Salty Zebra

    Today I’d like to share with you an incredible little spot. Some people like to keep secrets like this to themselves, but I want this bakery to stay open forever, so I’d like to drive lots of business in their direction! I’ve dealt with restrictive diets and food intolerances for as long as I can remember. One of the most well-known and yet still difficult ones of these is being gluten-free. We’ve come a long way in recognition of this allergy with many restaurants marking their menus with safe options and occasionally offering gluten-free alternatives like pasta or sandwich bread. Still, if you’re going out to eat, your options will be limited. The cruelest thing you can say to someone who is gluten-free is, “At least you can have a salad!” We’ve heard that so many times it’s become a trope. I almost cried the last time my husband said that to me.   Said husband has completely redeemed himself though by finding this little gem for me! He was out serving the homeles...

“They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”   Isaiah 6:3 “for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:16  In the face of God’s holiness, we are nothing. We cannot even stand. There is absolutely nothing we can do to align ourselves with His perfection. So how can we obey the directive from 1 Peter ?   I think that in and of ourselves, this is hopeless. But God did not leave us on our own to obey His command. He has sent a part of Himself, the Holy Spirit, to dwell within us and sanctify us. This process, sanctification, isn’t like flipping on a light switch. It takes time. God brings us through life’s circumstances, the beautiful and the hard, to help grow our character and make us more like Himself. When we encounter hard times, difficult times, really wretched times, God meets us there. We get to experience His provision and care. We get to kno...

    This verse beautifully portrays the three parts of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a mystery to humans as our brains can’t quite wrap around how God could be One all-powerful, all-knowing being and also be three distinct, individual parts. There are lots of analogies out there, but they all end up falling short because God is just that much bigger than this world. After having walked with God for a couple of decades I feel more comfortable with this concept, but how much of that is just me becoming ok with not fully understanding? As my faith in God has grown, I’ve gained a peace about those things that I don’t quite get. But today, let’s explore the Trinity. Let’s flesh out what I do know and then be ok with what I don’t.   God the Father is the clearest part of this grouping for me. He is above all. He is eternal (another concept difficult to grasp). He existed before the world and will exist after. He has no beginning and no end. He is a...

   I wrote recently about Learning to Live Within My Limits . Lately I haven't been succeeding at that very well. Instead, I've been, "Living in the Pink." In my Visible app, my points show up as blue when I am at or under my limit. When I go past the tracker during the day, it shows up as yellow because I still have a chance to rest and get back under my goal. But once the day is done, if I have used more points than I should, it turns to pink. I guess they felt like it was a gentler color than red. For the last six days, I have not stayed under my goal. Yesterday I only surpassed it by 0.1 points, so I feel like the pink is not fully deserved, but other days I went over by as much as 10 points, more than 30% of my planned total.   So why do I care? It's in the past, right? I care because my points overage doesn't stay in the past. Each day I go over affects the next, and sometimes more. When I have a stretch like this of days in a row of going over, it can t...

  In the travel industry, companies have decided to reward loyalty to their brand by offering status earning programs. For Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), this is the Latitude Rewards program . Once you have travelled at least one cruise with NCL, you can sign up .   You start out at the Bronze Level which lets you start collecting pins when you’re on your cruise. Each level has a different pin and it’s a fun collection to add to. They will also add your Latitude Rewards program level to your cruise key card. They say they’ll give you free artwork at an art auction, but I think they do this for everyone. You’ll get a discount on purchasing an open bar package straight out, but this doesn’t affect the price of a “More at Sea” Drinks package you can choose when you purchase your cruise. Realistically, the “More at Sea” package will always be less expensive than purchasing it outright, even with a discount, so I’m not sure why this is a thing. If you like to shop at the duty fre...

  “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6   Hebrews tells us that we are not only to believe in God, but also to believe that He will reward those who seek Him. I’ve always struggled with the last part of that verse. I felt like if I was a true believer, I wouldn’t need a reward. I should just believe in God and not expect any benefit. Whether that belief was conscious or subconscious, I think it has overshadowed much of my faith walk. I’m afraid that this perspective has caused me to discount or miss out on many of the blessings that He has sent my way. Right now I’m sitting on a heating pad in a beautiful balcony cabin with the door open to hear the sound of the waves and feel the fresh sea air. I’ve got lovely music playing in the background. My tummy is full of good food and I’ve got a cup of coffee next to me.  I’m wearing my favorite jump...

  Hey there! I'm an Amazon Associate, which means I earn a commission when you click one of these links and buy something. This does not change your cost at all.  I'm so excited to share with you the Bible study I'll be starting tomorrow! It's through a ministry called Love God Greatly . I've been doing Bible studies with them for over five years, since the fall of 2019. Their studies use the SOAP method that I've been fond of for many years. Just in case you haven't heard of this before, I'm going to break it down for you here. If you are interested in following along with me, you can send me an email to subscribe to my posts, or even do the study yourself by ordering the book or downloading the free app .  S  The "S" in SOAP stands for scripture. All SOAP studies are digging into God's Word. Typically, for Love God Greatly, they will offer a longer scripture passage to read for context and depth and then suggest a specific scripture or ...