Salty Zebra

Buckle in! This is a processing post so it is likely to be long and wordy and emotional and probably flawed in many ways. I thank you for your patience and anyone who makes it to the end gets bonus points in my book 😏.  Let's start with the info. I've been having progressively more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting migraines. Since my eye surgery in May, I've also been experiencing a great deal of nausea, almost daily. Sometimes meds help (with either), sometimes they don't. In addition, since the eye surgery, my double vision has intensified. My depth perception is shot, I'm regularly missing things I grab for, mistaking curbs for cracks in the sidewalk, bumping into walls or counters. Those are the three things that neurosurgery told us to watch for with regards to the shunt functioning properly: headaches, nausea, and vision changes. Now the vision changes were probably because of the surgery and the nausea was probably  because of the migraines, but th...

  You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear.   Ephesians 4: 29 Watching our words has got to be one of the hardest things we do. It is SO easy to let something we shouldn’t say slip out. I guess the first defense is to mind your heart. In Luke 6:45 we read, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” If your heart is full of anger, grumpiness, hurt, that’s what going to come out of your mouth. If, on the other hand, your heart is full of gratefulness, joy, peace, that will be what you will be known for. I remember a board book I used to read to my kids when they were little called my happy heart. That was my desire for them, to live lives with hearts overflowing with love for others, especially f...

Then little children were brought to him for him to lay his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”   Matthew 19: 13-14 Sometimes the people in our life become like furniture. They are just around, they are expected, they just are. We’d miss them if they were gone, but do we take advantage of the opportunity of having them there? God is opening my eyes to this thought, particularly where it pertains to the children in my life. They are not there by accident. I have a unique opportunity to let them know that they are seen and loved, by me and by God. In fact, it may not be just an opportunity, it may be a responsibility. When I was raising my children, both sides of this coin were evident to me. I saw the sand flowing through the hourglass of their childhood far faster than I wanted it to. I knew my opportu...

For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.   Ephesians 2: 10 I’m a planner, a thinker, a preparer. When I go into a situation, odds are that I’ve experienced it at least a half a dozen times in my head already. When I go to a restaurant, I usually already know what I’m going to order before I get there. I’ve always been tasked with the role of a coordinator or an administrator. I organize and put people on teams. I plan schedules and put together meal plans. I write out my shopping lists based on the departments in the store and the order we usually visit them. So where, in all this, do I leave room for the work that God has prepared beforehand for me to do? You see, I’m not the only one planning around here. He’s been planning all this since before the beginning of time. He’s not just rehearsing what might happen in His mind, He’s seen exactly what WILL happen. If I’m so caught up in my ...

  So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.   1 Corinthians 10: 31 I have a long history with restrictive diets. Really, it dates back to my childhood watching my family yo-yo dieting with Slim Fast and other equally toxic and unmaintainable eating styles. Those early messages were so conflicting and confusing. “Food is bad, because it’s so good.” I’m not sure how you ever really clear out those founding memories. Sugar is bad. Salt is bad. Fat is bad. Carbs are bad. Artificial sweeteners are bad. Red Meat is bad. Gluten is bad. Dairy is bad. Oh wait, but most of those things are good and necessary too. As an adult, I’ve bumped up against several needs for diets. When my children were born, I wanted to lose the pregnancy weight. My babies had severe allergies and I was nursing them, so I had to cut out dairy and soy – not an easy thing to do at the turn of the century when labels were still very lacking. Then my body started ...

  Whoever speaks, let it be with God's words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.   1 Peter 4: 11 I’m coming off of a beautiful, but very full weekend. God carried me through for sure! I definitely felt His strength enabling me to entertain, visit, pack, unpack, repack, etc. It was well beyond my usual capacity for activity and He provided. I anticipated that this week would be one where I would be recuperating, and that has proven very true. I have woken up each morning bone-weary exhausted. The pain has been intense. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? In a second! Over the last few years I’ve been learning about the SpoonTheory and incorporating its principles into my life. I’m constantly aware of how much energy I have and how much will be required of me in the rest of my day. I’ve had to learn to say...

  For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down   1 John 5: 3 Tomorrow is Juneteenth. For many of us, this is a new and little understood holiday, but in reality, it is likely the longest running African-American holiday, dating back to 1866. It celebrates the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, moving towards the end of slavery in America. Celebrations often include readings of the Emancipation Proclamation and works by noted African-American writers like Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou, singing traditional songs like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and, of course, lots of food! At such a sweet celebration, you would think love would abound. You would think that God’s people would show up in full force to love on their community and represent the Father in the world. Maybe in some areas they do, but in the Pacific Northwest I’m afraid it’s a different story. Every year my daughter goes into Seattle fo...