Comfort Food

Tonight was one of those nights when I needed comfort food. At our house, this usually takes the form of breakfast for dinner. Rarely have I happened to plan out a crock-pot roast and had the coincidence of it being "one of those days" that leaves me reaching for comfort food.

It was a double comfort food night this time. Most of my "go-to" food items for days like this originated in my youth; some are family traditions and some are widely recognizable. Tonight it was egg and potato scramble along with buttermilk bran muffins and homemade pomegranate jelly.

How simple - hash browns (any type) with eggs scrambled around it when they're done. Such delight, such comfort.

The buttermilk bran muffins are a recipe that produces enough batter to bake muffins for your neighborhood for a month. This keeps in your fridge until the buttermilk expiration date so it's a delight that will be ongoing. They are so yummy and soothing - the perfect blend between a crispy muffin top and tender breadiness. Top that with the homemade jelly and you can't go wrong.

Yes, things are better now and the worries of my day are squelched and forgotten.


YOUR TURN:
I'm curious. What is your comfort food?

Is it something you discovered as an adult or something from your childhood?

Dusty Lemons

You are likely familiar with the phrase "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I have always chuckled at that phrase and found it to be a positive way of looking at things. It's cliché, it's cute, it's an all-American phrase we can relate to that makes us feel better about things.

However, it doesn't always bring me optimistic thoughts due to one thing - procrastination. I had this fancy (discount store) fruit bowl and thought it would look gorgeous on the counter with some bright, cheery yellow lemons. It did look lovely until the day I noticed they were still there, and...dusty. Sometimes I find that I run out of time to make the lemonade and so my lemons gather dust. I had great intentions but lacked follow-through. It's so easy for me to say "I'll do this one more thing, and then..."

Optimism is one of the best things in life and it can sustain us through difficult times. So, how sad is it that lemons can get dusty? Did you know that they can? Do you dust yours from time to time and put them back in the bowl or do you make lemonade promptly?

Do you realize that procrastination dates back to the Bible? When Pharoah was asked about setting a time for Moses to pray to have the frogs removed, he replied "tomorrow." (Exodus 8:8-10). We see Elisha and Esther each use the phrase "and then I will" (1 Kings 19:20-21 and Esther 5:8). We are adept at making excuses, at procrastinating, at delaying what we should do.
 

One More Thing...

Do you dust off your lemons with the intention of making the lemonade later?

Would you consider yourself an optimistic person?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

21%

I have 21% battery power left on my laptop and 3 blogs to write to meet my goal. No pressure, right?

I have joined a writing group, and it is a wonderful component of my life. However, I have yet to turn in any items to be reviewed, discussed, or critiqued by them. They are why I'm sitting here with 21% remaining battery life. I started my day with 100%, so I have indeed been busy, but I have the "pressure" of submitting something before our next deadline.

I would say it's really more of accountability than true pressure. It doesn't impact their lives if I don't write, it impacts mine. I respect them for checking on me to see if I am progressing and I value each one of them and my life is better for knowing them.

12% left - yikes!

Powered down at 11%, but I'm back now.

Goals, accountability, deadlines, pressure - do those words scare you or excite and empower you? I believe we each need a balance of these to help us live a full life, along with the fun things.  I know I need that accountability and the dwindling 21% power to push me to meet my goals. Actually, it looks like I needed electricity to help meet that deadline.  Oh, how I can take power for granted. 

One More Thing...

What pressure do you feel right now? Do you have friends that push you to be your best?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Fully Awake: Last Highlights from Wide Awake

I am still feeling motivated and encouraged by the words of Erwin McManus in his book Wide Awake, so I am here one last time with excerpts that affected me. I hope you will also be inspired.

To imagine costs you nothing. Not to imagine could cost you everything. To live a life that moves dreams into reality – that’s where the real risk comes in. Imagination is adventure without risk. Your imagination is a playground that is for more than child’s play. It is the art house where we begin to create the lives we will live. 

Do you need to rethink who you are and who you will become? Maybe you need a fresh vision or a new voice in your life telling you who you really are – the gifts and talents, intelligence, and passions, the potential, the undiscovered uniqueness waiting dormant within you. The only One who knows this fully is the One who created you. The One who created you is the One who longs to awaken you.

This is what God is saying: The reason you need to be in conversation with me is that I created your imagination to be a playground where you and I can get together and I can blow your mind away. I’m going to stretch the boundaries of your dreams. Just ask me, and I will begin to share with you the dreams I have for your life and for all of humanity. You can talk to me about the small stuff, or you can listen to me, and I will let you in on what I am thinking. It’s going to be big!

Isn’t it possible that the life that your soul longs for is beyond even your imagination? Is it possible that no matter how big your dreams are, how expansive your imagination, how ambitious your goals, they pale in comparison to what you would begin to see for your life if you would invite God into your life conversation?

Wake up! Strengthen what remains. Reclaim your life. Strengthen what remains and is about to die. You can feel when your soul is dying and you are drowning in the mundane. You can barely make it through the day. You never really live – you just exist.

One More Thing...

Is it time to rethink some things? It is for me.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

You can purchase the book here

Still Waking Up: More From Wide Awake

I was truly inspired by so many things in this book, that I must share more with you. I hope you find some encouragement in these quotes from the book "Wide Awake" by Erwin McManus, and maybe some friendly kicking in the pants to motivate us all.  

Are you settling for a life that puts you to sleep? Wouldn’t it be better to dream with your eyes open?  Is the only reason you keep your job because it’s the one you’ve got?

 

To achieve great things, we must be willing to make great sacrifices.

 

It’s easy to surrender not to evil but to average and to ordinary and to give up your dreams, not realizing that God is calling you to more.

You essentially self-medicate with apathy to keep yourself under control. You took care of all those out-of-control, unrealistic dreams and passions, and now you’re just like everyone else. Instead of harnessing your energy, you decided to conserve it. When a person’s light shines too brightly, everyone else will complain about its intensity.

Focus allows you to live a life of full intensity with all your passion fueling your momentum in a singular direction.

You have to decide to focus and lock in on the direction God has called you to live your life.

Without a sense of destiny, you will diffuse your energy. When you are focused, you are your most powerful. A destiny is not something waiting for you but something waiting within you.

The Creator, as the ultimate act of creativity, has created you to be creative. This is both your birthright and your destiny. To create is in your essence and is essential for living the life God created you to live.

If you’re going to create the life of your dreams, eventually you have to stop thinking about it, dreaming about it, imagining it, hoping, scheming, planning, or even praying, and you have to actually do something. You have to act. You have to execute. You have to step into the real world and bring the change that you can only see through the eyes of faith.

If you choose to dream with your eyes open, you will eventually have to start creating.

Go and enjoy yourself. Do whatever you have to do, but find time to laugh and appreciate your life. This isn’t supplemental to living an awakened life – it’s lifeblood. You can only give to others what you have. You have to be alive to resuscitate the unconscious, much less raise the dead.

We have to make a personal commitment that our goals, ambitions, and dreams will never overtake our value for people.

One More Thing...

I'd love to hear your comments as to which one you resonated with the most.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Distractions

I have the day off. I dream of being a writer - I want the fantasy writer life I imagine waiting for me so I pack up the laptop and go to hang out at a restaurant to "be a writer". I have an agenda, I have topics in mind, it's beautifully sunny outside and I'm sitting in front of a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows. 

Did I mention that I have been living obsessed with the desire to be doing this while being at the beach?

I'm settled, I've ordered food, I'm good. I'm waiting for the computer to boot up and then two men are seated at the table behind me. 

For those of you guessing ahead of me...no, THEY were not the cause of my distraction. At least, not in the manner that you may be thinking. I don't even know what they look like, but they are talking about cruising to Mexico. You know - sunshine, surf, beach, great Mexican food, time off, etc.

Oh sure, and I was supposed to write. I immediately shoot off an e-mail to my writer friends and brilliantly, they all quickly sent back the same reply, "write about it." So, you can blame today's topic on my friends. Unless, of course, you are enjoying this.

So today, my distraction is my longing for the coast, a specific type of coast. Yesterday, I was distracted by wanting to organize a new art studio section in my basement.

I find this particularly ironic because earlier this week I was reading about the need to focus. Ha! Glad I only borrowed that book instead of buying it. (Actually, I would like to buy it, it was great.)

One More Thing...

What is your current distraction? What is hindering you from doing what you want to be doing?

Note: I did not ask you about what you NEED to be doing, but what you WANT to be doing.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Wide Awake...or Not

I am currently reading a fantastic and challenging book: Wide Awake, by Erwin McManus.  The problem is that it is a library book so I cannot highlight all of the inspiring, challenging, or thought-provoking sections. So instead, I choose to share them with you here. It is a fabulous book and although I am only halfway through it, I'd encourage you to read it for yourselves.

I did find it a bit ironic that the first few nights of reading a book called Awake, I could barely keep my eyes open but that wasn't because of the book.

I hope you'll enjoy the randomness of excerpts that impacted me, and I pray that you will be motivated by Erwin's writings.

"To create a different world is both a courageous act and a creative act. Life is a work of art. The canvas you paint first is your life. Then your life becomes the brush from which you paint that part of the world you touch while you are here on this planet. You are an artist. What work of art will you leave behind?"

"Whatever else we need to do to live the life of our dreams, I know this: we can't just lie there."

"Your dreams are the product of your longings, a portrait of your potential, and a promise of your future."

"Your dreams are God's way of whispering into your soul, There's more to you than you know. There's more available to you than you can imagine. There's an extraordinary life awaiting you if you would trust me."

"If your career path doesn't seem to match your heart's longing, it may be you have a skill that doesn't match your passion."

"You know there is so much more you have to offer, though you don't say it out loud."

"Life is not a color in the lines project; life is a work of art...you must be willing to get paint all over you."

I hope you feel a bit encouraged to dream and to stretch yourself.  Have fun and make it a colorful week!

One More Thing...

I'd love to hear from you if one of these quotes resonated with you.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Black and White - The Power of Written Words

There it was again - words written in black and white that I knew to be another lie. I started to write "untruth" there, but when somebody makes a choice to use untruthful words, or to use truthful words with deliberate gaps to paint the illusion of a different meaning...let's call it what it is - a lie.

I am a strong fan of both the electronic world and the written word, but I strive to maintain a balance between the technological world I enjoy and the face-to-face encounters that round out my community and are a necessity for communication.

There are many benefits of the written word, but my focus tonight is on a cautionary aspect. Very few people can successfully communicate the emotions and personality behind the words. Often, the reader will have a reaction or question but may not ask any follow-up questions - the result being confusion, miscommunication, and the potential for hurt feelings.

Have you ever been hurt by something you read, only to have a conversation later and understand there was a miscommunication?

One More Thing...

Have you ever written something that was misunderstood?

At least once this week, call someone instead of sending them an e-mail or Facebook post and enjoy those few moments of "real life".

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Receiving Encouragement

Do you spend your days feeling more encouraged or discouraged? Do you mostly give encouragement, receive it, or is it a balance of both?

There are countless ways to encourage people, but we each receive it differently. What hits you the most? Do you thrive on kind words, gifts, companionship and time, or letters? Do you want recognition in front of a group or quiet words from a friend, co-worker, or boss?

There are a lot of people who live a very discouraged life and we have a beautiful opportunity each day to connect with them, to encourage them, to speak kind words into their life. Take a moment to look for people that maybe do a thankless job, or put their lives on the line for strangers - thank them for their hard work. Watch their eyes light up - it will likely bring tears to your own eyes.

Regardless of how people best receive encouragement, a kind word of appreciation touches everybody.  See how many people you can thank this week - but mean every word.

One More Thing...

I want to hear from you - what encourages you most? Please share your stories of how people reacted when you thanked them.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn

Gonna Make It

Fame. The Voice. The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Smash. America's Got Talent.The list could go on easily.

America seems to be quite enthralled with television shows and/or movies about finding our dream and making it big. I can't even begin the list of songs that follow this same theme. I actually have a playlist on my iPod titled "You Can Do It".

My husband and I are addicted to The Voice and it is so touching to watch these people putting themselves out there and giving it everything they have. This is their passion, it's all they want in life - and they go for it with every fiber of their being. Then the chairs turn around and their confidence soars! It's so exhilarating - I cheer, I cry. I do it all over again with the next contestant.

Why do we watch others pursue things they want but so few of us make the effort? What is holding you back? Is it fear of failing or fear of succeeding? Maybe it's fear of what people will think about your dream?

We recently watched a documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright - another inspirational story about following your own passions regardless of what people think.

One More Thing...

Do you have someone in your life that pushes you to pursue something from your wildest dreams?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect with.

Lois Lynn

The Voice on NBC
Smash on NBC

Worship Gone Wrong

I recently had the privilege of spending a few days at the Cannon Beach Conference Center with the staff and elders of the church I work at. It was three days of prayer, sharing, musical worship, unity, team building, celebrating, eating, laughing, encouragement, and even a few tears of both joy and heartache as we shared some real-life stories side by side. It was a "mountaintop with God" experience!

We were in the final stages of searching for a new lead pastor and it was a bit of a roller coaster ride, courtesy of God. During some of our discussions, we talked about how we can sometimes forget that it is God we worship and that we often take back the controls. Yet, I was amazed at the very clear, unanimous response of all present - this was all about God, and never about our individual desires. I was reminded again how wonderful it is to serve God shoulder to shoulder with such genuine Christ-followers.

As we sang some of our songs, I was reminded of this "version" that made the Facebook circuit recently. It is funny, yet sadly true. Take a listen then let me know if you ever struggle with this as well. It's so easy to fall into a routine, but I challenge us all to make this a song we can simply laugh with, instead of having it tug at our strings of conviction.

Join me, as we sing some all too familiar standards...

One More Thing...

What was the one you were laughing at before you realized you could relate to it? Are you willing to share?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you or simply to connect.

Lois Lynn