Dear friends,
You can now read my ThriveDontSimplySurvive blog on my website at http://www.Karolladd.com.
Join me there as I continue to share inspiration and encouragement.
Blessings to you.
Positive Diet
This week I started on the Elimination Diet. Doctor’s orders. Apparently there is some sort of allergen causing problems in my stomach, sooooo for six weeks I am eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar and a whole host of other foods from my diet. My first thoughts were “Oh no, this is awful. Is there anything I can eat?” But then as I began to look at the plan, I realized there was a long list of good, wholesome foods that I can eat. Basically this diet is taking me down to eating pure and natural and delicious foods – fruits, veggies, nuts and fish to name a few. I’m certainly not starving!
Honestly, I realized there are so many wholesome and wonderful foods that I’ve been avoiding, mainly because I’ve been distracted by foods that may taste or look great, but are not so great for me. I’ve realized that the Elimination Diet is not such a bad thing, and actually I can use this six week period to prayerfully consider other things that may need to be eliminated from my life. For instance, maintaining three blogs, three facebook pages, twitter and two websites. Hmmm…. maybe I need to scale down a little.
Another area that it is wise for all of us to consider is a Mental Elimination Diet. What are we putting into our minds that is not healthy or life-giving? Recently I have heard more and more people talking about Fifty Shades of Grey. Now when we consider healthy mind food, books of this nature can be categorized as “greasy, nasty French fries.” They may look tasty, but they are by no means healthy. On the contrary, they are destructive to our health.
As Christians, let us be guarded with what we feed our minds. The apostle Paul said, “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable…think on these things.” Let us feed on wisdom, not on trash. When we feed on the purity of God’s word, our minds are enriched by the reality of God’s great love for us. He has given us so many wonderful words with which to feed our minds, why should we pollute ourselves with dark, false and unfulfilling love stories?
Stop and consider, what kind of mental nutrition program are you on?
Almighty God and the God Particle
“Our concepts of measurement embrace mountains and men, atoms and stars, gravity, energy, numbers, speed, but never God.” A W Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
This past week we have heard quite a bit in the news about the “God Particle.” Ironically, this week I also came across a powerful passage in a new devotional called Every Day with Jesus (Worthy Publishing) as they quoted one of my favorite authors, A W Tozer. Here’s what the devotional had to say, which I think is quite fitting for the discoveries of the week.
Miles and meters. Light-years and leagues. Newtons and knots. From the tiniest particle to the tallest mountain, all of creation is considered and calculated by scientists and mathematicians. From the far reaches of our galaxy to the physical bodies we inhabit, everything is reduced to a number or a measurement and recorded for academic study.
Infinite and omnipotent. Everlasting and eternal. Almighty and I AM. While many of the details of creation can be captured in a book or on a computer screen, the Creator himself cannot be measured. His very name defies description. He is without measure, without end, without boundaries or limitations. The God who is the beginning and the end is not bound by the restraints of time. The omnipotent God is not hampered by the unknown. The Creator who is the first and the last holds all of creation in his hands.
Nothing is too difficult for our God or beyond his capabilities. Great is the Lord and worthy of praise!
What are your thoughts about all the hoopala concerning the God Particle?
Perfect!
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48
Perfect is an overused word in our vocabulary today. What a perfect little baby! She’s the perfect candidate for the job. He’s the perfect man for her! If we are going to be perfectly honest, there no one who is really perfect, except God himself. The word “perfect” actually means, complete or lacking nothing. God is complete, there is nothing He needs and nothing can be added to Him. We, on the other hand, need some work. We certainly are not perfect. Yet, why would Jesus tell us to be perfect if we can’t be perfect? Certainly we can aspire to live a righteous life, but we will always fall short. The only way we can be complete or perfect is in Christ. He completes us. The One who is perfect gave His life so that we may be made perfect and complete in Him. (from Pursuing God in the Quiet Places Devotional) In what areas do you tend to struggle and strive for perfection?
Celebrate Freedom
As we celebrate freedom this week, I want to give you several of my great quotes about the freedoms we so gratefully enjoy. I hope you have a great 4th. Enjoy!
“The constitutions of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves;
that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property and freedom of the press.”
Thomas Jefferson
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” -Thomas Jefferson
“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
― George Washington
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Ronald Reagan
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan
The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.
John F. Kennedy
And then, as only Mark Twain can put it…
It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.
Mark Twain
Real Relaxing
Are you over connected? This weekend we had the joy of going to Colorado for a wedding. We stayed at a beautiful dude ranch just outside Winter Park. It was a wonderful opportunity to relax. Now don’t get me wrong, we were busy the entire time we were there (a whopping 36 hours) and had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. The relaxation came in the form of no cellular coverage. Yes, our phones and ipads couldn’t get a signal. After I got over the initial frustration, I realized that for a first time in a long time I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the people around us.
When we returned to Dallas, I could feel the tension build up in my body as I was connected again and had people to respond to, emails to answer and twitters to tweet. It was a revelation to me that I live in a constantly busy and tense environment of technology. If I am going to truly relax, then I need to turn the electronic connections off for a while. I have a renewed passion to truly rest on Sunday afternoons and prepare for the week with less tension and more peace.
What about you? How do you truly relax in this busy age of connectedness?
Overwhelm, Under Him
This morning as I was walking, I found I was anxious about all that needed to get done today. Actually I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, with pressure. To be more specific, I was feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to perform as an author. I had recently been to a seminar on marketing and social media. The instructor encouraged authors to post on our blogs three times a week, twitter 8 times a day, facebook 3 times and make comments on other’s posts, plus stay on top of Linked In and Pinterest and comment on other people’s blogs! It’s not humanly possible to do all that and keep up with my writing, speaking, emails and website. Oh My!
As is my daily practice while on my walk, I began quoting Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green meadows. He leads me beside still waters.” Immediately I realized that God never intended for me to become overly worried or stressed about all these things that perhaps are not necessary. Think: Martha and Mary – Martha so busy about the preparations in the kitchen, while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. I went on in considering Psalm 23, “He renews my strength. He guides me down the right path bringing honor to His name.”
I had become so worried about all that I thought I needed to do to bring honor to my stuff, but God wants me to bring honor to His name. I took a deep breath and realized that God will lead me to do what is necessary for my business and that I can look to Him for guidance, but ultimately it is all about Him anyway. It’s His glory that I’m really after, not my own. My fretting turned into joy as I continued my walk with my Good Shepherd beside me. I don’t know what is overwhelming you right now, but I want to encourage you to go to our Wise Shepherd and spend time with Him. Ask Him to guide you to do what is necessary and trust His timing and His care. Reflect on Jesus’ words from the sermon on the mount.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34
