Fasting and Praying

One banana. Two corn tacos with lettuce and tomato. One cup of piping hot green beans sauteed in olive oil and pepper. That is dinner tonight. Dinner, after two days and one evening of a full fast. Now I continue with a partial fast of vegetables and fruits only, until Easter. This is my first time fasting and I chose it for personal, spiritual reasons.

There I was this past Sunday, sitting on the pew; bible in hand. My three children to my left and God all around me. Speaking to me. After years and years of scoffing at the idea, I read Luke 4 and instantly decided to fast . It wasn't the first time I'd seen the text, but on Sunday the words came alive. That was the day I made a life-changing decision.

Why is it life-changing?

Consider the Hungry and what it feels like not to have food, yet when I had food I wasted it or often over ate. Consider the Lost who have no comfort in Christ, while I was easily sustained and continued life normally even without a meal. Consider the desperate who give up because they have no help, when all I had to do was pray and call out to God. Consider giving up all unnecessary things just to hear His voice and then, diligently, waiting on him. Finally, imagine living to your full potential because it is what God intended.

I will never be the same.

From now until Easter, I am praying for the people of Haiti, praying for our government leaders and praying for my church. I thank God for this spiritual break through and for what He's going to do in Haiti, in our nation and in my church.

Have you ever fasted? How did you feel afterwards?

Peace & blessings,

Polly

Free Your Mind

I must admit that my mind has become somewhat of a post-pregnancy mush. I am more scatter brained and forgetful than ever and cannot do much without a written or spoken list anymore.

I have gone from jotting things down on sticky notes, note pads and finally to speaking them into my voice recorder and then playing them back later as a means of getting things done. I think my memory is improving a bit,but I want it to be even better. What can one do?

Today, I hopped on my treadmill for a few minutes while my daughter took her nap. I put on my favorite Barry White CD and did a light jog and then a brisk walk on incline. As I walked, my To Do List began to run through my mind. I remembered it all vividly as if I was actually reading it from a written list...clean the upstairs bathroom, put the clothes in the dryer, lay out clothes for work and for my little one, arrange the shoes in the new organizer I purchased, make copies of needed paperwork, follow up with the deck builder...on and on it poured out.

So there it is! I even came up with a few ideas for upcoming blogs as I jogged and walked. Wow! Exercise truly is good for the mind, body and soul!

Continued Blessings,

Meek

Cure for Cabin Fever

Since the mega-storm hit our region last weekend school has been closed for days. I actually cried tears when they called yesterday to say the kids won't return until February 16. I wondered how we'd make it when there's too much snow to even go sledding. But kids are notorious for making up their own games. This is day three of being inside and tomorrow we'll have to pop out again for some air. Here's how they cure cabin fever, in the meantime.

Revel in it.

Marvel at it..."Come on, Mommy, let's take a walk."

Create their own non-snowy scene.

Pretend to be somewhere else, while taking a break for blueberries.

Take turns sliding down the stairs in a laundry basket. Lord knows I didn't condone it...

We'd like to hear how you cure cabin fever. Post a comment to share.

Many blessings!

Polly

Natural Beauty

As soon as the snow began to fall I snatched up an article I had been saving and told the kids, "We're going to look at these!" I waved the paper around in my hand excitedly until they all screamed, "What? What is it, Mommy?"

"Snowflakes!" I yelled as I grabbed the magnifying glass. They could hardly wait. I explained the article to them and talked about Kenneth G. Libbrecht's work at http://www.snowcrystals.com/. While we could go to the site and look at beautiful pictures like the one seen here, the newspaper had encouraged us to go out and see for ourselves. That's when I realized I'd never actually seen a real snowflake. I had simply believed what my teachers said about their shapes and how no two are alike. For 30 years I believed without ever seeking real evidence. Well no more!

Quick as a whip, we put on our snowgear and went out for some sledding and research. At first the flakes were hard to see. We'd missed the large ones which came down first and were now surrounded by ones much smaller. But, once we all became calm and really focused, what came into view was breathtaking! There they were, just falling like heavenly dust. Everywhere, with no one questioning what it was. All this time we'd been missing the total phenomenom of snow by looking solely at the whole event instead of at its parts. Each snowflake floating gently to rest upon the Earth's surface was a miracle in itself. I was a little embarrassed as I "ooo-ed" and "ahh-ed" with the kids. Then fascination took over and I soon assimilated. Every single speck was perfectly designed. Utterly magnificent! At the moment of revelation I whispered,"God you are amazing."

As you've probably guessed, there is a scientific explanation. It comes via physics, one of my favorite subjects. Hop on over to Mr. Libbrecht's website for the details. But if you're lucky snow may be softly falling outside your window right this instant. See if you can catch a bit of natural beauty in the palm of your hand. Scrutinize it. You'll become a believer.

Happy hunting,

Polly

Leisure Time

I'm reading an article from yesterday's The Washington Post Magazine which suggests that people, specifically mothers, have more leisure time than we know. The article is called the Test of Time. Instead of finishing the article, I decided to stop pretending I had said leisure time and get to work since it gave me a good topic to discuss on today's blog.

When I first began reading, I was skeptical. How could anyone have 30 to 40 hours of available down time per week? But once I realized the data was based on time studies then I knew it was entirely possible. As it is, many of us don't even realize how we spend the bulk of our time, let alone know how many leisure hours we have. I believe this is true because I worked as an industrial engineer for several years performing these types of studies. There'd be these whole departments of people working everyday on the same issues. Since they did the job daily they thought they knew for sure where their time went. Surprisingly they did not.The results were nothing short of fascinating. I've thought once or twice to perform a study on myself, then gave up saying, "I don't have time."

That's one main point of the article. We have the time if only we'd take it. There are some who even revel in the helter-skleter flow of our busy lives. Even if this daily hustle isn't the way we want to live, we go on with it anyhow and then complain. Sort of like a badge of honor. Well, I for one am tired of the complaints. All in favor of leisure time everyday raise your hand. Or better yet, just take take a stroll around the neighborhood when the mood stirkes. The other stuff can wait.

Many Blessings,

Polly