Wordless Wednesday

Bath time!

Waiting

Do you like to wait? I don't, and I have never been very good at it. God is helping me learn though. I received my yoga teacher certification the first week of Oct. and have been waiting on God to see where HE would lead me to teach. I am teaching at my church each week and loving that, but that is 45 minutes away from my home and I am also looking for places to teach close to where I live. I have always been the type A person that wants something and I go after it with everything in me. I usually don't take the time to stop and pray or seek counsel from others and THAT usually means I get myself into a mess!! Throughout this whole process of getting certified to teach yoga, God has given me the grace to wait on Him and not take off headed for a cliff. For that I am grateful!! It's almost to the point that I start to take a step and I hear that still small voice telling me to wait for Him. This is so new to me!! Not that I have never heard that still small voice before, but that I am actually trying to listen:) I think my health is one avenue God is using to teach me to wait. I KNOW that if I step out on my own I am done for!!

Anyway, I am very blessed to have someone who is so excited about me teaching that she already has about 15 ladies waiting. I have students, but no place~yet. I am trusting that God will bring me to the right place. I spoke with a Christian school yesterday about using their facilities and now-- I am just waiting. Did I mention I don't like to wait?:) I did find another place to teach that I may take on Sat. mornings, but it is not in a good location for all these ladies that are already wanting to come. The cool thing about the Sat. morning place is that the lady that rents it out is willing to advertise for me etc. She was very excited to have someone offer to teach there!! So, I see doors cracking open. I have two possible places and will continue to wait on God to swing the doors wide open for me:)

What have you been waiting for?

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." Ps. 130:5

Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I had a quiet one but it was good. I actually had a birthday Saturday:) My husband was going to take me on a day trip, but I wasn't feeling up to it so we stayed home. I made a trip to the health food store and then spent the rest of the day piddling at home. We ended up going out for my birthday to one of my favorite restaurants Sunday night.

I want to share a recipe with you today. I made these muffins last week and have really been enjoying them! I put half of them in the freezer in case I couldn't eat them fast enough, but they are almost gone! My favorite way to eat one is with a little almond butter on top~yummy!

I got this recipe from the Tropical Traditions website. There are TONS of recipes using coconut flour on the site! I changed a few minor details to suit me and below is what I did. Hope you enjoy:)

Coconut Walnut Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 cup pumpkin

5 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey (I think-maybe a little more)

pinch of salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

I simply placed everything in the mixing bowl and mixed with mixer until well blended. Line muffin pan with foil muffin liners (I hate paper ones!) and bake at 325 until toothpick comes out clean. My oven took about 15 minutes, but it cooks fast and burns the tops of things if I'm not careful. Makes 12 yummy muffins.

A Good Reminder

Good reminder for us all....  

The wedding. Her name is Katie Kirkpatrick, 21 yrs old. Next to her is her fiance Nïck, 23. This picture was taken prior to their wedding January 11th, 2005.  Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy. Here Nick awaits while she finishes one of the sessions...  Even in pain and dealing with her organs shutting down, with the help of morphine, Katie took care of every single part of the wedding planning.  Her dress had to be adjusted several times due to Katie 's constant weight loss.  An expected guest was her oxygen tank. Katie had to use it during the ceremony and reception. The other couple in this picture is Nick's parents, very emotional with the wedding and to see their son marrying the girl he fell in love when he was an adolescent.  Katie, in a wheel chair listening to her husband and friends singing to her.  In the middle of the party, Katie had to rest for a bit and catch her breath. The pain does not allow her to stand for long period of time.  Katie died 5 days after her wedding. To see a fragile woman dress as bride with a beautiful smile makes you think... Happiness is always there within reach, no matter how long it lasts.  Lets enjoy life and don't live a complicated life.   Life is too short. Work as if it was your first day.  Forgive as soon as possible. Love without boundaries.  Laugh without control and never stop smiling.

Crossing that Bridge

(Source)


 Most of you may not know that I have been cleaning other people's homes for almost 8 years now. It has been a great way to earn some income while still being able to homeschool my children and be home more than if I had a full time job. I am my own boss, it pays well, I make my own schedule and I can change things when needed. I have been so blessed to have the most wonderful clients in the world too! I seriously could not have asked for better as far as the people I have worked for.

   Over the last several months, my health became more challenging leading up to an official diagnoses of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I have had symptoms literally for YEARS, but I somehow managed to keep pushing through all that I needed to do~until now. My husband and I had a conversation not too long ago about what would happen if I got to the point that I could no longer work the way I have been. He said "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it". Well, we are at that bridge and it is time to cross it!! I feel like I am at the point where I simply can not keep demanding things of my body that are only making me feel worse. I have pushed my body to do things that I didn't feel like doing for SO long, that I now think my body is totally rebelling!!

   I recently became a certified yoga teacher through Holy Yoga and am waiting to see what God has for me in that area of my life. I am teaching a gentle class at my church each week and am praying for another space to open up soon. My goal is to phase out all of my cleaning jobs and only teach yoga. I'm not sure what God has planned though:) I am having to remind myself that His timing is always perfect! He knows exactly what I can and can't handle and I'm so thankful for His care for me.

   I would greatly appreciate prayer for:
      1-God's provision as I am unable to work as much
      2-Open doors for me to teach yoga
      3-Answers as to what treatment is best for my body
      4-FAITH to trust God in ALL areas of my life

  Prayer is powerful and I would feel blessed to have the prayers of fellow believers:)

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you." Jer. 29: 11-12

Simple Snack

   I made the quickest and yummiest snack yestersay and thought I would share some yumminess with you lovely peeps:) I got this from Heather~you can see it in her blog here. This is more of a breakfast, but I like breakfast food anytime of the day. I didn't have a very filling lunch yesterday so when I got hungry I thought of this flourless egg crepe. I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites mixed with 1/3 tsp. baking powder and a dash of cinnamon. I blended it in the blender because I couldn't get the baking powder to mix in good. My original intention was to fill it with refried beans and non-dairy cheese, but I decided sweet sounded better~it always does. I filled my crepe with almond butter and all-fruit preserves. I would have this for breakfast this morning if I had any eggs left! We are very fortunate to get wonderful organic eggs from a lady that lives close to us (for only $2 a dozen!), but we didn't have time to make the visit last night.

    This post is short and sweet! I have a very busy day ahead~pray that I have strength to do all that is before me:) Hopefully, change is coming soon regarding what I do for a living~fingers crossed!

Have an awesome day!!!!
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." Ps. 91-10

A Lesson in Faith

     I think most of us would agree that the opposite of faith is unbelief and fear. I learned a great lesson through my yoga practice recently that I want to share with you. I have been practicing yoga for about a year and a half and have been able to gain some muscle and strength in the process, but one of the things I seemed to have trouble doing was a headstand. I could do it if I was against a wall for balance, but not otherwise. At the end of September I went to my yoga training retreat and one of the many things we worked on was a headstand away from the wall. I did it away from the wall, but only because I had someone to catch my feet as I kicked them up. So, when I got home I was determined to learn to get into a headstand and stay there without anyone helping and no wall!

   One morning, I decided that maybe if I knew I wouldn't kill myself if I fell, just maybe I could do it. I then had the idea to get close enough to the couch so that I would land on it if I did fall--but not close enough to be able to touch it. In other words, I couldn't use the couch to help me get up or stay up, but at least if I fell I knew I wouldn't break anything!

   I thought that one of the reasons I couldn't get up without help was lack of strength. I'm not the strongest 40 (almost 41) year old I know! To my surprise, I quickly found out that I DID have the strength to get up AND I stayed up!!! I was so shocked that I actually did it, I almost fell. I had to really contain my excitement in order to stay up!! I didn't touch the couch and I didn't fall!! This was a HUGE success for me :)

    I learned a very important lesson about God through this! How many times do we not do something out of fear of falling? We think we aren't strong enough, or that if we fall God may not be there to catch us!! If we trust and know that He WILL catch us, we usually find out that we can do more than we think. It is His strength~not ours. I did fall one day, and it was scary, but the couch was there to catch me and I was okay. It's the same with our wonderful Savior!! We WILL fall from time to time, but it's okay~He always catches us!!

   I really wanted to take a picture of me in my wonderful new headstand, but I don't want to add to the pain in my upper body that I have had lately. You'll just have to trust that I CAN do it;) Knowing that is good enough for me! I don't have to prove anything to myself by doing it everyday and taking a chance on hurting myself. I am having to really learn to listen to my body in my yoga practice, but at the same time, yoga is one of the most helpful things for me right now:)

   Is there something you have been afraid to try for fear of falling?

"Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, Be strong, do not fear; your God WILL come..." Isaiah 35:3-4