Dixie3540

1. Having a wonderful visit with my niece and nephew-in-law from Florida. They’re wonderful people.

2. Board games that make you laugh.

3. My nephew’s crazy love of Shuler donuts.

4. How wonderful it was having a free motorized scooter for my mom and dad at the Air Force Museum. What a treasure the museum is and how accomodating they are to the older vets.

5. The quiet of my house and getting my own bed back, even though I’m kind of lonely and sad!

6. Looking forward to Friday as they come back for one last night before they fly home.

7. Seeing autumn through the eyes of Floridians. They remind me to be thankful for cool and color and gray and change.

This is a diet I made up in 2001. I followed it for two years. During that time I broke my daily binging habit, and lost 40 pounds. After that time, I experenced a serious family crisis, and became quite depressed. When the crisis was over and the depression was healed, I found I had lost this good habit along with many others. I’d like to regain it.

Basically the plan consists of three steps. 1. Pray before you eat anything, asking God for wisdom and permission. 2. Eat with joy and gratitude. 3. Read God’s word after each meal or snack. Read as little as one verse or as much as you like. This reinforces the truth that God’s word is our bread of life and sweeter than honey to our soul.

I orginally called this diet the Fruit and Mustard Seed diet. That’s because it takes the faith of a mustard seed to trust God in this area. And it takes the fruit of the Holy Spirit to help with the emotional eating. His love conquers our anger, His joy conquers our sadness, His peace conquers our anxiety, His patience conquers our irritation, His kindness conquers our boredom and loneliness, His goodness conquers our guilt, His faithfullness conquers our stress, His gentleness conquers our harshness and perfectionism, and His self-control conquers our greed and discontentment.

God, grant me the faith of a mustard seed to embark on this journey once again. Lord, please send me someone to journey with me on this path. Amen.

1. We had a good hard rain today and gentle thunderstorms. The green stuff really needed it!

2. The rain suited my tiredness. It gave me a chance to just rest without feeling obligated to “have fun”. (You know you’re tired when fun feels like an obligation!)

3. Masterpiece Mystery, esp the Agatha Christie ones. She was the first mystery writer I ever loved.

4. Online Scrabble! Perfect for a quiet day, when you start to get mildly stir-crazy.

5. Paying the bills and washing the clothes. I’m grateful I have money to pay the bills, and I’m grateful I have clothes to wash and wear.