Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Emphasis mine Matthew 11: 28-30
I remember clearly in my younger years hearing My Yoke is easy and my burden light and thinking who is Jesus kidding?
I felt this way because I allowed satan to convince me that a life of prayer, living in the Spirit world, which I didn’t know about at the time, would be a burden.
I, yes I, wanted to live life to the fullest.
I wanted many things, power, recognition, and to choose the direction I would sail my ship (life).
As the years passed, I slowly started to realize the burden I placed upon myself, and I realized that the life I thought I wanted was empty.
My life started to change when I began reading the Bible and praying for an increase in the Fruit of The Holy Spirit.
I noticed at first an increase in Peace, and Joy followed Peace, and as I started to appreciate the Peace and Joy, I was drawn like bees to honey into the “Spirit World.”
When you, or in this case, I thought about it, why wouldn’t I want more Peace and Joy?
Only an idiot would want less!
I’m not the most intelligent person in the room,
But,
I, now we, are not the dumbest.
Peace and Joy are game changers, and it is a sin that more is not said about the Fruit of the Holy Spirit and how we can grow as Christians by living in the Fruit of The Holy Spirit.
It has taken me years of taking two steps forward and one step backward, but grow we have, and I enjoy, as I pray you all know, our new life in The Holy Spirit in The “Spirit World.”
And
I now enthusiastically believe, “my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Twenty-twenty-two is a year of transition for Gail and me.
For fifty-plus years, we have hosted Thanksgiving for our family, having as many as twenty-eight people around our table.
Gail always served a meal to be remembered, and no one went away hungry.
This year we announced that this was our last Thanksgiving!
I choked up at announcing our last Thanksgiving because it meant the passing of a very special event we enjoyed hosting for the past fifty years.
But,
Everything has a beginning, and everything has an end.
And,
I have experienced that something new and exciting opens up when something closes down.
I don’t know what this will be, but I trust God to show me the new door God wants us to enter through.
A side note:
In August, I went for my physical and was told my A1C was 6.3. If my A1C increased to 6.5, I would be a type II Diabetic.
I watched my A1C increase for the past few years and did little about it.
I decided change had to happen.
I had the good fortune, Holy Spirit, of attending a cooking class hosted by Kathy Sheehan, a member of our church, who taught us all about Carbohydrates. (Carbs).
Kathy taught us to take the total Carbs in a product, deduct the total fiber and divide that number by four; the remainder represents the total number of teaspoons of sugar you send into your body when eating that product.
I was shocked as I started looking at the labels at the amount of sugar I was eating in my everyday diet.
A bagel, for example, has fifty carbs and one gram of fiber. (50 – 1 /4 = 12 Teaspoons of Sugar). That’s the amount of sugar I ate when I enjoyed (?) a bagel.
I changed my diet, which at first was hard, but now is easy; as we discussed earlier in our blog, God is taking care of me. I went back for a new A1c test in October, and I am happy to announce my A1C is 5.6.
I am at the top of the safe zone, but now I want to drive my A1C even lower.
Why are we mentioning this?
Kathy submitted a picture prompted by the picture the week before, and I asked her if I could mention her blog and quote her past and present fight with diabetes.
Kathy kindly said Yes.
Kathy’s blog is entitled “Diabetics Rejoice” http://diabeticsrejoice.blogspot.com/
I love the name; it fits in with everything we have written in past blogs!
Kathy relates at the top of her blog that I have lived with Type 1.5 Diabetes (LADA) for over 20 years and have successfully managed my condition through real food, a very low carb, ketogenic diet. In that time, I’ve created many delicious, healthy recipes I want to share. Eat and enjoy!
If you log onto Kathy’s web page, make sure you scroll down to the bottom, and on the left side, see all the recipes she has on her page.
We are mentioning Kathy because some of you have the same problem that Kathy and I HAD, which may help you.
God is taking care of you.
Picture:
To answer your call for more photos, here is one I took on a hike in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee this past October. Martin and I took a long, winding road trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. The fall foliage at the park at that time of year was the best we’ve ever seen! Picture by Kathy Sheehan
See how easy this is. Keep Snapping!
Your pictures have an impact!
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph; in the comments section at the bottom of our blog, tell me you want to submit a picture, and I will send you my email address in our reply on Thursday.
