How Do You Recycle?

I’m not sure if any of you are familiar with the show “Deals”, hosted by Kat Cosley on Live Well Network (LWN); however, I enjoy watching that show and just last week, I had a revelation of virtuous women. Many of them were married and had anywhere from three to seven children. They were being filmed because these innovative (some were stay at home Moms) Mothers found ways to cut the cost of buying their children’s clothes and toys ~ so the money they did save, went towards food-----which they too had creative ways to save and fill up their freezers and refrigerators!

The website was established after a Mother realized her children were in onesies one minute and jeans and t-shirts the next. As a Mother, I truly can relate to that. Anyway, after viewing the website, I found out that those who want to join can only buy a sack of items twice and after that, they have to post clothes and toys of their own to swap. Another requirement is the toys and clothes being swapped are in very good condition: cleaned, folded and wrapped nicely in brown bags; and no broken or missing pieces on the toys. If any of you are questioning the validity of the website, click on http://www.thredup.com/ to get more information.

“Wow”, I said. This is the 21^st century version of hand me downs ~ with a twist!

Years ago, women had five to ten children in the home and would take good care of the clothes and toys; and hand them down to the younger children or family members who had children in that size. Whereas, they appreciated and valued the good will; so they would properly care for the items; and when finished, they would return them~ and the cycle would go on and on until the clothes became rags.

Everything was of use, because the rags still had life in them; the good pieces were used to make decorative quilts, more clothes, etc; whereas, landfills were few and far between!

Read "Mind Your Business" blog @ http://gdlynsmith3.blogspot.com/ for the Virtuous Woman scripture~ or go to Proverbs 31:10-31 in your bible.

My Treat To Myself!

Alright ladies, how many of you have a gym membership? Well I don’t either! Hahahahahaha! I bet you thought I was going to say, I do, but nope!

Do not give me that excuse as a reason not to exercise and get your luscious body in tip top shape! No, we probably won’t have our high school figure - - --It’ll be better and healthier than high school.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way! If you have cable, you have exercise TV, if you have full milk jugs (well gallon milk jugs are a bit too heavy, so start with something lighter), water bottles, canned food that is anywhere from 1lbs to 2lbs, you have weights.  And the fun part is coming - - -READY? -----------You cannot start an exercise plan without a lifestyle change in your eating! And healthy eating does not have to be bland or boring.

It’s no fun when Thanksgiving is coming up and we know, we will eat out of control and over indulge! So, early Thanksgiving morning, get up, (of course I know many of you will be cooking) shake a leg or two, do some stretches, knee bends and get started! Hey, it’s the beginning of a new you!

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. I Corinthians 6:19-20

It's a Blast!

Start your engines! Get ready! Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four three, two, one ~ BLAST OFF! 
OOOPs I meant to say "GO"! Funny huh? Shows how some of us women are NOT into auto racing at all!
Or are we? Check out the humorous comic below:

Things got out of hand while admiring each other and before they knew it, they were NOT going the speed limit, but wwwaaaaaayyyy under it! I got tickled because if you look closely the two police women are on scooters! 

I could not pass this up because in this day and age, we move too fast, too soon, and regret years down the road of our choices in a man or a woman and end up in divorce, resentment against the other sex, and even cynical! In a relationship do not begin, with BLAST OFF, and continue our generation of broken up and brokenness~ begin slow, unless God says otherwise, so you can understand men as well as women are different from each other (opposites attract); and none of us are perfect and will have faults, but who are you to judge?

 As he was speaking, the Jewish leaders and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and placed her out in front of the staring crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Moses’ law says to kill her. What about it?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, hurl the stones at her until she dies. But only he who never sinned may throw the first!” Then he stooped down again and wrote some more in the dust. And the Jewish leaders slipped away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until only Jesus was left in front of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, sir,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:3-11 TLB

My Story!

This is my story, and by all means, it is not posted for sympathy of any kind; but to demonstrate how God's love and healing has sustained me through it all ~ and it's available to you also. He loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life as well as mine!

I have been divorced for almost 14 years and the first thing I want to say is, "No" I am not bitter about marriage or men. Even though I experienced physical and mental abuse, it is important in any union that is long or unhealthy, to heal physically, spiritually, and mentally. Well that process has taken longer for me than other people; however, I have experienced additional attacks to my body that has prolonged the process! Even though it has been daunting; I would not give up on God ~ or give in to Satan!

I had a severe sun allergy for 18 years ; and yes, I had to live with my blinds closed during the day, wear long sleeves year round, wear hats, carry umbrellas, and pretty much stay in a dark, closed in area during the day so that no sun light would come near me (Now I am Happy to say God healed me, August 30, 2013); my hands were attacked with severe swelling, scaring and blisters even the doctors could not figure out what it was or how to treat it (which they are still healing 4 years later); I was diagnosed with Graves disease (which is an over active or under active thyroid; mine was over active; that if not treated pretty quick, can cause heart failure); in addition to working at Amazon, I quickly found out that I was allergic to the gloves we had to wear ~my body has been under attack!

In between all of these attacks, I had foreclosed on a home, moved to an apartment and got evicted because I was not able to work, and when I was able to work, I was off more than 6 weeks at a time due to an allergic reaction to something that caused me to take a medical leave. All of these mishaps, I’ll call them (the bible calls it long suffering or endurance). I was determined to follow Christ and continue reading the word. Like Job said in verse 13:15 KJV, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him”.

When I thought all was well, I got optic shingles; whereas, the ER doctor said if I would not have come when I did, I would have lost sight in my right eye! I did not know what was going on with me because I would swell up at the drop of a hat, so the day I woke up and my right eye was swollen shut; I immediately called my daughter to please come and take me to the ER, because I could not see. When she came in the door, she said I looked like Quasimodo on the Hunchback of Notre Dame (by the way he had a good heart and cared deeply for others); and said in a semi-frustrated voice (because she was concerned; however, I had so many bouts of swelling it was unbelievable), “What’s wrong with you now? I also felt like someone had hit me upside my head in the middle of the night with a hammer. It was very painful and something I don’t want back~ ever again.

When you see those commercials about shingles and how painful it is~ they are true! I also had a complete hysterectomy that actually went well, but the timing was off, but when is it a good time for surgery? I have been evicted from an apartment, been foreclosed on a home, lived with my brother and sister-in-law once,  been back on my sister four times, my daughter twice and lived in a transitional home once (that was a nightmare also). The eight months I was at the transitional home, it was a poorly kept (well still is) place, and managed very oddly to me. But while my stay there, I was able to meet many women that had their own story to tell and opened my eyes to how many women such as these get no help ~ even at the home we all were staying in was not uplifting nor offered any type of programs to assist these women that needed Godly help! 

While I was there though, I felt as if they were always trying to harm me in some way; and this year in July; they did. I came in on a Wednesday evening from babysitting my granddaughter and when I opened the door, I immediately swelled up! The next day it went down a little, but overnight, my face looked worse than someone in a bad car wreck. On Friday, I called several family members to come and get me and take me to the ER. While I was waiting on someone to come and get me, one woman who assisted the manager looked at me and denied them being in my room and she turned her head snickered; as if to say, that’s what you get! So I went to the ER and had two doctors look at me and they both agreed they put a harmful chemical in the room that caused me to have that immediate reaction so quick. They also kept asking me if I had asthma or any breathing problems. I told them I have never had asthma. Well to make a long story short, it took over three months to heal from that. I had to have the three medicines I was on, filled twice, and an additional three months to feel whole! After I healed on the outside, my insides felt like a war was going on in my arms, ribs, legs, chest – everything! I was in so much pain after the swelling went down; it was hard for me at times to breath or stand up straight (which now makes sense why the doctors kept asking me if I had asthma)~ That experience was the worst I have ever encountered and something I will never forget!  Even as I am writing this, my arms are still scared from the swelling and blisters as well as my hands; which obtained even more damage from it.

I’m not sure if I can say I have been upbeat through it all, but I can say, I would not give up and I’m still determined to win this battle Satan has been trying to get me to surrender to! Through it all, I know that I will be a testimony to many women who are going through the fire ~ and I’m here to tell you, you will come out and not even have the smell of smoke!

It's All Good!

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

Amazing Grace! It’s not only a classic spiritual hymn, but truly read the words of this hymn and meditate on its meaning! It’s not easy being unemployed, chronically ill, abused, homeless, and divorced, just to name a few; and I know I have not listed quite a bit of holes or valleys we get into and feel as if we are not going to get out. But think again. Who created all things, including you? Since he created you, don’t you believe he has a way out?

I know when we are in the valley; we continue to follow the path of defeated, broken and downtrodden. Oooooh! I don’t like downtrodden because that means we are given people power instead of trusting God; who is All powerful! So what to do now? Lean entirely on Him who created you and watch how you come up from that pit of defeat!

It’s a path many of us fear, but fear in itself is destructive. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I am a believer and with Christ in me, I am happy to say, life is good, my family is good (Including our brothers and sisters in Christ), and when we seek good, we receive good! 

Father, Thank You!

Father Thank you for healing; and healing me of the sun allergy I have had for 18 years, Thank you for building strength in me daily to continue the journey you have set before me! Thank you for building character in me, so I am able to walk in Your ways! Thank you Father for teaching me patience and determination through all of the trials I have been going through! Thank you Father for giving me understanding of your word; which is sharper than any two edged sword! Thank you Father for showing me compassion, so I can have compassion for others! Thank you Father for your son Jesus Christ, who suffered for my sins! Thank you Father for your Love, so that I can show Love to others! Thank you Father for the plans you already have for me; plans to prosper me and give me hope! Thank you Father for family and friends, who are saved to do the work of the the Kingdom; which is to increase the laborers by our actions of love! Thank you Father for life everlasting! Amen! So be it! 

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. II Corinthians 4:15-16 NIV

Be sincerely Thankful, this Thanksgiving!