Friday September 29th, 2023

 Hello on a beautiful morning above ground! Here in the MST it's nearly six-thirty AM. The sun has already risen though he's hovering near the horizon just yet. 

Since I have been diagnosed with medical anxiety, today I'm choosing to focus on this Scripture:

Psalm 3:3 (that's the KJV quoted in the image). There's a song with these exact lyrics too:

I love that, in Christianity, there are many songs employing pure Scripture and they're brilliant for memorizing the Word! Music helps me remember words, maybe it does that for you, too. Songs are, after all, easier to recall than say a poem you've memorized, though the words of poetry are often lyrical in nature. I view singing/ listening to praise and worship music to be a powerful form of warfare against the devil who hates it when people exalt the Lord. Praise empowers His angels and strengthens the spirit of man. There is power in praising God. Chains fall off and bondages are broken when you praise Him with your whole heart especially. Like, really get into it, really focus on what you're singing. A great one for that I'd say would be this one, Awesome God:

Anyway those are what's on my mind at the moment. A friend is having day surgery to implant a device in his chest and I've asked God in prayer to make it a rousing success and for him to have peace throughout the entire thing. And I asked for these things in Jesus' Name, so. I mean I boldly approach the throne of Grace but I don't do it in my own name for Heaven's sake. That would be awful, I can't just go before God without the Blood and the Name! I would be destroyed by his holiness alone if it weren't for Jesus. 
May God bless all eyes that read this, today, right now, in Jesus' Name, amen. That's all for now dear Reader. Perhaps I'll write another more shallow entry later on. In the meantime be blessed and have a wonderful day today, whatever you put your hands to. 

Wednesday September 27th, 2023

 Greetings and salutations on a beautiful afternoon on another day above ground, dear Reader. It's finally cool enough that I got to wear jeans today. And today's Scripture that I've chosen is definitely one that I personally need to spend a lot more time with, in contemplation and study. It's the Biblegateway.com Scripture of the day. 

Yes, Matthew 6:33. I looked up to seek and it means "attempt to find" (effort is implicit here), the rewards of God are not just going to fall into our laps without some effort on our parts! We partner with the Lord, He does what only He can do and we do what He leads/ tells us to do whether or not that's just a knowing inside or something that is at least in agreement with His Word. Sometimes it's something as simple as contemplating one tiny little piece of Scripture, like eating small bites of nutritious food. I hope this little miniature devotion blesses you. 
Gertie's health is doing SO much better! She's needing her medication less and less often, going up to eight or nine hours between doses now. We're very grateful to the Lord for healing our little dog. That's the only thing, is that it's all Him. We've prayed for her and in His infinite loving kindness He's answered with a continual healing of little Gertie. Sweet little, tiny insignificant (though very important to us) little Gertie, the dog. That's what I'm saying, ask for what you will in prayer and see what He will do for you! 

99 lbs on Tuesday, September 26th, 2023

 Greetings and salutations, dear Reader. This is the afternoon of another day above ground. I found out today that according to my doctor's mechanical/weighted scales, I weigh 148 lbs and three years ago I weighed 247 lbs with undiagnosed/untreated diabetes. So as of today I've lost a total of 99 pounds, the equivalent of a small person. The doctor said that it's time for me to stop losing weight now though. I'll do as she says, to the best of my ability. If a little more falls off I won't worry too much about it. If it's more than ten pounds I'll let her know (though we didn't talk about any time that we'd need to revisit the weight thing/ at what point if I keep on losing it). She's about to have a baby so I won't see her again until January. That child is going to be precious, I can't wait to see him or her! Or at least pictures when she comes back or if one of the other doctors has some after she has the baby since they're all related (the doctors are to each other, that is). It literally IS a Family Practice. 
There's a loved one in the midwest heavy on my heart today with prayers for healing going up to the throne of grace for them. Please agree with me, dear reader, for strength, for grace, for wholeness of body and absence of disease, and for His Will to be done in that situation in Jesus' Name, amen. (Thank you). I'd  like to protect that person's privacy while also seeking prayer support, so it's a balance a delicate handling of how to obtain both properly which I hope to have and believe that I've so far done. 

I'm grateful that I didn't miss today's appointment which was a reschedule from forgetting the day of the appointment to go in, I hadn't realized the date that day and completely spaced it. Of course I called the office and apologized profusely and they kindly reset me to see them today instead of the one that I missed. That was awfully accommodating of them, I thought. Very nice indeed though I don't plan to miss any more appointments. 

Today I just did the easy face which I've been loving lately though today I first dusted my entire face and throat with Coty Airspun setting powder in Rose Beige. Then I used Maybelline's eyebrow pencil in dark brown, L'Oreal Lineur intense liquid black eyeliner on my top lash line, Maybelline Falsies Push Up Angel mascara on top lashes, NYX lip liner (Dark Soul) and Sunnies Face Fluffmatte lipstick (Mood). Hair's up in a bun, held up by a claw-clip. Scent of the day today is Mon Guerlain EDP. 

So that's my praise report, I have officially lost 99 pounds over three years. Perhaps I could have lost it faster, maybe not though. I'm content with what I have and how I got there. I feel like if I keep losing a wee bit more though that it won't hurt me. 

Sunday, September 24th, 2023 (nothing of importance to say today)

 Hello on this day of rest, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping in to celebrate the gift of Life with me again today. ✌

Today I'm wearing a purple shirt with black design and black knee length leggings. I did do a five minute/five product face like yesterday (all the exact same products, in fact). I threw my hair up in a pony because 'ain't nobody got time for that'. 

I don't feel the size that I am yet, I feel as though I'm still much bigger than I actually am and am always being surprised by clothes, etc. And I still have some more to lose, maybe not much but I have a number in my head and I haven't reached that number yet so I'm still working on it. Man has it been for a long time now. In fact, I probably need to go eat since it's almost dinner time and I haven't eaten anything yet today (no wait, I had that coffee cup of cereal). Okay. I've got a cup of soup heating up now. This month has been a mixed bag (several birthdays, one death, bad news regarding a loved one's health). I'm just trying to take it all one day at a time. What more can one do, right? 

Saturday, September 23rd, 2023

 Hello, dear Reader. Greetings and salutations. It's a good day to be alive.
Instead of reading chapters in the Bible today, I'm focusing on one passage so I can really "get" it deep into my heart and mind. It happens to be Biblegateway's Scripture of the Day today. 
Romans 5:3-4 (Amplified Classic)

So to really read and think about that is just mind-blowing to me. I looked up "exult" and it said "feel or show triumphant elation or jubilation" and then I looked up suffering which means "the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship". But read the passage again, these things are definitely and apparently deliberately placed together within the same context: rejoice WHILE you suffer. It's the craziest thing but in the spirit it just works. This is what some of my thoughts are on this passage. It means that I'm supposed to choose to accept all circumstances with peace and joy. I will tell you right now that I do NOT always do this, at least not initially with some things. I'll just keep on trying though; what more is there to do? 
What are your thoughts on rejoicing during times of hardship?

A New Chapter on Sunday, September 17th, 2023

Greetings and salutations on a day above ground, dear Reader. I've enjoyed the break I've taken from blogging and am starting to finally feel like myself again. 

It turns out that my biological father passed away on the eighth of this month and I'd never gotten to meet him. Now I will always have an idealized version of him in my head and that's alright by me. May the dear man rest in peace. On the positive, my youngest just turned 30 a couple of days ago; I posted "happy birthday" to his Facebook wall but he's not much into Facebook, I'm afraid. I hope that his day was as excellent as he is, he's turned out to be a wonderful man. 

I keep losing weight. Our home (digital) scales are always five pounds heavier than the mechanical scale my doctor uses and when her scale said 155 mine said 160. This morning fully dressed in nightwear I weigh 154.8 on the digital scale. It's been a long three year road down from 247 at my maximum weight; if I get down to 147 that will mean that I've lost a hundred pounds, the weight of a person, and I'm not very far from that right now. Here's me yesterday, my leggings are a size 7! 

 Now this is a little irritating: our coffee pot was murdered by a power surge during the rain a few nights ago and no longer has a digital display so now we have to make the coffee by plugging it back in and turn it off by unplugging it. It's not even a month old yet.

Gertie continues to need her allergy medicine but it just makes her cough disappear so we keep her medicated and I'm keeping a written log to document the times she takes it so she gets it on time every time. We thought we were going to lose her when she first got sick and are so grateful at her improvement and progress.

Though I might go back and republish the blog entries I've written that are devotional nature at this point I just plan on moving forward. All of those things are, after all, in the past, and this is the present. Now is the only time that really matters. 👍

Thanks  for stopping by, dear Reader. Have a blessed day. Make good choices, you will reap the rewards. Take care, until next time.