covered yumminess. He reminds me that His LOVE IS ENOUGH and that I don’t need a yummy to feel good about who I am. Being that I can be kind of a slow learner, good thing He doesn’t mind a little repetition in reminding me of that gem of wisdom!!
Psalm 13
How Long, O LORD?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest) I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I amshaken.5But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
How often have I felt that God has totally forgotten me. I have cried out in anguish like David does in psalm 13. It is right and good to pour our and express our anguish to our God.. it’s ok to be angry, but we must confess our anger to God and not fall into judgement of him.
James 5:13
is anyone among you suffering, let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
He alone can offer us true comfort. As we all figure out eventually, the world only offers balms to pain. Casual sex and lost weekends of drunken delights may numb our pain for a season but no lasting relief is found. Trust me, I know that a man can’t be that cure all either, I have been left by a father and a husband.. sucks.. even though I have a fabulous adoptive father (and a great mommy ) and a brilliant husband now, even with these stalawart loves in my life, I know that only God’s love is unfailing.
I have run hard away from God at different seasons of my life. I mean hard away to the point that I was considering myself “spiritual” but not christian. Spirituality, go figure, offered no comfort either, who knew I am thankful that God has never given up on me. No matter how fast and hard I ran, He has always run faster. I am the prodigal daughter that he has accepted with huge open and loving arms. All forgiven and forgotten.
God will never leave me nor you.. I repeat HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!! This love is not based on us or our actions or even our own love and devotion to Him. This amazing love is fully his own and infallible and indestructible. God has taken eternal responsibility for you and I, and he has an idea just exactly what eternal really is. God will get us through any suffering even if he has to carry our faint body in his arms. If we allow He will even use our suffering for His glory. We might not understand it at the time, but in retrospect it becomes so clear.
In my own case, while I don’t believe that God caused my suffering, God has used my suffering to increase my reliance on Him for sustenance. ( I was a cocky self righteous “oh I would never do that” kind of gal) He has also allowed my reliance on him to let people see Him shine through my life in different matters. Whether it is a true friendship with someone who has hurt me in the past or the gift of being able to apologize when I have wronged someone, Christ shines through. Not by my own power.. lordy no! Only through him and my continued reliance on Him is this possible.
I am thankful for this gift of now pursuing God during all seasons of my life and the true comfort of his presence in my life. He has sustained me through the death of my biological father, financial difficulties, the possibility of relocating, and just general uncertainties in this economy/world. There is only one certainty in my life and this is that He will always be true to me. Not in a cosmic bubble gum machine way. insert prayer and what I desire comes out.. but in a true loving father who is always there and lovingly carries me through circumstances and gives me what I need. I love my abba God!
These are my reflections on a sermon by Jeff Purswell at Sovereign Grace Church of Joppa on Feb 1, 2009 as well as my own reflections on my personal experience with suffering.
Welcome to my home. I love our jingle bell door!
our mantle is just itching for stockings hung up with care!
our Irish creche scene did you expect anything else from me?
To honor my father's family we place the Menorah on our mantle.
o' christmas tree o' christmas tree how lovely are your artificial branches!
first time that i made gingerbread men for the tree.. yummy!
yet another one of my creche scenes. this one is in my sitting area of our kitchen.
now why in the world would she be starting to bundle up?
what do they know that I don't know? 
It's snowing!!! view from our family room bay window.
All bundled up!
Molly-Ann enjoying the blizzard.
Malachy attempting some basket ball in the blustery blizzard!
He just couldn't resist!
he is his sister's keeper!
:) it's I! I do exist. normally behind the camera, I gave Malachy a quick lesson on how to "point and shoot". my little first grader did a good job I think.
nature in my yard dressed in their finest crystals.
our fake snow men quickly becoming quite real!
lt it snow let it snow let it snow!
it seemed to snow forever!
as much as she liked eating regular snow, you should have seen her scoff up the snow ice cream I made later!
ho ho ho ! nice snow beard Malachy
I just love a snow storm. If only my husband and eldest son weren't snowed in other locations, it would have been a perfect weekend.
Even our snow man is in on the Irish action
front porch as the blizzard was waning.
We ended up with nearly 2 feet of snow!
Yay.. 2 days later and Tommy was home Ronan showed up within a few minutes of Tommy.
