Simple Breakfast

For this side of the world summer is here, and strawberries are plentiful. My favorite breakfast is fast, simple and perfect for Sabbath morning. Give it a try.
You'll love it!


Berry Breakfast Parfait

1 cup Strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 Banana, peeled and sliced

1 cup Vanilla Yogurt

1/4 cup Granola


Put prepared fruit in bottom of bowl or parfait dish. Top with yogurt, and sprinkle on granola.

It's that simple!

I make my own granola. I'll share the recipe later. It's SO easy!

Going Well

I have managed to read at least one chapter in my Bible each morning since my Stinkin' Thinkin' post. I have also been eating breakfast, a good breakfast, daily. The exercise on the other hand has been a little more challenging. However, I did just workout a bit upstairs. My left shoulder always gives me trouble, and the pain motivated me to the workout machine. Maybe there really is something to that old expression, "No pain, no gain!"

I do have to say that the decision to refocus has made a tremendous difference in the quality of my day to day life. I have a better attitude and am kinder and more pleasant to those around me; a big plus for all of us! It's not that I was nasty or anything, but I knew my attitude needed a check. I knew that I was not focusing on what I should be, and my quality of life was suffering.

It is amazing to me how simple God's instructions are. I have found time and again that consequences are almost immediate when we do not follow God's will. I find the object lessons most obvious in starting my day with prayer and Bible reading and in tithing. Have you ever noticed this in your daily lives?

Whenever I slip away from my daily devotionals my quality of life suffers. Also, when I manage to mess up with my tithing my finances instantly become stressful. It doesn't matter how much of a sacrifice it may seem to be to get back on track it is always worth it. The presumed sacrifices give way to peace and prosperity almost immediately after making things right. What does God use to teach you how to live? I'd love to hear your experiences.

Stinkin' Thinkin'

It has not been too long yet, and I am already thinking I need to read The Sexually Confident Wife again. The book did a good job of teaching you how to keep your thinking in check, and I could use a booster shot. Why is it so easy to get off on a destructive thinking path?

It seems hubby and I are clashing heads a lot lately. It's not anything big, really. We just seem to spend a lot of time misunderstanding each other and being defensive. Even though I don't think what we are having a confrontation over is worth the magnitude of our attitude I just cannot seem to keep myself from going there.

As I am typing this I am wondering if I have been neglecting my prayer life. Oh, I pray constantly, but I haven't had my morning Bible reading time and beginning of the day prayer in probably weeks. I didn't realize it until this very moment. I know the importance of starting out on the right foot, but honestly I haven't even been getting breakfast regularly. Skipping meals is another thing I have struggled with for years. I know the destruction it inflicts on my body, so I have changed my ways. However, when things get hectic or stressful I just seem to naturally gravitate to old, bad habits. Let's recap. So far I have listed two bad habits; morning prayer time and breakfast.

As a mother it is so natural for me to put my needs first. It has been years that I have been thinking on a daily basis that I need to implement a regular exercise regimen. Yet, here I sit still needing to lose a full 60 pounds. If only mentally exercising your body would prove fruitful! I'd have been my ideal weight a year ago. Bad habit recap: no morning prayer, no breakfast, and no exercise.

Hmmm...I'm starting to see a pattern here. Maybe if I pledged to take care of myself first everything else would be easier to maintain. What do you think? Even though my schedule is insane I think now is the time to try something new. For the next seven days I am going to slow down. I am going to do some low-impact exercise, spend time in the Bible and prayer, and eat breakfast each and every day before I do anything else. Do you think it is possible?

I'll let you know how it goes.

Stinkin' Thinkin'

I was watching Joyce Meyer this morning while I ate my breakfast, and she was talking about how important it is to have an attitude of hope. In my experience this makes such a difference in our day to day living and our overall health. The power of thought is just amazing, and we can be unaware of the impact of our thought process on our daily lives.

Joyce calls negative thought stinkin' thinkin', and I think she's right on. One point that was made in the airing I viewed this morning is that it is better to live a miserable life with the benefit of hope than it is to just live a miserable life while being miserable in it. What would be better: being broke and happy, or being broke and sad? Happy trumps misery all the time.

Unfortunately, we can get caught up in our stinkin' thinkin' very easily. Does your perspective need some tweaking? This is when we really need each other. It is important to surround ourselves with positive, hopeful people. Again, I find myself back to the idea of a support system. We all need a circle of friends that are uplifting and real. We need people to remind us of the good things in our lives when all we can see are the bad.

Today, if your focus is a little out, spend some time re-framing your thoughts. It may help to make a list of all the positive things in your life. If it is difficult at first, list a negative. Then, counter with related positive. There is ALWAYS a positive side to everything. Sometimes we just need to look a little more closely.

As suggested previously, don't forget to start your day with conversation with God. It pays great dividends to start out in the right direction. With God on our side, who can be against us?