Everything But the...

When I am sick, upset, or just having a bad day, I can always find comfort in my favorite ice cream, Ben & Jerry's Everything But the... Don't get me started on how amazing it tastes. The combination of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, white chocolate chunks, white heath bar pieces, peanut butter cups, and chocolate covered almonds is a match made in heaven for my taste buds. The thing about having a little heaven in a bowl is that it is specifically for sick, upset, bad days. Any other day I'm afraid it may loose its special powers. While eating a spoonful this weekend (I was sick) I had an Ahh-HA moment. God tends to speaks to me when I'm not thinking, which means I should write a lot more blogs! Anyway, my favorite part of the ice cream is the chunks of the heath bar. My history with Everything But the... ice cream is I always find that I don't get the chunks of the heath bar until I reach the bottom of the ice cream. I have to put a lot of time and energy getting past the chocolate covered almonds and peanut butter chunks. It is like a sweet reward for all my hard work. This weekend when I opened the ice cream up I found chunks of the heath bar right on top. I was amazed! It was the best part without the work. It is three days later and I still have half a container full of ice cream left and no desire to eat it. I feel slightly unsatisfied because after I invest my time and energy I want a reward. When the reward comes first it I don't appreciate it as much as I would if I had worked for it. I often look at how easy things are for some people and question God about why I have to work so hard. Blessings are always sweeter when we work for them. If you are at the chocolate covered almond phase, rest assured that the white heath bar is always at the bottom.

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Chapter One

I am in the process of writing my first book! It is a very exciting time, but scary as well. Before my book can be sold to publishers I need to complete a few task. I have less then two weeks to write the table of contents, three to five pages of the first chapter, ten to twelve pages of a middle chapter as well as put together a media packet. After the book is sold I will then need to finish the book. Twenty chapters. Four hundred pages. I just finished my second page. Two pages and I still have three hundred and ninety eight to go. It can get overwhelming to think that I have to make those two pages become four hundred. However, if I think about the fact that I am only three pages away from completing the five I need for my literary agent next week, its not so bad. Circumstances can seem impossible. We often see how big our problem is and forget how much bigger our God is. Most books aren't written in a day, and most problems aren't solved overnight. We need to write that first page to finish the book, and we need to take our lives one day at a time. I can't expect to finish this book in a few days, but I can plan on finishing the first chapter. You may feel like your life is on a deadline, with so much to deal with you are overwhelmed. Instead of trying to write a book, try to start with the first chapter.

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Lemonade

When I was a little girl, my little brother and a few friends and I decided to have a lemonade stand. We took a table out onto our front lawn, made a few signs, and went into the house to make the lemonade. The only problem with our lemonade stand was we had no lemons. Disappointed and defeated, I examined our options. We could give up and go do something else, or we could find a way to make it work. A pitcher full of water, one cup of sugar and a pack of Kool-Aid later our stand was open for business. People always say, "When life gives you lemons make lemonade". I say, "Don't let the fact that you don't have lemons stop you from making lemonade."

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed"
Proverbs 16:3