Thankful Thursday

Hillbilly songs and dance mix music and the fun moves they motivate my toddler to make.

Makes me smile.

Monday Moments

Monday carries a lighter weight this week as I'm now homefree with my last teaching session till the baby comes. Good thing too as completing grades and taking care of a newborn does not appeal to me.

I've dove into the house, cleaning areas that haven't received attention for some time and "nesting" in the general satisfying way. I'm focusing time on my toddler, trying to cherish the moments with just her... even the times when I want to pull my hair out over her defiance. She more than makes up for it with her sweet and adoring temperament.

Yet, despite that, I feel a lurking anxiety that taunts me, tempts me to say, "Cower! Be worried, be very worried." Any one that knows me well understands my sense of imagination, and yes, even paranoia. Trusting and relinquishing tomorrow's "what if's?" isn't easy for this fearful control freak. But alas, I remind myself, I don't have control over it... I can't hold tomorrow together... I can only trust in the One who can. And choose... Oh, make that difficult choice to look back (not forward) and remember how great His faithfulness is. I can trust Him. And I need to shift my perspective from the cynical "oh, no, what if?" to the "taste and see..."

So on a more focused direction, I choose to thankfully acknowledge God's
protection,
provision,
mercy,
and intervention

I chose to thank him for the ways He shows me he cares, subtle and small and sometimes overwhelmingly obvious.

I chose to say, "Yes, Lord, you are big enough for tomorrow. You are near enough for my shadowing fears."

This life is not all there is--praise His name--and I am merely trying to faithfully obey while here, waiting for that blessed time when I'm finally home!

Zzzzz....

Lately, I just can't get enough sleep, but even when my body is in the supine position, I find that the comatose state eludes me. Perhaps it's due to the large child near his birth time or perhaps it's my mind running laps. Either way, sleep is something I've always loved. As a child, getting me to bed wasn't a challenge; I looked forward to it. Still do.

I thought it was funny to get an article about the "Lazy Person's Way to Slim Down." Seriously? Well, it's just about sleep.

According to CNN Health, research from the University of Chicago showed that dieters who slept for 8.5 hours lost 55 percent more body fat than dieters who slept 5.5 hours

"The dieters who slept less reported feeling hungrier throughout the course of the study," CNN said, even though "they ate the same diet, consumed multivitamins and performed the same type of work or leisure activities."

The study authors concluded that "Lack of sufficient sleep may compromise the efficacy of typical dietary interventions for weight loss and related metabolic risk reduction," CNN said.
interrupted or impaired sleep can:

•Dramatically weaken your immune system
•Seriously impair your memory; even a single night of poor sleep—meaning sleeping only 4 to 6 hours—can impact your ability to think clearly the next day
•Impair your performance on physical or mental tasks, and decrease your problem solving ability
•Raise blood sugar levels and increase your risk of diabetes
•Accelerate aging -- Sleep deprivation prematurely ages you by interfering with your growth hormone production, normally released by your pituitary gland during deep sleep (and during certain types of exercise, such as Peak 8 exercises). Growth hormone helps you look and feel younger.
•Lead to hypertension (high blood pressure)
•Cause or worsen depression
•Increase your risk of cardiovascular disease – One recent study found that sleeping fewer than five hours a day more than doubles your risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke.


But sleeping more than seven hours also increased the risk of cardiovascular disease; more than nine hours of sleep resulted in a 50 percent increase in risk.

(Dr. Mercola-- http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/20/sleep-more-lose-weight.aspx)

So, if you can, say 'no' to something else and say yes to a full 8 hours tonight. It does a body good. :)

Free Weekend Fun

If you're trying to keep a tight watch on your funds--or even if you aren't--here are some fun ideas to do with the family (or friends):

*Fly a kite (When was the last time you did?)
*Have a picnic at a local park...or even your own backyard.
*Do a fall leaf mural
*Surprise a friend or family member and celebrate a half-birthday.
*Visit a bookstore with a friend or date and pick out a book for each other, telling why you chose that particular one.
*Play a game you haven't played in a while.
*Go for a bike ride.

Massage Therapy

Due to my husband's generous thoughtfulness, I was able to get my second pregnancy massage yesterday. Although some women prefer to avoid touch while pregnant, once past my first trimester, back massage is a welcome relief, especially when you're also toting a toddler.

I realize that massage therapy is a luxury--one most people can't afford even yearly. But with Christmas coming up, I'd encourage you to lay some hints to your family.

And if you live in the area, go to BCSS and support my talented sister-in-law. http://www.bransonclinicskinspa.com/Massage.html

Overcoming Depression

Dr. Mercola had an interesting article on mental illness--some possible dangers with conventional drug therapy and some positive and natural ways to combat the depressive state.

He addresses research that shows dangerous side effects and some practical tips to tackle the depression without a pill.

*Exercise
*Yoga
*Nutrition (food additives, preservations, colors, and sugar are big triggers for mental downswings)
*Omega 3 oils
*Vitamin D
*Salt



http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/06/the-real-cause-of-americas-mental-illness-problem.aspx

Thankful...

....that nightmares aren't real....

*Phew* Woke up last night around 4:00 in a panic attack. Aaron and I were with my parents, split by sexes (the guys were working on something and so were the gals). We both thought the other had our daughter, but neither did. Three hours had lapsed and I rain outside in the downpour of a storm, screaming my daughter's name, having no idea where she might be and feeling this deep dread in my gut that we'd never find her. Immediately after that I woke up, my heart thumping and my breath ragged. Of course I had to go check on her. Incredible isn't it how vivid our subconscious can be?

I have to continually remind myself that my imagination is just that-- imagining. It isn't real, nor does it predict the reality to come (thank goodness). I have to let those anxieties go to the Lord, requesting Him to cover my thoughts and my tomorrows. It's not easy, especially in the dark before dawn, but He promises to be there and He understands what my heart can handle.

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." ~Deuteronomy 31:8

Mind over Emotion

The will is like a wise mother in a nursery; the feelings are like a set of clamoring, crying children. The mother makes up her mind to a certain course of action which she believes to be right and best. The children clamor against it and declare it shall not be. But the mother, knowing that she is mistress and not they, pursues her course lovingly and calmly in spite of all their clamors; and the result is that the children are sooner or later won over to the mother's course of action and fall in with her decisions, and all is harmonious and happy. But if that mother should for a moment let in the thought that the children were the real masters instead of herself, confusion would reign unchecked. And in how many souls at this very moment is there nothing but confusion, simply because the feelings are allowed to govern instead of the will?

It is not the feelings of man that God wants, but the man himself.

Prayer: Lord, thou seest that with my emotions I love this sin, but in my real central self I hate it. Until now my emotions have had the mastery; but now I put my will into Thy hands and give it up to Thy working. I will never again consent in my will to yield to this sin. Take possession of my will and work in me to will and to do of Thy good pleasure.

Taken from Hannah Whitall Smith's book, The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life

Melancholy Monday

The Definition of Melancholy
By Benjimester http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Definition-of-Melancholy

As a lover of poetry, the definition of melancholy was always a fascinating but elusive study. For a long time, the world fascinated me, but I struggled to find its definition. It's a concept in poetry that's often elusive and obscure. As I studied poetry, I was surprised to find that the language used by the poets on the definition and subject of melancholy was often purposefully ambiguous. They seemed hesitant to want to explain it, as though it's some feeling that none can define.
And as I continued to read the classic poems, I stumbled more and more upon the concept of an indescribable longing locked away deeply in every human heart, a yearning for something that no one can clearly define but to say that it's simply the longing to live life to the full, to seize the day. Soren Kierkegaard defined this phenomena of poetry in his book Purity of Heart: “It seems to him, according to the poets’ explanation, as if something inexpressible thrusts itself forward from his innermost being, the unspeakable, for which indeed language has no vessel of expression. Even the longing is not the unspeakable itself. It is only the hastening after it.”
The classic poets who often talked about this feeling of melancholy and longing, confirm what Kierkegaard said by leaving the feeling ambiguous. Here are some excerpts from a few poems that talk about melancholy. Notice the same inexpressible, ambiguous nature of the wording. The first excerpt is from “The Buried Life,” by Matthew Arnold.
“Light flows our war of mocking words, and yet,
Behold, with tears my eyes are wet.
I feel a nameless sadness o’er me roll”

The definition of melancholy is something evasive yet profound.
A nameless sadness, he says, something that makes his heart sigh that he cannot fully describe. Next from “Maud Muller,” by John Greenleaf Whittier:
“But, when she glanced to the far-off town,
White from its hill-slope looking down,
The sweet song died, and a vague unrest
And a nameless longing filled her breast--”
Again the same style of language is used. When talking about this thing called melancholy, always the poets are purposefully vague. And yet, I think that this ambiguous language about the human condition is what makes these poems so deep and powerful. They leave the feelings un-named, knowing that such emotions are hidden in every human heart, that they cannot be explained, only felt and drawn out through the beauty of noble things.
I have one more excerpt which talks about the definition of melancholy. I wanted to save it for last, because I think it's the most powerful. It's from “The Day is Done,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist.
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.”
There is a devious sadness to the world in which we live – a sadness that comes to find us in the night, when we're all alone under the canopy of a million stars. Something within us knows that we ought to be better – that our love ought to burn brighter and shine more fiercely – that our passion and conviction for life ought to be strong, and lead us through that nagging temptation to settle for the ordinary and mundane. Something within us knows that life was always meant to be lived to the full. And this something, when it comes to find us, convicts us of all the cheap and common things we often settle for. This feeling, in my mind, is the definition of melancholy.