Grown-up Girls is here...

Wow, it's been almost a year since this project began and now it's a real live book!  I've told many people that I didn't write and publish this Bible study because I have a desire to be famous.  Yikes!! I am much more comfortable in my little private world at home. I have told God more than once, "Ok.  I'm done. I can't do this!"  But, when God puts a message on one's heart, one must obey!

He has been reaffirming to me that the message in Grown-up Girls is not about me.  It's about Jesus and what He has done and is doing in my life and other women through this message.  And God wants women to know that He loves them dearly and desires that they walk in the amazing freedom of His truth.

"And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man (woman) and teaching every man (woman), that we may present every man (woman) complete (grown-up) in Christ."  Colossians 1:18

What an adventure!  I can't wait to hear the stories...

Grown-up Girls is available at CrossBooks, Barnes & Noble and Amazon in a soft cover workbook.  It is also available in an ebook.

Bermuda grass...

I do NOT like Bermuda grass!  It sends out runners, is invasive and is not easy to pull out of the vegetable garden.  Now, the other weeds that have shallow roots or a single root are easy to pull and I don't mind them as much.  Of course, if I just stayed on top of the weeds in the garden, it would not be difficult to control them.  And the vegetables, strawberries and blueberry bushes would be beautiful things to behold!

Maybe because of the HOURS (well, it seemed like hours) spent hoeing the garden growing up, I have an aversion to weeding.  We planted a huge garden every year and enjoyed the fresh food.  Mom would can and freeze so we would have vegetables and pickles during the winter.  Planting the garden was a family affair.  Then my brothers and I would have the responsibility of controlling the weeds.  There was no such thing as sleeping in and if I drug my heels getting out to the garden, I would get too hot while hoeing and would begin to see stars. 

I'm sure all that fresh air and sunshine, along with all the fresh food, kept us healthy while we were growing up.  Plus, it was very tasty!  So, when I had my own family, we planted a garden of some kind every year.  And, yes, I made my kids weed!  The girls still joke about pulling bind weed in El Paso. 

I still have to be careful about staying out in the sun too long when I'm gardening.  If I get overheated, I'm done for the day and end up sitting like a lump on the couch.  My honey knows this about me and reminds me to drink water and take plenty of breaks. 

So this morning, as I was weeding, I thanked God for the overcast morning and was able to get the whole garden weeded so we can plant this weekend -except for a few patches of Bermuda grass.  Yay! 

As I was grunting and groaning trying to pull one of those patches of Bermuda grass, I thought about the curse that God spoke over Adam (and all men to follow) after he and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit. 

Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field..."  Genesis 3:17-18

Then it hit me, wait a minute!  These weeds are man's curse!  I will have to tell my honey that it is biblical that he be the one to do the weeding!  I wonder how he will feel about that...

Hahahaha!

Almost finished...

I thought I was going to be able to sign off  on the proofs for my Bible study today.  The cover looked great and the two items that needed fixed were corrected.  Alas, three interior items missed the correction train.  So close...

Even so, it should be going to print next week!  By the time Grown-up Girls comes out, the project will have taken a year.  I had no clue it would be this much work, but I have learned so much.  I will enjoy the finished product for a little while, then get started on the next Bible study.  Hmm...will I rewrite Living Well With Illness or start on another project I've been thinking about?  Time will tell!

My honey and I have been teaching a new marriage class using the fabulous 5 Days to a New Marriage material by Terry Hargrave and Shawn Stoever .  We've read and taught a lot of marriage materials but this is by far the best.  It is built around a simple idea that pain we've experienced has caused us to believe lies about ourselves and we develop coping skills that cause our spouse pain.  That in turn causes our spouse to have negative emotions which they handle with coping skills that cause us pain.  It's called the Pain Cycle.  Understanding this cycle is life-changing in itself, but the material goes on to teach the Peace Cycle where we learn the truth about ourselves and then can respond to one another in a positive and loving manner.  The results are amazing!  And the really cool thing about it is that so much of what is taught in Grown-up Girls is reinforced in 5 Days to a New Marriage.

Hop on over to their website and check it out.

Rainbow of nutrients...

One of the tasks I like least, besides pulling weeds and cleaning toilets, is making a menu.  It used to be easy because I would just list the foods we liked best.  But now, I have to keep nutrition in mind and many of my old favorite recipes just aren't healthy.  Grrrr...

We have some new favorite recipes that I've found and use frequently, but it came to my attention recently that even though we were eating a more healthy diet, we probably weren't getting all the nutrients we needed to get from our food.  Hmmm...

I read an article about the importance of eating colorful foods, which we do - just not enough colors every day.  Then it occurred to me that I should use the colors of the rainbow as a guide when making a menu.  Ta da!  It made the task so much easier and I really feel like we will be getting more nutrients from a balanced menu.

(I had a really cute picture of colored pencils to insert here, but it wouldn't upload...)

I used these colors with a number for each one - red 1, orange 2, yellow 3, blue 4, green 5, purple 6

For example, here is a one day menu with all six colors:

Blueberry Muffins and peaches - 4,2
Red and Orange Stuffed Bell Peppers (rice, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, spices) - 1, 2, 3, 5
Salmon with stir-fried purple cabbage, yellow onion and spinach; green beans w/ pimientos - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

I generally came up with an idea for dinner first, then added lunch and breakfast based on the colors I needed to round out the day's menu.  Who knew it could be so easy?!