Tag Archives: scripture

Time keeps on slipping, slipping….

Psalms 90:10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Ps 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Today I planned on doing my ‘stats’ – measurements – weigh in – and max reps type thing. I want to see how fast I can walk a mile…I have to walk a 5k in 4 weeks…it’s not a fast walk – but I’d like to know I can walk the whole distance!

I’ve been posting #100happydays on facebook – I suppose I should post them here as well!
today, I hope to do some art…

I am fine tuning my goals to make them SMART – even though this challenge is well underway, one of my goals is to have a plan for my days, weeks, months, years….
I am turning 54 – I need to seize the day!

Who knows how many more I’ll have, but the mathematical fact is that I probably have less left than those I have already lived.
How many things have I said “I’ll so that next time” and it never happened?
Now, when it’s decided that “we’ll do that next time” – I am realizing that, there may never be a next time.
I may never go back to Niagra Falls, or the Grand Canyon, or Sunset Cliffs.
I may never get back to Europe.

http://youtu.be/hRp3RFUIAdU

And then, there are the people that mean the most to me in my life…and, I have made choices, or forced to make choices that effects out time together:

When you lose someone in your life…it’s often not a planned leaving. Recently, I have had to make some decisions that meant I didn’t get to spend time with some very special people…but I had to be mindful of my own body. I may never pass that way again…Time keeps on slippin, slippin – into the future!

So, this makes me live my life more mindful – and it has caused me to make some difficult decisions..but decisions that I make by choice…not by just not making them.
To not decide is to decide to let ‘other forces’ decide for you.
To not choose is a choice in itself.
If I lived to 104, it’s only 50 more years…and my body is not what it was when I was 20.
Average for my family is living to 80 – 26 more years…what can I do with that time?

The Bible story about the farmer that had a huge crop and he tore down his bins to build bigger –

Luke 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And then, he got lazy:

Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

And he didn’t know the bigger plan:

Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

The Moral of this story?

Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God

The thing is, we don’t know how long we have…and we need to make the most of every minute…and, after writing yesterday’s blog…I am well aware of the times I made decisions not to decide, I chose to not choose…but, This is the New Me!

All these plans, and actually – I want to go back to sleep – I am on the fifth day of Bactrim and it’s messing with my stomach…
One of my goals in 2014 is to listen to my body…that would help with the diabetes! HA!
I am doing a ‘new’ type of cardio for the RPG & Adventurers challenge – maybe I should just listen to my body – and rest today.
the numbers aren’t going to change much between today and tomorrow…and tomorrow – I won’t have the sulpha in my stomach!

So – I have just talked this out with those of you that read my thread…welcome to my brain!
I am making a decision,
I’m choosing to rest my body to finish it’s healing from the infection.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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28 Days of Grace – Day 15, Hope continued

I wait for the Lord, I expectantly wait, and in His word do I
hope.
Psalm 130:5 AMP

I have been participating in a 60 day challenge for T-Tapp. In these 60 days, a person agrees to only do T-Tapp, walking, and swimming.
They can also choose to do better eating, also supported by T-Tapp.
At the beginning and the end, you submit photos, and measurements, and an essay.

I shared part one. Here is my essay, part two.

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t. I was struggling under constant chronic pain exacerbated by multiple surgeries back to back with fibromyalgia. I couldn’t walk my dog the 1/4 mile minimum it would take to let him go to the bathroom. I could no longer swim because I might not be able to get up out of the pool. My ankles were not solid enough to even try a stationary bike, much less one that required balance. If I tapped, the vibration sent horrible nerve waves of pain up my leg, and would shut me down for several days. If I couldn’t butterfly or hoedown, what could I do? For that matter, physical therapy would shut me down for several days. Everyone was trying to get my mind off of ‘training’ and on to ‘healing.’ My physical therapist was begging me to forget about a triathlon, forget about 5ks, and just focus on healing. Trisch was trying to encourage me to let my body heal from all the barrage of drugs and abuse having occurred in just 24 short months. By week two, with failed pain treatments, I was ready to give up.

In order to not give up midway into the 60 days, I joined Kirsten Tucker’s 6 week T-Tapp Tight Club(tm) almost before I even signed up for the 60 day challenge. Kirsten has known me for over a year now, and I trust her to not push me too hard, to push me where I need it, and to help me keep my head in the right direction. Her eight Tight Club(tm) Rules challenged me. When we started on May 1, the only rule I had in place was “Rule #5 – Supportive Athletic Shoes are Required.”

Based on what I thought I could do, she created a workout plan for me, and I became discouraged by how much slower and lower level it was than the one she’d created just one year previous. “Rule #6 – No self-recrimination; be kind to yourself.”
When I suffered from the repercussions of pain blocking injections three different times, both Trisch and Kirsten rallied behind me, saying that this was just a stepping stone. “Rule #4 – One step at a time. Think tortoise not hare.”

Each week, as Trisch would post insights into the various moves, I would also Skype with Kirsten to discuss what was going on. I asked questions of both of them(Rule #7), sometimes repeatedly. When something was too tiring, or hurt too much, they would not let me wallow. Rule #8 is “If you fall off the wagon, get back on and don’t look back.” It could be “Don’t wallow.”

The one thing that came up again and again is my concern that I was not doing the work (Rule # 3). I have a voice inside my head that says if I don’t get it done right the first time, it’s because I didn’t try hard enough. That seriously impacted Rule #8 and Rule #6. I had to learn to believe. I had to learn to hope that I COULD get back up, and not look back. I had to learn to believe that if I could only take one step today without compromising my energies for tomorrow, then that WAS me doing the work, and doing it well! I had to learn to see that if I took a step in the right direction, I was taking a step…and Rule #4 was “One Step at a Time!”
I have done sitting hoedowns when possible. I try to do Awesome Legs every night, and OIP several times a day. I have walked with my tail tucked and my shoulders rolled. When I am driving to my physical therapy, I hear Teresa’s voice telling me to “tuck it, lift it”…and I do so. I even try to roll back my shoulders and twist my palms up on the steering wheel!

What did I gain from this challenge?
Hope. HOPE!
Hope has grown in my heart through the T-Tapp community and ‘consciousness’.
Trisch talked about healing adrenals almost as much as she talks about T-Tapp or Jesus Christ!
Kirsten encouraged me to care for myself so that I will have health — body, mind and soul. She even encouraged me to PLAY as part of my health!
Then there is Teresa Tapp. Her various Facebook posts about health and dietary issues, articles, and her research into all aspects of women’s health were foundational in preparing me to take charge of my health.
These three women gave me the pieces to my health puzzle. My new doctor looked at my pieces and gave me a plan.
By God’s grace, I have the hope and courage to put this all together for my future.

During the past 60 days, I’ve spent the first three weeks in bed from nerve block injections that failed.
During the past 60 days, I’ve received emails and posts of support, encouragement, wisdom and healthy research from all of these ladies.
During the past 60 days, I have learned to hydrate myself in order for my body to heal.
During the past 6 weeks, I have learned self care by doing skin brushing which has rolled into other avenues of self care daily.
During the past 6 weeks, I have been able to walk my dog 1/4 to ½ mile daily, to walk up and down steps daily, and to drive myself to and from my physical therapy and appointments.
In the last 3 weeks, I have found the courage to contact a medical doctor that is also a naturopath in order to take charge of my health.
In the last 2 weeks, I have been on a yeast free, God Made, food program, designed to both cleanse my system, and heal my adrenals.
I have dropped a cholesterol drug, a diabetes drug, constipation drugs, and reducing a stomach acid drug is next. I am sleeping through the night regularly, with no medications. I don’t fall asleep during the day anymore!
By Sunday, I had lost weight, and lost 7 ½ inches. I had also lost many of the health issues that had troubled my life.

This quick and total transformation is because of the T-Tapp community. Without the various products, discussions, posts and people, I would not have been prepared to understand the complex world of adrenals! Likewise, I would not have embraced the need for Magnesium, or bio-identical hormones, or B-12! Truthfully, I would not have kept trying, over and over and over again.

On Tuesday the 12th, I begin my third week into this new way of eating…God Made Meals! I will tell Kirsten that I have befriended the Tight Club(tm) rules now. I’m ready to get back up on that wagon(Rule #8)…even if it means a month or more of MORE Chair!.
I talk about T-Tapp and Tight Club all the time(Rule #1).
What has really changed in me this time, though, is Rule #2.
“If someone tells you “You can’t.” respond “Yes, I can!”“
Can I change my life, take charge of my health, and have hope for the future?

YES I CAN!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

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We have email subscription! Or sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 days of Grace – Day 13

What holds you back?
Why don’t you move forward?
Why do you hold back from doing your best?

I don’t have any answers for this one….since, I have just completed the 60 day challenge with T-Tapp, and I am struggling with the idea that I held back.
Could I have done more floor exercises? Sure.
Could I have eaten better the first 6 weeks? Sure.
Could I have been more consistent with what I knew to do? Of course.

The question is, did I take every moment, and make the choice to move forward? Fail forward if I needed to?
I don’t know.

Life is made up of choices…and we are the composite of all of our choices.
We are not in control of what others do to us, but we are in control of our reactions and replies.

The past 6 weeks, my husband did a challenge of his own.
Here is his blog post:

ON GOALS, CHALLENGES, AND DOING THE LITTLE THINGS,
by Jim Wildman
As I’ve said before, I frequent the Nerdfitness online community as “wildross”. Every couple of months the community runs a “6 week challenge”. Participants post 3 fitness goals and 1 life goal, then track their progress. In the most recent challenge, and video game system for scoring points was added (which I’ve ignored). The community is divided into “Guilds” depending on what your fitness focus is. Mine is weightlifting, so I’m a “Warrior”. My most recent 6 week challenge thread is here. As part of this 6 week challenge, the guild leaders proposed we try to lift the weight of a loaded space shuttle (4,000,000+ pounds) before the Enterprise was set on the deck of the USS Intrepid on June 6th. To track our progress, they published a Google spreadsheet and divided us into 2 teams.

Right off the bat I saw that keeping track of total weight lifted instead of just repetitions and sets added a different flavor to the competition. All lifts were counted at full weight, with pullups counting at 90% of bodyweight and pushups counting at 60% of bodyweight. I started out doing between 15 and 20,000 pounds of lifting during a workout.

On May 8th, I proposed a challenge to do 30,000# of weights in one session (no allowance for bodyweight exercises). That seemed like a real stretch goal to me. Two guys immediately did over 40,000#. It took about a week and I did it too. Not as hard as I thought at all. One competitor proposed a 100,000# workout. (No one has done that yet, but I believe I can with a bit more conditioning.)

As the challenge went on, I constantly had to revise my goals. 30,000# in a workout became my “standard”. I did it for 2 weeks straight, 5 days a week, with a max of 61,000# on the last day. I thought I would lift a total of 250,000# in the 6 weeks, then 300,000#, then 500,000#, then 700,000#… I ended up lifting over 970,000# of weights in the 6 weeks (including body weight exercises).

So what did I learn from all this lifting?? Maybe nothing new, but lots of basic things got solidly reinforced.

Consistency matters: going to the gym every day (or as my goal was, 5 days a week) adds up. A number or goal that seems impossible is attainable in steps.
Little things matter: the team I was not on “won” the challenge, mostly because several of the women realized that the pushups were “easy” and added up. One did 1,000 pushups in the last weekend (having never done more then a couple dozen in a day before); 10 or 20 at a time. Another did 500. Several of the men did as well.
Success breeds success: once we knocked off the 30,000# goal, we knew we could go much higher and were encouraged to do so. Once the women realized that they could do a set of 10 pushups every half hour, all day, it became possible to do it several days in a row.
To accomplish big things, you need to do a few little things well: The basis for my average of over 30,000# a day is my ability to do over head presses and bench presses. I can do 10 sets of 10 with a considerable amount of weight, every day. I would fill out the workout with other exercises, but those 2 were the base.
Lay the ground work by doing the little things every day: Early on in the challenge, I often thought about doing pushups before bedtime or before I took a shower, but I didn’t do it. 7 pushups a day would have put me over 1,000,000# for the challenge. But I didn’t know that until it was too late to make up the difference.
You have to use all your resources to do big things: I can’t lift 30,000# in a session with just my arms, or in just one exercise (at least not yet). But I have a number of exercises that use different sets of muscles that I can alternate. By varying the routine, I use the energy stored in all my muscles and get more done.
This one is old…slow and steady wins the race: Big and flashy wears you out.

So where does this leave me? Very encouraged at what I can do physically. Very humbled that I have not applied these simple principles to other areas of my life. I’ve sold myself short in many areas because I’ve swung for the fences (big splash) or thought a particular goal was beyond me. Or as the prophet Isaiah said it “Line upon line, precept upon precept”

So what big goal can you break down into little bit size pieces??

GREAT QUESTION!!!!
I’ve been held back because I could only see doing a Triathlon…not walking 1/4 mile 4 times a day.
I could only see doing the Full 15 minute Basic Workout for T-Tapp – not doing the 9 minute chair workout, twice.
I can only see the whole book written, not writing one chapter at a time.

I have been held back by seeing the hugeness of the task, and not breaking it into smaller bites.
Our daughter, Faith, memorized a poem from Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and I can hear her recite it in my ear today:

Melinda Mae
Have your heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started right in at the tail.

And everyone said, “You’re much too small,”
But that didn’t bother Melinda at all.
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a good girl should…

…And in eighty-nine years she ate that whale
Because she said she would!

I pray that it doesn’t take me 89 years, but thanks to Jim, and several ladies I will be praising in one of my future blogs, I am making steps forward.
Here’s my favorite small steps song:

The goals Jim’s team made seemed impossible when they made them.
I do have to keep my health limitations in mind….but, I need to give myself grace, I need to look at things in smaller bites, shorter steps…one step at a time!
Thanks, Jim!

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 11: The folded napkin

I got this in my email today, and it really hit me in the context of meals, eating, lifestyle, etc. I have reprinted it here:

So Why Did JESUS Fold The Napkin?
Do you know why? This is just beautiful.

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

This is one I can honestly say I have never seen circulating in the e-mails so; I’ll start it.. If it touches you , You might want to forward it.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this….

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every
Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished..

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m finished..”

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because……….

The folded napkin meant,
“I’m coming back!”

AND SO HE SHALL!!!

And so He shall return –

Luke 18:8 Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Why is that in red? Because those are the words of Jesus as told to us in the book of Luke.
Jesus has just proclaimed that:

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. (Luke 18:7)

Prayer….
Though HE bear long with them….
God will avenge…

Mary Magdalene, along with all the others, felt that the Lord had left them all alone.
Jesus had told them about this judge that didn’t fear anyone, even God, but a widow had come to him over and over and over to be avenged of her adversary…and he chose to do so, because of her constant appeals.
Jesus said that we should pray like that widow.
In fact, Luke says:

And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (Luke 18:1)

The point of the email was that Jesus is coming back…there is another meal being prepared…who is going to be found ‘worthy’ to sit at that table?
Servants of faith! (not fear – not to self)

Hebrews 11:1-3 says

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

By FAITH the elders obtained a good report!

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Without FAITH – it is impossible to please God!

I wrote a series of blogs about Giants in my land, and one of those giants was the Giant of Fear.

Fear and Faith cannot co-exist.
Fear holds me back,
Faith propels me forward.
Fear steals my happiness,
Faith impels me to joy.
Fear makes me paralyzed,
Faith compels me to LOVE.

(mcw 6/8/2012)

Why do I continue to climb my way forward?
Because I have faith that HE is coming back for me!
He folded His napkin!
By His GRACE, I’ll be ready!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed. We have email subscription! Or sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 8

Week 2….one week down.
Cold sore….garbage coming out.
Causing me pain and a reminder of what I used to put in my body.

Old sin habits stick their ugly heads up..
Causing me pain to recognize what I used to do.

Cleansing repentance should bring godly sorrow.
Godly sorry

2cor 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Today was a day that kind of exploded….like pus out of a zit…I was overwhelmed with what I should do and what I could do and the vast chasm between them.

I won’t go into the gorey details, but I was freaking out.
So I did something I have been learning to do these last three years…I asked for help.
There are two women in my life right now that are calm in the face of everything….Carole and Mitzi. Usually, I grab Carole to calm me down but this time I felt I needed double duty.

Lunch meeting at Olive Garden.
I could work the menu for yeast free and still talk with my ladies.

Garbage comes out when garbage has been put in…and I had some expectation garbage that was oozing out! In their minds, my issues made so much sense, the solutions were so clear. They weren’t subject to the cacophony that was in my head making things so chaotic.

Sometimes when we are so set in our ways we need some one from the other side to deliver us from ourselves.

That’s what Jesus does and did for us at the cross.

2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

freedom from the old way..grace to embrace the new way…forgiveness when we mess up.

Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.

I am learning that feeding my flesh is like, well, feeding my flesh!
What I eat truly does determine who I am.
I AM WHAT I EAT!
Physically – weak, sick and needy, or strong, healthy, able to minister fully
Spiritually – double minded, chaotic, fearful and fretful, or full of love, power and a strong mind!

Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

So – now that I have experienced a week of freedom from the bondage of the garbage I had eaten, I am experiencing a freedom and an energy I had not previously enjoyed!
If the principle of cause and effect, choices and consequences fits in the spiritual world, the parenting world, the dog training world…then, why not in the body fueling world?

When I gave my life over to Jesus, or honestly, each time I renew my commitment to give my life over to Jesus, I am set free from some sin that has held me back, held me down. I experience freedom and joy that had not been there while I was bound by the besetting sin.

Phil 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Basically, this yeast free emphasizes GOD MADE food…un processed, un contaminated – in its most basic form, not the adulterated processed junk from the past. PURE!
Basically, my walk with Christ emphasizes being filled with HIS word in my heart and head, in its most clear form…not the tainted voices from the past. PURE!
The fruit of righteousness is definitely PURE!

As a Christian, in order to move forward, I have to leave the past in the past.
I have to give up past options that hinder future success for the Kingdom of God.
I have to give up lies from unknowing others from my past, to embrace the truth of Jesus Christ and His Word.

As a person desiring health, in order to move forward, I have to leave some favorites in the past.
I am going to have to give up some things from my past that will hinder my health in the future.
I have to give up some lies that have been taught me for years about nutrition, health, and food, and embrace the truth of REAL FOOD.

I have a choice…mentally, physically and spiritually.
I choose to move forward, by the grace of God!

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

We have email subscription! Just sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 7

Yes, day 6 is missing….it’s sitting in it’s draft position because we had a wonderful day yesterday with a new church and a new group of people.
that post will be coming(just out of order)

Today, I woke up feeling great!
Nice, since this is DAY 7 of the YF diet…no symptoms.
I was realizing – I hadn’t taken Robaxin or Mobic to sleep for several nights! That IS a big change.
That means, no muscle spasms and no pain…at least not that I thought would keep me up!

Here’s another PRAISE!
I walked down the outside steps like a non handicapped gimp! as in, using my left foot with full motion and strength!

This morning my friend and I walked Gabriel 1.11 miles.
By the program I used to track it, we did it in…35 minutes….but we stopped to talk with friends for a few minutes, and Gabe kept slowing us down. On Monday, he has to smell all the smells from all the dogs that stayed in the RV park that weekend…no walking along on Monday!
That to say, I may have actually walked 2 mph!
and I don’t hurt!

What if, by choosing to take care of my body, my body is able to start taking care of itself????
By nourishing my body with GOOD things, everything is able to work together!

The Body of Christ is the same!

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Huh????

NIV From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Everyone in the Body of Christ is needed in order to grow and build itself up in love!

1 Cor 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.

Last night’s study was on 1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Pet 4:10
As every man hath received the gift,
[even so] minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Each person has received a gift – a job to do – and we need to recognize that this gift, this job, is in essence, the GRACE of GOD!
We must be good stewards of this GRACE of GOD!

NIV says it this way:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

I have a saying when I offer something to someone, and they try to refuse it:
“Do you really want to steal my blessing?”
Why does someone refuse a gift? Pride? false humility? fear of obligation? Socially expected response?
But, it prevents the giver from enjoying the blessing of giving!

Last night, I saw the other aspect, the other side.
I have gifts that I have held inside because of fear – fear of rejection, ridicule, or failure.
Nah, I say it’s because I’m not ready, I’m not good enough, I’m not needed, or whatever false humility statement fits the bill.

I have buried these gifts, and kept them from being shared with others…
I have prevented others from receiving the GRACE of GOD that HE planted in me, in order that I would walk in good works, and bless others, to the GLORY OF HIS NAME!!!

That’s like burying your hand in the freezer because you don’t want to seem prideful that it is pretty….or something like that.
Oh, I know…it’s like having a surgery that removes parts of the body, and sends other parts reeling trying to make up the difference.
No matter that the removed part was going to destroy my life…the after affects caused my physical body to be ravaged.
My body didn’t have an extra that could step in…though my Thyroid and Adrenals tried to…they just couldn’t keep up.

In the Body of Christ, God is not going to let His body suffer and not move forward, but those that try to fill in the gaps of others burying their gifts can be burned out.
There may be other toes in the body, to help bring balance.
There may be another spleen, kidney, liver…whatever….but there is something that is lost because the person burying the gift did not GIVE it to the body.

As I ponder on GRACE – I realize that my gifts are FOR ministering the GRACE OF GOD TO THE SAINTS!

I have struggled with the concern that I am burying my gifts…sometimes by life situations…sometimes purposefully…sometimes in fear.
But until last night, I didn’t realize that by burying my gifts…odd gifts that many are not interested in accepting…I am robbing the Body of Christ the gifts of GRACE that GOD preordained to be shared by me.

I’ve been trying to place my giftings out for availability for several years now…though not all have been exposed.
Maybe that is part of the fear in obtaining this studio…
I’m coming out!
I’m coming out of my basket!!!!
I’m already out of the boat!

I wonder what will happen as I take my walks with Jesus farther and farther…growing stronger and stronger?
That basket will disintegrate in the face of HIS GLORY AND GRACE!!!

John 1:14,16 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
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Naomi's Heart Mission

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28 Days of Grace day 3

Take a little wine for your stomach

1 Tim 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

Yesterday, I was reading about the GAPS diet.
One of the differences between the GAPS diet and the YEAST FREE diet is the fermented items in the Introduction Diet…

“Increase daily amount of homemade yogurt and kefir, if introduced. Increase the amount of juice from sauerkraut, fermented vegetables or vegetable medley.”

Dr McManus warned me that the GAPS diet was MUCH more strict than the Yeast Free diet I am on, but the principles are the same:
Heal the Gut so that the Body can be nourished.

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy may very well have been to avoid the water….as in Montezuma’s Revenge…and drink fermented grape juice(what wine was back then). The goal was to help Timothy be healed so that he could be used for God’s glory.

verse 22 says:

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

verses 24-25 say:

Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some [men] they follow after.
Likewise also the good works [of some] are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

It’s as if, in the middle of exhorting Timothy in his ministry, Paul remembered and just said, “Oh, by the way – stop drinking that water, dude! Drink some wine and heal that stomach so that you can get over all these infirmities! We gotta get you better, man!”

I was asking God yesterday, after the whole discussion about Peter getting out of the boat, should I ask you to ask me to get out of the boat?

now, understand, I had an hour drive…and I use this time to listen to the Lord…so, He had time to deal with me!

I could hear a faint ‘yes…..here I am’
I didn’t want to ask…
I didn’t want to hear “come”.
I knew what getting out of the boat meant…
It meant moving ahead with the art and writing!
It meant challenges to face,
It meant scary opportunities,
…people saying no…
believing for funds and helpers and provisions and ideas and HEALTH!!!

I finally got quiet…
“If it’s you Lord….”
‘YOU ARE ALREADY OUT OF THE BOAT – STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

WHAT???? When did I get out of the boat?
“when you signed the lease to the studio! STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

WHAT???
“When you said you trusted me with your whole heart, now STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

Stop Looking at the storms – WHY?
THEY ARE MAKING ME SICK!!!
…WITH WORRY
…WITH FEAR
…they are paralyzing me!
…they are preventing me from moving forward to do the work that God has prepared beforehand that I should walk in them! (Eph 2:10)

What about the wine?????

Psalm 4:7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time [that] their corn and their wine increased.

Then, HE reminded me of this verse:

Isiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The point is, I have a job to do, I have good works that I am supposed to be doing so that God would be glorified. I have words that God has placed in my heart that need to be shared…
I’m NOT Christ, but I am CHRISTI, AND:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;
he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3

I’m already out of the boat – it’s my old nature that is looking around at that storm…
DRINK NO LONGER WATER – don’t pay attention to the things of this world…they are NOT PURE!
TAKE A LITTLE WINE FOR YOUR STOMACH – get your body healthy, with what I say!
AND FOR YOUR OFT INFIRMITIES – One preacher defined infirmities as those things that constantly come up and we constantly struggle with.
Mine is fear.
Lack of self confidence, even in my ability to hear the voice of the Lord.

Matt 26:27-28 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The woman at the well asked Jesus for the Living Water, from which one would never thirst.(John 4:10ff)

Here is His reply:

John 14:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

My Father has provided, by His grace, a physical program to heal my stomach and gut. I need to follow it.
My Father, through Jesus Christ, has provided cleansing for my sins, and living water, pure and alive, for my ability to do HIS WILL to HIS GLORY.
I need to drink of HIS wine daily. I need to drink ALL OF IT!

I need to remember that sin is all around me, and always needing to be dealt with,
but in the middle of the storms of life,
God has provided me with PURE WATER – Water that HE turned to WINE by HIS BLOOD at the cross.

In a way, I need to give up my whine for HIS WINE…and drink freely from the fountain of living water!
And HE has provided the strength by HIS grace!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 days of Grace, day 2

Hungry and weak.
Yesterday, I ate what I was supposed to, and now its time to eat.
It’s been over 12 hours.
I could ignore this, and get weaker, our fill myself with junk to just get by, but then I would get weak in other ways.

I remember a church sign:
Seven days without prayer makes one weak.

Why its it that the good, better and even the best things for us take so much more work than those that would destroy us?

I have wanted to do my best for the Lord.
I would be satisfied, though not totally content, to just do better for the Lord.
Unfortunately, I don’t always do GOOD for the Lord.

Today, a friend of mine’s message about a message she was listening to at a conference really hit home:

“How to do the Impossible” based on Matthew 14 – Jesus walking on the water…actually Peter walking on the water.

1. Ask for something impossible – ask specifically. Peter was the only water walker because he asked.

2. Get your eyes off the storm. Your circumstances will always sink you. Do not lean on your own understanding.

3. Get rid of plan B. You must get rid of your comfort zone and completely trust God.

4. Get out of the boat. Take the step of faith.

David Gibbs gave this message and he told the story of a black pastor friend of his who asked God for the impossible: that he would win at least 1 person to Christ every day for the rest of his life. He is a terrible at witnessing. He shakes and gets his words all messed up, but God has honored this request because he asked and it was for God’s glory. David told the story of how he watched him do this one night when they were traveling together. 3 AM stop to get gas and food at a mini mart…the pastor was on his “soul watch” for that day he said. They went into the minimart and he asked the girl behind the counter. “Do you want to die tonight?….She looked pretty scared (black man and a big man had a pile of goodies on the counter)..I mean if you were to die tonight do you know if you would go to heaven?…She reached under the counter….and pulled out a Bible. Yes she was saved…not the one…but suddenly another woman appeared in the line behind them and said I don’t know…she had her story…and then two men walked in and one said I don’t know either…They knelt and prayed right there in the mini-mart. ….The black pastor would say: .”I’m not good at this. I get it all messed up, but God saves these people through me because I asked.”

Why are we wasting our time trying to do great things for God when God wants us to do the impossible. It will never be a good time to do the impossible because it is impossible. What do you want to do for God’s glory that is impossible?

Food for thought.

Cathie(Boulden)

I have always loved the story about Peter walking on the water.
Psalm 23 is my favorite go to section of the Bible, but Peter walking on the water has so many more truths that has also touched my heart and life over the last 43 years.
There is a song, “If you wanna walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat”
I can’t find it anywhere….but, here is a great song that fits in this instance:

So, fear is a giant….are insecurities little giants?
Why don’t I expect to do the impossible?
Forget impossible…I’m struggling to believe to do the great, or the better!

I am doing this yeast free program for the Lord.
My body is in it’s current shape because for so many years, I used food as my comfort and hiding place, instead of the Lord.

Over a year ago, I posted a blog “Burn That Fat”
It was part of my 100 days attempt at the beginning of 2011. It is day 23!
I am in 2012, almost beginning month 6!!!
I know that my fat is something that has to be taken care of, in order for me to be physically able to do better and best for the Lord.

And I feel like losing this fat is IMPOSSIBLE!

I started THIS BLOG with saying:

Hungry and weak.
Yesterday, I ate what I was supposed to, and now its time to eat.

I remember a church sign:
Seven days without prayer makes one weak.

Here is today’s breakfast:

2 eggs and Sweet Potato

In addition, I need to eat daily of the word of God in order to be strong enough to tackle the giants that will arise through this program.
And the Bible feast today was Matthew 14:28-29
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

I need to eat food, the RIGHT food at specific times of the day so that I do not get weak.
That fits, whether the food is physical OR spiritual!
And I need to ask Jesus to come, and help me walk this path!

Now I go to plan the rest of the day, and the rest of my meals…and I have to eat out for lunch…so, I am going to report back later about how that worked out!

End of Day Report:

Salad, remove croutons, lemons and oil for dressing

YF meat wrapped around green with V8

I ate a lunch at home before leaving for my lunch meet up, and just purchased salad, with olive oil, and used lemons from the ice tea counter with the oo for my dressing.

My lunch at home was actually eating the right things while I packed up a supper picnic for Jim and I! I had roast beef, snap peas, and my snack/fat was olives!

I needed to wait for Jim to get there, so I went to McD’s and got the $1 unsweet iced tea, and used the free wifi!

Picnic Supper – well, yf lunch meat per the yf diet manual wrapped around lettuce and snap peas, some cherry tomatoes, and a V8 low sodium.

Oh, I forgot to add that I made ‘bone broth’ from the chicken I cooked yesterday! Tomorrow, I’ll have that broth for lunch!
I did have a refill of that unsweet iced tea…but even so, I sure feel good about today!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

Day 21 of Psalms and Proverbs 5/21/2012

Psalm 111:10 ESVThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

The fear of the Lord is not obtained once, and then done! It is to be practiced!
I have felt like a failure when I have not “naturally” chosen the way of the Lord.
It doesn’t make me a failure…it just indicates my natural state won.
I have to practice the fear of the Lord!

Practice
Exercise
Choose

It’s a daily exercise.
With practice, it becomes easier.
And sometimes, choosing the fear/way of the Lord becomes the new nature!
With practice, I create new habits!
I am not a failure, I am a work in progress!

My husband, Jim, loves to do weight lifting.
He started out pretty strong, but as he daily practices his workouts, he has gotten his three main exercises over 300 pounds each.
That didn’t happen the first day, it happened by practicing.

We can know when we have stopped our practice sessions!
Something is missing!
Is your joy missing?
When my joy is missing, I know its because my position with God has changed.
My fellowship has changed.

Psalm 51 is the Old Testament ‘sinners prayer’.
Within the prayer I hear David begging to get back into fellowship with God.
That is the focus for repenting of sin!
Repairing the breach between us and God!

Ps51.7.ESV Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

The previous verse shows the ‘how’ of repentance:

Ps51.6.ESV Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,

With that truth in the inward being, God promises to give us something very special:

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

When Jim has not done his weight training exercises, his muscles ache.
He starts to crave going to the gym to work out.
That is a learned response…from the practice of working out.
It’s not ‘natural’ for a body to want to exert energy, endure momentary pain, to reach a goal.
But because of Jim’s practice, he is moving forward, and now, his NEW natural is to desire to workout!

With a pure heart – we can cry out to the Lord for help….based on WHO HE IS!

Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

HE knows we are going to ‘fail’…but HE has made a way for us not to become ‘failures’!

Jim talks about learning to fail safely.
Because one has to take risks to increase the weight, one needs to know how to bail and not get hurt.
It is all part of the practice!
Jim has found people that have helped him learn methods to fail gracefully!
And each time we practice and fail, that is one way we don’t have to fail again, later!

We can ask God to help us practice! If we ask!

“Psalm 141:1ESV O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!

Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!

Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
let my head not refuse it.

Jim has told me that he has to fight sometimes to go to the gym in the morning.
The bed cries out to him “stay”!
He has to draw on his practice and choose to get up, and take his flesh in hand, and go do the work.
Sometimes, I have reminded him that he wanted to go.
He doesn’t always take that well – but he always thanks me when he comes back.

Likewise, if we want to practice the fear of the Lord, we have to be willing to crucify OUR flesh, and IF we need a ‘wake up call’ – to be thankful, and not refuse it!

For His help in guiding us along the way – delivering us from the Egypt of our sin, Our God requires that we worship HIM and only Him:

MY/our GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD…He wants to be MY/our all….

Ps81.9.ESV
“There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

AND I GIVE HIM my all…it is foolishness to those who don’t know Him…but to us who know HIM, it is life!
But for the filling of my heart from the fountain of God…it is worth it!

For Jim, that next five pounds, the ache of having worked out, that recognition that he has steadily moved forward, even in the face of injuries, trials, and struggles, he is energized. For clarity, Jim does not worship working out and weight training. He does this to keep his body strong as the temple of the Holy Ghost.
The Bible does use exercise as an analogy for our walk with God – as in running a race.
It’s not who gets there first, it’s who keeps on trodding along and makes it to the finish line!

Proverb 21 has a few verses that combine this thought all together:

Prov21.2.ESV Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.

To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness, and honor.

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.

I want to live my life to glorify God.
I want to know the fear of the Lord, and to walk in His wisdom.
I am amazed how often, reading the same ol’ verses brings a new light for a new day.
Reading the Bible daily – practicing the fear of the Lord!
Now, where is that one pound dumbell????

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

Wilderness Wanderings at WildBerry Patch Step #48

I am sitting in a truck, with a laptop rested on my overly large stomach, with my arms tucked beside me, elbows sort of like chicken wings, and my hands right at my ribs, plugged into the thing that makes the lighter power thing go from 12 volts to whatever I need for this laptop to run. It is hot outside, and the sun is shinning down on my arms through the glass…and Gabriel is sitting in the back seat, hoping that I will quit playing with the computer, and go outside, in the 87 degree heat…I have no idea what the humidity is.
I want a studio/office!

Why are we always wanting something other than what IS?
When I was young, I wanted long straight hair…
the girls with long straight hair, wanted curly hair.
So, I straightened mine, they permed theirs, and we both ruined the beautiful hair God gave us.

I can paint. I can’t paint like Thomas Kincaid, or Michael Angelo, but God has given me a gift to paint that some folks find appealing.

Some folks are willing to say, I don’t know much about art, but I know I like what you have done.
Some folks are willing to say, I don’t like what you have done(though, thankfully, I have not heard that very much, probably because I throw those paintings away!)
What gets me is when someone that is not an artist, wants to seem like they are an artist, and comments on things in a piece of art that make no sense, but they say them with conviction, as if they actually understood perspective, shading, hue, and tint! And why is it always that when someone has to pretend they know what they are talking about, that they say negative things???? Can’t they just talk ignorant stuff and say good things with them? They aren’t comfortable with appearing as if they don’t know anything about art.

The 10 year old wants to be 13;
the 13 year old wants to be 16 or 18;
the 18 year old wants to be 21;
the 40 year old wants to be 21….or 29!

I am 51.
I don’t mind that I’m 51.
What I mind is how little I have to show for it, and how much I have to show for it!
I have very little in the way of what I have done for the Lord…and therefore, I am concerned about the talent parable…I’m not going to be the o0ne that gets praised like the one with 10 talents…I just want to not be the one who hid her talents!
I have way too much to show for my 51 years – in the area of waist, waste, and health issues.

In my 50th year, I started writing again.
In my 51st year, I started painting again.

Now, in my 52nd year, I need to figure out what God wants for me to do with these things.

The Parable of the talents lends itself to business mindedness.
The talents that God has given, haven’t been given for our benefit…they are His investments in us…and the parable gives us an idea as to what type of return He is expecting on His investments. In fact, it is VERY CLEAR that HE IS EXPECTING a return on His investment!!!

We are his workmanship….We are created for good works….that God prepared before hand that we should walk in them!

God put the talents INTO us, HE created us with talent, for the good works that HE intended for us to walk in!

The key is – what am I doing with HIS talent?
Am I dedicating HIS talent to HIM?
and, just an aside…what is a talent compared to a skill?
Could there be a difference between innate talent, and a learned skill…and yet, both have some responsibility to be given back to HIM?

Some folks are gifted to do…and not to teach.
Some folks are gifted to teach…and not to do.

My husband can read a book about painting, and very clumsily show me what it says…and then, in his words, I take the brush out of his hand, and create something really special with it.
I’d like to be able to teach – but I can ‘t.
I’m not sure about him wanting to paint…..but I KNOW he can TEACH!

There are things about the WildBerry Patch that I can do…but i’m not gifted to do.
There are things about the WildBerry Patch that I cannot do…but need to be done.
And then, there are things a bout The WildBerry Patch that only I can do…or it wouldn’t be The WildBerry Patch.

What is it that only YOU can do?
THAT IS YOUR GIFTING! Within reason!
If YOU are the only one that can do what you do in the way you can do it, and in doing this something, you will bring return, fruit, then that is YOUR CALLING!!!

I have several drafts sitting waiting for me to finish, because there are things that I needed to do…things that only I could do…and I didn’t get back to these drafts.
How much time is there in a day? 12 waking hours, that would be safe.
I write and I paint in my sleep, but since I don’t get that stuff out there…I guess sleeping doesn’t count.
I need to let those others do what they can do, so that I can be about doing what only I can do.
We are all me ant to be uniquely fitted together so that we can all be one body.

If my wavy, frizzy hair is not good enough for you…too bad. It’s the hair God gave me!
If my four eyes that cannot wear contacts bother you…too bad. They are the eyes and glasses that God gave me.
If I never walk a marathon, that’s not going to change what I, and only I, can do!
It doesn’t matter if I ever do another sprint triathlon…it won’t affect my writing or my painting.

I am created with a gifting for writing and painting.
God created me to be an artist and an author.
God has provided me with a mobile studio and office!

What has God put into you? What are you doing about it?

In His hands and under his wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7