ENCOURAGED IN HEART

Thank you so much for your prayers, my father is doing well. The surgery was a little longer and a bit more intricate than thought, but Pop is doing well. I was able to speak with him last night and he sounded groggie, but good. His recovery fully initiated as he begged both the pre and post op nurses for coffee. He was successful only with the post op nurse, and that was after he handled his ice chips well.

Well it’s clear that this nut didn’t fall too far from the java bean tree…

I was reassurred of his recovery this morning, as he was pimping his morning nurse for, “Real food…I wouldn’t feed this food to my worst enemy.” Grandma Karl would have been proud of her son, that he did use his manners as he closed his request with, “Thank you love, sorry I’m being grumpy.”

Thank you, for your prayers covered my father! God sends His saints to be His hands and feet. Yesterday was no exception. My dear friend for the past twenty, cough, cough…) years, Rocco (yes, he’s Italian), is a surgeon in New Jersey. He saw my Facebook status and the next thing I know, my sister emails me that Rocco found Deb and Mary to say Pop looked good in the recovery room.

It meant so much to Pop that Rock came to check on him in the recovery room…me too.

I wrote my thanks to Rocco last night that it’s, “Good to have friends in high places!”

(Rocco and I at our high school graduation.)

and a God who treds in the high places!

He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth—
the LORD God Almighty is his name.
Amos 4:13 (New International Version)

Thank you so much for the prayers, and I ask if you would please continue them! I like to know what the people I pray for look like, (part of my charm), here’s my cute Pop:

Wear your PJ’s backwards and flush ice cubes down the toilet…

That’s what my peeps on the street tell me is the “recipe” to bake up a good ole’ school snow day! Nope, that’s not it.  The recipe is as following:

SNOWSTORM RECIPE

1-First grade winter party needing four dozen sugar cookies

1 -Well intentioned, periodically guilt-stricken Mom in emotional eating recovery

1-Record breaking blizzard

1-Canceled winter party

Take the Mom, have her roll, cut and bake 48 cookies.  Add an historic-making blizzard. Mix it up with a canceled winter party.  Will create the perfect storm for sure.

Bakes 48 cookies.  Ends up serving 36.

This Jersey girl got her sugar cookie groove on. And it wasn’t pretty.  Recovery relapse never is.

The Finkster took three of the four dozen cookies to the firehouse to feed his crew.  I’d like to write that he took 4 dozen, or heck, even 3.5 dozen, or how about even 2 dozen and 1 baker’s dozen, but he didn’t.  He took 3 dozen.

Ugh…

I felt particularly (alright, sinfully so…yuckers) proud of myself as I chugged through Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Sure, I had some treats, but the treats didn’t have me!   I was standing strong!

I forgot that each day of recovery is just that, a new day.  Staying in recovering has required more work than I ever thought would be possible.  I just thought, wished, hoped…that the pulling and longing-s to overeat would be gone. I’ve been on this journey for almost eight years. EIGHT YEARS LADIES.  But the longings remain.  Sure, they’re not as powerful and more subtle, but they are certainly present.

I need to …be alert and always keep on praying… Ephesians 6:18b (NIV)

Know what’s also storm-like strong too? My passion to do life God’s way…my longing to be more like Him.  And I’m not just wishing…I’m believing – cause that’s what believers are supposed to do!

When I was asked to help in the party, I said, “Heck yeah, I can bake the four dozen cookies!” (People don’t ask me to do crafty things because, well…I’m just not crafty!)  I thought that it may not be the best idea, but overconfidence in self, instead of God, proved a recipe for disaster.

December was flurried with over sized portions and treats.  Some say that’s what Christmas is all about…the cookies, treats, etc.  I’m not some, I’m one.  One who says Christmas is all about Jesus. His birth.  The birth of real unending, non-judging, sacrificial love.

Jake’s winter party was rescheduled.  And back to the drawing board of creating 48 politically correct shaped snowmen and gingerbread women (see how PC I am?!) for the winter party.  I had some “help”…

Actually, lots o’ help, on both rounds…

While my flesh cried out to head dive into the bowl of dough, I put the bowl down and played Wii with Cal.  I then came back to the task at hand.  Before diving my hands into the dough, I collected them in prayer – “God, I know this could be the makings of another storm in my eating life…I need you right now.”

After the baking was done, I sat down with one warm snowman and a cup of decaf.

Last month, I fell down for sure.  But yesterday, I rose back up.

“A saint is just a sinner who falls down…and gets up.”Profound lyrics from We Fall Down by Donnie McClurkin.

I’ve yet to hear this without experiencing a God hug.  Maybe you’re not an emotional eating addict.  Maybe you struggle in a different area…perhaps pride, or overspending, maybe you’re addicted to drug and/or alcohol.  Maybe you struggle with laziness, legalism or indifference.

I ask you today, if the storms of life knocked you down, please click on the above song, close your eyes, and lift your heart and hands to the One who will pull you back up again.  It won’t be you. It’ll never be you. If “you” is the source, plan to stay down in the storm a long, long time.

For today, the bakings of a storm has settled.  The path shoveled clear from petitioning God for strength.  God, pulled me back up…again.  I’m ready to get back up and walk again! Will you join me? 

For years, I focused my time and energy into helping others and being oh, so very holy but the truth is, there was limited holiness – because I was serving others to avoid listening to me.  I heard the heart cry of others, but denied my own heart cry.  But, I made every casserole I said I’d make and did all the things I told other’s I do.  I didn’t act like it all depended on Him, but rather me, ugh.

I’m calling it the servant’s stalemate.

Then this morning there was a tender “A-ha” from God.

“When we focus on our own recovery, fixing ourselves instead of everyone else, we will then be able to be more effective in helping others too.”

Didn’t help that I had whopping case of “approval addiction”.  I valued the ego stroke of man, more than God.  And sister, there’s just nothing good coming from there!  God used Approval Addiction by Joyce Meyers to open my eyes.  And I probably will re-read that one because I need to keep myself focused!

I received a practical nugget and strength from Moses today…we’re not emailing or anything – but we did have coffee together!  Check this out…if Moses counseled each and every Israelite, walked over to fix their sandal strap when they popped open and busied himself in all the details affirming, the Promised Land is coming, but missed God….ho-ly ta-mole…no Red Sea would have been parted, staff to snake, etc…

Instead, he cared for the people God gave him, but his priority was time with God and because of this, The People were in reverent awe before God…Exodus 14:19 (Message).

God’s doing a big thing IN you and others will be affected.  Yes, let’s help one another out, but not to the level that we ignore someone very important to God – “Q time” with the Big G and you.

Moses kept his eyes on The Prize (God) and when God moved powerfully, as He did (and will continue to do) Moses let the Israelite to “rock the house…well okay, their campsite praising God, not Moses.

I’m singing my heart out to God—what a victory!
God is my strength, God is my song,
This is the kind of God I have
and I’m telling the world!
I’m spreading the news far and wide! (Excerpts from Exodus 15:1-8 Message).

How about you? Are you a dependable “good girl”  and struggle with approval addiction too?  May we be most addicted to time with God and He’ll help us, help us and those we love.  Those that we serve and love will only see God if we spend time with Him…there’s the foundation to build up from.