All Is Relevant

Happy Friday.
Dictionary.com "rel·e·vant [rel-uh-vuhnt]–adjective.Bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent: a relevant remark."
Today I attended my *NEW* small group for the first time.
Months back, Luis and I attended a small group, made up of wonderful couples, however for some reason, I just did not fit. I felt "too new" to the Bible to ask questions and/or really participate in discussion. This wasn't because of how others made me feel, only myself lacking the confidence.
We haven't attended that small group in a while, and quite frankly, I hadn't really had the desire to be in a small group until recently.
A new friend invited me to join her small group - there is 4 girls (including me) ages 20-24. It is AMAZING how today, already, I have been positively impacted and may have even impacted others.
It felt good. No pressure. Easy.
We each discussed what we have been learning from God recently. It was crazy how relevant each of our stories were to each other. I shared James 4: 13-17. We all have trouble with NOT planning. But it was very encouraging to discuss this and to remind each other that it's not up to us; what we will do and where we will end up - God won't let us down. He will guide us. We just need to remember to listen to him.
Another one of the girls talked about being a good wife. She talked about the little things and how they all make a difference. She's right. (I was feeling a little guilty because last night I wasn't very sympathetic or patient with Luis. He wasn't feeling well and I basically just disregarded it...) Always a good reminder "Patience is Love" and Luis would do the same for me.
I am so excited for our time together in small group.
God has opened so many doors for me. I am so excited to take the next step. I pray that I look to God and listen to him. I pray that I allow him to work through me and that my desire to know more only grows.

Dieting...What's the obsession?

I'm in a funny mood. Luis has been eating applesauce, ice cream and mashed potatoes all week while I have eaten ice cream, mac & cheese, Ramon noodles and Lean cuisine meals - basically carbs, sodium and more carbs. Now, I feel the need to write about dieting.

I don't do the whole dieting thing. However, I am conscious of what I put in my mouth and I like to eat "healthy" and try to stay fit. However, from the many diets I've been made aware of by friends, facebook, the book store and Oprah, I know there are MILLIONS to choose from. This is a fact. And this, in itself, should be enough to scare all of us from one specific "diet."

A quick google search and, to no surprise, I came up with about 20,200,000 pages of dieting options. There are dieting options for anything and everything. I thought I would share a few I came across today:
weight (ex: Atkins), heart health , weight & heart (ex: South Beach), vegetarian diets, teens, 2 days, 5 days, 7 days, 14 days, counting carbs, counting calories, liquid only, high protein, holiday diet, dieting on the go, etc. etc. etc. I could go on for days. No wonder women go insane!!!

I need to talk about the Atkins diet. This is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard of. I'm blown away. For breakfast: eggs and bacon; For lunch: broiled cheeseburger and salad; For dinner: fried pork chops, broccoli with butter and a salad. And for a snack, salami with cream cheese.
WHAT?!?! You must be kidding me!! Somehow, (although, I don't get it) you may lose some weight but by age 35 you're having heart complications. (I'm sorry, this diet makes me really angry.)

What about counting points (calories or carbs)?? Now, maybe this one works if you are EXTREMELY organized and good at documenting everything you do; or you are going to buy all the meals from a commercial and never go out to eat. I don't know how people can think about anything besides food if this is their diet of choice though. Wouldn't you be counting all day?? "I had three M&M's, that's 5 points, plus a banana, 6 points, for lunch tuna, 15 points, for a snack, celery, that's MINUS 2 points, had a flavored water, 4.75 points....crap, I forgot my scale, not sure how much oatmeal this is...I'm guessing 4 ounces which equals 7.5 points..."
Now, that might be an exaggeration, but that's how I imagine my brain if I were counting calories.

Ok, I'm done venting about diets I've never tried.

The one diet I am most familiar with is the South Beach diet and this one seems reasonable. Luis was told to do this by his doctor because his cholesterol was a little high. We bought the book and I did a little bit of research on this one. The worst part is NO CARBS for the first week. But, it makes sense because it breaks our addiction to carbs (this may mean chocolate, bread or sugary fruits). Your meals consist mainly of baked fish & chicken, skin dairy products and vegetables. Now living by this diet for your entire life - I say, impossible - but if you're worried about your heart, it makes sense. The South Beach diet, for us, taught us to eat "right." It was just a nice change to introduce us to other options.

For now, my major dilemma is Milk. I believe milk is not the healthiest thing for us to drink. It has too much fat, puss and whatever else they can squeeze from a cow and make it look white and normal (I apologize if that was too graphic). And then there is soy milk - it, on the other hand is delicious and I could drink it like water; BUT it has too much estrogen so WATCH OUT and be sure to stretch if you drink too much of it! And then, what about organic milk? I think it's the "best" but then, go ahead and do a google search on organic milk; of course SOMEONE has SOMETHING negative to say about it, and besides, it's just too darn expensive for a couple of newlyweds! So how do you choose?

OK, I'm done with this blog. I apologize for how random it was :)

OH! If you are wondering, my expert opinion : a normal, healthy diet. Bright colors are always good and if you understand what the ingredients are, you should be pretty safe.

Only a Tonsillectomy

Luis and I have known about his Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy for over a month now, but come Sunday night, I was overwhelmed with this feeling of "Holy shit, Luis is having surgery tomorrow. Yes, he is only getting his tonsils and adenoids out and doctors do this every day, right? But, he's going to be put out and he's 27 not 5!"

We were cuddled up in bed and he was being extra sweet (he's always sweet but he really had his charm on) and feelings of fear, worry and anxiety began to rise up inside all at once. I was calm, not to let Luis know the thoughts going through my mind, a mile a minute. I started to pray and tell God how much I needed Luis; I didn't know what I would do without him and I asked that He would let this surgery be quick and easy for everyone involved.

Monday morning arrives and we are to be at the doctor's office at 6AM for check-in. Luis and I roll out of our bed, get in the car and head out...both still in our pajamas. There were quite a few families there just as early and I couldn't help but wonder what each person was doing there.

After registration, Luis was taken to change and then his Mom and I were invited to sit with him until the doctor was ready. Luis was strapped up with an IV, hair net, hospital socks and the gown. We waited with him behind the curtain - I was rather squirmy being back there. I hate hospitals more than anything.

It was time for him to go, he pursed his lips and said "I Love You" with a big smile. He said the same to his Mom and then they took him away. We walked out to the waiting room. I begged God to take care of him.

In the waiting room I watched the people, some excited, some nervous, some angry, some old, some young. I knew Luis' surgery would only be about 20 minutes - nurses came to call patients and families every 30 seconds it seemed and so 20 minutes took forever.

Finally we can go see him. And all the fear is gone, he's fine - everything can go back to normal. As I re-think this today, I'm reminded to caution myself of the word/feeling "normality." I don't want to take things for granted. I don't want to be satisfied and completely relaxed in today. The time to be thankful is now.

James 4 : 13-17

Warning about Self-Confidence

"Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? You life is like the morning fog - it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it."

Well, this is a change in plans for me, as ironic as that may sound.

As I am working to find a productive and effective method to read my Bible, Wednesday, I began a search by topic; looking through the concordances. I was searching "jealousy." I read in James 3 and continued to read in James as if God said, "Go on, continue, there's something better here for you." As I read on, I came to the passage above, I couldn't help but think, "Holy cow, Lord, you're good!" I couldn't wait to tell Luis about this revelation - our "plans" for the future are a common topic of conversation and for the past year and half have been about what we want for the future.

Planning is difficult (for me at least) to release hold of, especially when there are so many aspects attached to "the plan for life" - money, babies, location, friends, vacation, and this list, as you know, can be never-ending. I can't say my life is organized and that I live by a scheduled plan of events, however, I never seem to stop worrying about our future and this is an exhausting habit I have to break free from.

And so, since I read James 4 : 13-17 for the first time, I can't stop going back to it. "Your life is like a morning fog - it's here a little, then it's gone." That verse brings a huge smile to my face. It's so refreshing and relieving as I am reminded that God will do the planning for us. It is up to him where I will be, what I will do, and who I will touch - and I need to release.