foolishnotions.net

he was just born yesterday.

today he measures up to my shoulder.

this november he will be 9.

that’s half way to 18.

how is this happening so fast?

how can i make it slow down?

how can i not squander the next 9 years?

these are my mother’s day thougts.

[sniff]

when the cat is away… the mice shall play.

just another day at the office.

this is what 4000 post-it notes looks like when you put them all side by side.

video by matthew ray…

my favorite chick-fil-a meal
chicken sandwich no pickle:  410cal; 16g fat
1 packet of mayonnaise:   90cal;   9g fat
small waffle fries: 270cal; 13g fat
med. dr. pepper:  150cal;   0g fat
cookies & cream milk shake: 790 cal; 33g fat

grand total for my favorite fast food meal:  1710 cal; 71 g fat - are you serious?!?!?!

keeping it real chick-fil-a meal
grilled chicken sandwich, no pickle:  270cal; 3.5g fat
honey mustard:    40cal;   4g fat
half of the fries:  135cal; 7.5g fat
water or diet dr. pepper: 0

grand total for my keeping it real chick-fil-a meal: 475cal; 15g fat

ok, so 475 calories and 15g of fat used to not look so good to me.  until i realized that that’s 72% less calories and 79% less fat than i was consuming 1-3 times a week before i started paying attention!!!!  shoot, for that matter i can eat all the fries and still come out skinnier at the end of the year.

i’ve decided to do this about my weight…

• i’ve decided to eat things that i want while staying away from the things that will kill me at least 85% of the time.  that’s 6 out of 7 days.
• i’ve decided to arm myself with understanding about what i am eating and basing my choices on that knowledge compared to what i know my body has been able to endure in the past.
• i’ve decided that i don’t have to choose the healthiest thing on the menu to be a success.  i just have to choose something better than i would in my blissful ignorance.
• i’ve decided that if i have a bad day, or week, or month… it doesn’t matter.  no longer will i just quit.  i’ll just start again.

this is my theory.  diets don’t work.  i haven’t found one yet that i’m still on.  but, if i can eat 72% better (how about 50% or even 25% better), 85% of the time…. someday i will be lean and mean.  and i’m finding the more i start doing the math… the harder it is for me to justify putting ridiculous food in my mouth.  i have yet to walk into a restaurant and fail to find an alternative to what i originally wanted that was not waaaay better for me… and it still tasted good!

today i put on a pair of size 8’s.  i started this journey in size 12’s.  now, these 8’s aren’t straight out of the drier or anything.  and i’m sure they are a “big” 8.  but 2 months ago i couldn’t get them on.  and today i am wearing them to work without fear of being sent home.

i choose the slow boat to skinny.  i look forward to waking up one day and wondering who the new girl is and how she got here!  i’ll keep you posted to let you know if my theory works.

alright!  who’s still out there fighting the good fight for
being healthy, looking great and living long???
haven’t heard from you all in a while!
weigh in…

i was pondering the concept of hearing God’s voice today. how exactly do you explain the experience of “hearing” God’s voice to someone who doesn’t know God? after all, it’s not really audible (at least for me). how can we claim to “hear” something that doesn’t actually make a sound?

i cringe every time i feel myself about tell someone, “God told me… xyz”. in fact, rarely do i say it. i just fumble clumsily for a short introductory sentence to explain by what authority can i account for the eminent information. it’s not that i don’t think i actually heard from God. it’s just that i’m keenly aware that saying, “God said…” sounds like total whacko, fruit-loop, voices in your head wierdness… not to mention a little pretentious… “oooo… carolyn, thinks she hears God.” it evokes a reaction of, i really don’t want to hear this.

so, i began to think through my experiences of hearing God’s voice. how do i know when it’s God? how can i explain this to someone who is really trying to understand without freaking them out or sounding like i really don’t know what the fool i’m talking about. this is what i’ve got so far…

there are times when in an instant, i have an answer that i understand as thoroughly as if someone stood right in front of me and spelled it out. i didn’t hear any voices, but none the less, i inexplicably have the information… and i get it. sometimes it happens when i’m searching for it. sometimes it comes completely out of left field. it can come as a result of something i see, read, dream, hear…. or, it can come as a result of seemingly nothing at all.

i think sometimes these moments are just epiphanies. other times i think it is God’s “voice”. and i’m certain many times they are epiphanies imparted by God just to help me get along.

for me, the difference in the two is this…

• an epiphany i understand clearly in my head. it’s good practical information i can use to get things done. some of these i think are from God. some i think are just ideas i cooked up all by my creative self… because God made humans creative that way.
• God’s “voice” resonates as truth in my soul. it’s a deep and comprehensive understanding dropped in an instant into my heart. i draw from it confidence, wisdom and the tools i need to walk out my destiny. and because it’s truth to me and not mere information, it becomes a part of who i am. typically, these truths keep “coming up”… like in one week i’ll read something in my bible, see something on tv, hear a story, or witness some other practical application of a truth that started stirring in my heart during prayer one day.

so, there you go. that’s my current explanation on the subject of hearing God. seems easy enough.  it’s still too long to replace, “God told me…” i guess i’ll work on the short version now.  i think there are a lot more explanations i need to rework in my career christian mind before i can more effectively communicate them to someone else.  when i don’t, it just comes out… weird.

am i alone?
does anyone else have to hash this stuff out in their brains?