Get Fit Friday - Firming up My Faith - Tithing

People are like diamonds. The truly beautiful ones are multifaceted and full of fire.

There are so many parts that make up a whole person. When any of those parts are weak, it weakens the whole. 

While "Get Fit Friday" started out as my attempt to keep a weight loss journey diary, it has morphed into an all encompassing attempt to record how God is shaping me into who He created me to be.

For the next few weeks, we're going to go on a little side journey. Well, I'm on a journey and you are going with me by default simply because you are here reading my ramblings. Thank you for that. Really. I mean it. Thank you for traveling this road with me.

Anyway, for the next few weeks, I'm examining my Spiritual life. I feel like the Holy Spirit is working on me, growing me, and stretching me...challenging my beliefs. There are things that I'm working through that I'll need to see in print in order to properly process them. I'm just wired that way. Getting things out of my head and into print helps me to be more objective...maybe.

The first thing I'm examining is tithing. 

Scripture says give a tenth. In the Old Testament, this was an offering to the Lord...it was The Best that was expected...not left overs. Scripture even addresses how God reacted to offerings that were not one's best.

In our society, where so many of us work tirelessly and often find ourselves with more month than money, it's easy to see why we have rationalized tithing away. "I don't make enough" is the most common answer given to why we don't tithe. Many of us give out of what's left over. The problem is that we spend or commit to spend (through debt) our tithe, not that we don't have the money to tithe. I am convicted that I need to improve my financial situation so that I can give a tenth.

What do I expect to get from tithing? Nothing super natural or spectacular. I know that God has blessed my heart every time I  have given something I love to Him. These aren't tangible, physical blessings and may not be things that are socially accepted as blessings. God blesses my soul. He gives me peace and joy and fills me with love and gentleness. He soothes my heart and gives me rest. These are the sorts of blessings God gives me when I am obedient to His Word. 

I need those things.

I'm not testing Him....

I'm trusting Him. 

I'm trusting that, as I increase my giving to a full tithe, God will meet our financial and physical needs and that He will give peace to my soul in the process. That is all. I'm trusting him to do what I cannot... trusting Him to make the ends meet.

There are other things that I'm working through that I'll  share in the weeks to come. I'm convicted about the Sabbath. Maybe "convicted" is not the correct word to use. I feel a need to observe the Sabbath. Maybe I'll be in a place to share my thoughts on that next week. I'm also looking at my prayer life, and the time I spend in God's Word as well as the way I prepare for worship.

Please understand, I am not approaching ANY of this as a way to plant seeds of pride or cultivate "Pharisee - ish" behavior. These are areas where I believe my faith and dependence on God are weak and need to be strengthened. This is strictly between me and God, building our relationship and strengthening the bond I have with Him. I'm not making a list of things to check off.  Instead I'm recording things as I work through them so that I can look back and see where God has stretched my faith and blessed my obedience. That make sense?

Much love and big hugs,

K

Thursday Thoughts on...life...and waterfalls

Last Friday, I wrote about how my thoughts have changed concerning my body and what I believe about myself. I won't revisit all that here, but the thoughts that follow do build on the thoughts I had last week.

I have often told other women "Be who God created you to be." I have believed that God created them exactly as He wanted them to be in order to accomplish what He wants through their lives. 

Sadly, I have only recently embraced this for myself. Recently... as in last week. This change has made a huge difference in the way I think about myself. I have let go of who I have always thought I "should" be and have embraced who I am. This is huge. So huge. I'm not sure I can even put it into words, but I'll try.

All my adult life, I've believed that I should be bolder, more assertive, braver, and stronger. I've believed that I should demand respect, take what I think I deserve, watch out for my own interests, and do whatever it takes to get what I want. While I believed that this was how I should be, it just never felt right. (and i have never been very good at it either)

I've finally realized that's just not who I am. God didn't knit me together that way. The me that God created is kind, gentle, nurturing, encouraging, optimistic, introverted, creative, full of empathy, tender hearted and peaceful. I've stopped believing that these traits are flaws and weaknesses. I've stopped trying to be anything different. 

This feels really good.

Where most of my life has felt like a hurricane, this feels...peaceful...easy... like gentle waves lapping against a pier. 

I don't feel torn apart, ripped open, and bleeding. 

I don't feel broken, weak, damaged, flawed, or "less than" others. 

I have felt like a rock under a crashing waterfall for so long...like my life was crashing around me, drowning me, beating me into what it wanted me to be. 

This is no longer true. 

I still think of my life as water, but today I feel more like a boulder, with the water breaking around me. I feel solid, sturdy, peace-filled and strong...unmoved by life's struggles. The image in my mind is of a boulder outside the immediate pounding waterfall. The water is the same, but the boulder has been moved to a different, safer, more established place. Rather than being beaten and broken by the crashing flow of the falls, it's gradually shaped by the river...jagged edges are softened over time and the surface is gently smoothed. There are times of course when the river rages and the falls overflow, and in these times the boulder is pounded by the rushing water...but the is not the same as the constant beating received at the base of the falls. 

Yeah, that feels right.

That feels...like freedom...like restoration and redemption and forgiveness.

I feel whole....and I like it.

Big big hugs,
K

Wednesday's Weekly Recipes - Veggie Kabobs

MMMMMMMM - don't these look amazing?!?!?!

The fantastic thing about skewers is that you can put what ever you want on them! While my people are carving and devouring parts of cow, I can enjoy a skewer loaded with the veggies I love most!

You can load your skewers with anything you want. My people will want steak and chicken and minimal vegetables. I will load mine with onion, tomato, squash, mushrooms, and broccoli...maybe some pineapple just to be different.

Once you know what you want on your skewers, all you have to do is grill em up!
Here are some "official" directions from allrecipes.com:

1. Soak skewers in water for 10 to 20 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate. Alternately thread zucchini slices, yellow squash slices, mushrooms, onion, tomatoes, pineapple, and bell pepper onto the skewers.
3. Whisk olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper in a bowl; brush mixture over vegetables. (or whatever seasoning you like)
4. Cook skewers on preheated grill until vegetables are tender, turning and basting vegetables with olive oil mixture occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes.