Tuesday, July 8, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
My stats for today:
Type: walk/jog
Route: Deadend/back/far edge of the woods/back
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 126
Maximum heart rate: 139
Calories burned: 239
Yesterday's Carb count: 44
I’m up .6 pounds from last Tuesday

Got out on the road at 9:45. As I was passing one field, I smelled something I couldn’t quite place. Then I realized it was the same as the Hunter’s Green soap that I made for the guys for hunting season. A little further up the road, I got the oppressive odors of Courter’s feed lot. I could smell that rotten silage in the house all night last night. I don’t know how those people can stand to live right next to it. Anyway, the walk/jog was a good one. I can’t believe that I used to run that whole way. I have really let things slide. I get really out of breath.

On the home/business front:
Yesterday was pretty productive. I got most of the things done that were on my list. Filled an order for stockings which I will get ready to ship today. I have a little laundry to finish up. I made Country Roads soap. This time I swirled the 2 colors in the pot at thin trace. The soap turned out really pretty. Today I will be making candles, stockings, and working on an Anniversary gift, filling an online order, working in my zone, and doing general straightening . I have sent in most of the booth fees for our craft shows and as soon as I get confirmation I will list them on the site. Tonight Anna and Melisa are coming to learn how to sew up our Christmas stockings. I am going to need help if we get as many orders as I am hoping. Nina wants to help sew up stockings too, so I will show her the next time she comes up. Maybe she and Anna can find a mutual place to meet and swap them out. We'll need a family meeting on that one. Or I can send an extra large batch with Nina and she can just bring them when she visits.

Word of the day:
Matthew 9:35-38
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest."

Reflections from the cornfield:
When Jesus spoke to the people, he used images from their lives to illustrate his teachings. Being part of the farming community, this passage has special meaning to me. Every year at spring planting, or fall harvest, or winter maple syrup time, the guys are looking for help. They are the farmers - the ones with the agricultural knowledge. The rest of us just do what we're told. We may not know the reason we are doing what we do, but we trust that the guys know what they are doing.

One of the things in life that I don't understand is snobbery. I do not know how anyone can look at nature and think that one job is more important than another. Take a look at how we panic when even the tiniest element of nature is threatened. And yet there are people who think that working with their brains is superior to working with their hands. Yes, we need our thinkers, but we also need our doers and we can't do without either one. We need our doctors, but we also need our trash collectors. We need the combines and the tractors, but we also need the family members who help pull velvet leaf weeds out of the soybean field.

My point in all of this is that there is work for everyone in the vineyard. No job is too small. And no one should think that he is better or lesser than anyone else because of his station in life - because the only thing you take with you when you leave this world is the love you shared along the way - and we can all do that.





God bless the troops!

Monday, July 7, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
Route: Deadend/back/loop
Time: 30 minutes
Type: Walk/jog
Average heart rate: 126
Maximum heart rate: 140
Calories burned: 236
I’m up 3 pounds from last Monday
Got out on the road at 10:06 this morning. I headed down to the deadend. To the right were round hay bales. To the left was a soybean field. It was slightly overcast this morning, a little muggy. On my way back I saw something I never, ever see out on the road. Another walker. As I came over the small rise heading west, there was a lady ahead of me. I was jogging, she was walking - and she was making better time than me. LOL! But I’m out there doing it. For me, the hardest part of working out is the transition. It's the getting started. So, part of my morning routine now is to make the bed the minute my feet hit the floor (thanks, Flylady) and then immediately get into my exercise gear. Once I have that done, the workout is pretty much guaranteed.

On the home front:
We had a cookout at Melisa and Justin’s last night.
Today is Melisa’s 30th birthday. I can't believe how the years have flown.
I have set out a schedule for myself for today. On the agenda are bills, laundry, soap, stockings, inventory at the school, and a few other things I need to get done. I have to set a schedule for myself or I lose focus.

Word of the day:
Matthew 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Reflections from the cornfield:
The story of the hemorrhagic woman has always fascinated me. In the same account in Luke and Mark, Jesus remarks that he feels power going out of him. It is an intriguing thought that faith can summon power. We know from numerous accounts that all of Jesus' healing required faith from someone. It is mind-boggling to think about how faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. What could we accomplish with an increase in faith? Take a look at those who achieve monumental things in life. Somewhere along the line, faith had a part.

I often get a chuckle out of the people who ridicule Jesus. One wonders if their eyes are ever opened, and if they are - what are they thinking? How many times are we deterred in our efforts because of the laughter or ridicule of others? And what does the laughter and ridicule reveal about others? And what does our reaction to it reveal about us? The older I get, the less I am affected by that kind of thing. If anything, laughter and ridicule just makes me that much more determined to succeed.

Both of these healings were witnessed by others. Word spread. It's still spreading. Spread the Word.

God bless the troops!