Relationship Advice

I'm for sure no expert on relationships but I like this quote by Barbara Johnson on the importance of unconditional love.

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." - Barbara Johnson

Some valuable guidelines for relationships

1. Support the person when you can't support their behavior.

2. Settle accounts immediately - time is the great enemy of reconciliation and restoration

3. Adopt forgiveness when reconciliation is not possible

4. The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. Integrate that.

Friends, parents, children, siblings, relatives......need love the most when they deserve it the least.

Bite Size Brain Snack

If you believe in yourself, have dedication and pride and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards. - Paul "Bear" Bryant

This is a great quote from a famous coach - one that my son-in-law admires very much. It's true to the point that it takes an amount of confidence in yourself to be able to make substantial changes in your life. The older you get the harder it is. I know some folks who have done it. I've watched them turn around and go in a completely different direction after years of established habits and patterns.

I would like to add, however, that those who have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, have the advantage of drawing on His very power, even when they are desperately weak, to continue to integrate those changes into their body (new ways of acting), their mind (it all starts with new thoughts) and their spirit (where the lasting motivation lives).

For You are my hope, Lord GOD , my confidence from my youth.
Psalm 71:4-6

She's Here!!

My heart is smitten, overtaken, striken, slayed, overwhelmed, undone....

Here's why -

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.639772509128.2138852.52707831

Bite Size Brain Snack

When you pray, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without heart.

From Bridesmaids to Babies

I know this is the natural progression of life - first you have weddings and then come the babies. I was thinking the other day about my mom. She had four children in a little over five years. That's just hard. It's hard when their babies, hard when their toddlers, hard when their all in school, hard when their teenagers!, and hard when they all grow up. I think there was one year when she had a graduation, a wedding, and a baby all in a 3 month span. Totally doable but that would rattle anybody's cage.

We had Jill's wedding in early May, 2010 and Lori's was in late 2008. It seemed like we lived and breathed in conversations that involved dresses and receptions and flowers. I loved every minute of it. It's so much fun to watch your daughter dream and plan a day that's all about her and man she loves. With very few exceptions we enjoyed every moment....there have to be a few tense moments - really!

And now we have transitioned, at least for the moment, into babyland. Lori and Ethan are having their first baby in a few weeks and Jill is talking about babies. It's what comes naturally but my feelings have caught me off guard. It's not hard to be excited, and I have been, but I'm such an experiential learner, that for a time my full blown enjoyment was still yet to come. Is that weird?

All that changed when the calendar flipped to May. It's here!!! The month our little grand girl will be here (unless she's dreadfully late). The nursery is ready. Mom and Dad are ready. Me and Papa are so ready!!!! Some days it feels like my heart is going to explode. I honestly don't ever remember feeling like this.

So much to come! And now we're counting days and not months or weeks. Yippee!!!

The Royalty of Family

Royal Wedding Reflections

Cast your vote...happy, healthy family?

I stayed up all night with a bunch of great friends to watch the spectacle of the royal wedding. It was a moment in history and I didn't want to miss a second of it in real time. The sights, sounds, color, pageantry, pomp and protocol were absolutely fascinating.

I couldn't help but think that, with all the millions of dollars spent, I'll bet you a designer hat these folks have all the familiar struggles of family. Maybe even more so. There's no doubt that fame and fortune have their curses, as do poverty and obscurity. The truth is that when it comes to family there is no such thing as perfection.

As much as I love my husband, siblings and kids, we are all just people trying to love and accept each other and make some great memories while we carry on lives of work and responsibilities. Some days it's a joy you can't even put into words and other days it's as much work as being on a chain gang. That's just life in all it's reality.

But in the end - they're all we have, really. When everything else is all stripped away - our stuff, our accomplishments, our dreams - they are the reason we live and breath.

U Turn On Food

I wanted to share a recent post from a sweet friend's blog. She happens to be a physician among other things and is one of the most intriguing people I have met in a long time. Her blogging stamina makes me jealous every day, yet I still keep going back. You can check out her other ideas at www.livingwithpower.org.

This is a "how ya doin' on your New Years Resolution" post. I thought it had some great thoughts about food choices. I share with her permission.

Thanks, Lina!

I’m talking to women here, because I’m sure if you’re a guy you started some kind of weird diet that includes burgers and fries and you still somehow lost more than your desired weight goal. Yada yada yada.

Don’t be discouraged, though. It’s not too late to get back on the saddle. We still have a few weeks to go before the pool season. It’s never too late to start now. You can do it. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and all that positive thinking and cliche statements.

But seriously, I figure I should use my expertise as a physician and share some great tips with you towards achieving your goal of losing those last 5-10 pounds. Let’s start by defining those foods that don’t make us fat.

Anytime you pick up a food, use these four criteria to judge whether or not it’s a food that won’t make you far:

1. you better not smell it. Seriously, if it smells good it’s likely fried or bathed in sugar. If you can smell it, drop it and pick up an odorless food. You’ll thank me later. And if you’ve got a cold, don’t use this as your excuse to binge. Simply put all food aside for a couple of days until your sense of smell is restored and you can judge the foods in front of your nose.

2. you better not see it. Portion control, portion control, portion control. Did I say portion control? It’s all about the size of the plate in front of you. If you can see the food, it’s too much. Put half of it away. This is a great tip to hang on to when your sense of smell is dim.

3. you better not wear it. I don’t care if you’re an apple or a pear, food will ultimately settle in around your belly or your hips. Make a decision not to wear the things you eat. The secret here is to take it off. Get on a treadmill. Go for a walk. Whatever you do, move. My assistant thanks me every time I send her on a hike to the mail room because she figures I’m saving her the cost of the gym. Learn from the wise. Exercise. Mind you, don’t over do it. Thirty minutes a day is plenty.

4. you better not crave it. This is a very well kept secret, but I’m going to share it with you. It all starts in the mind. The more you think about food the more you will want to eat. Have you ever noticed that you hardly ever think about food until the minute you decide to diet? Then it’s all you can do not to think about that ice cream sundae or that juicy burger. Take every thought captive. Stop the craving right between your ears!

All right. Hope these tips were helpful. On a more serious note, I’ve found loseit.com to be an incredibly helpful tip in watching what you eat. You can find it on the world wide web, or download it on your iphone.

If you have any other great tips for dieting, share them with the readers in the comments section!