Thank You for StrawberriesThank You, God,
for giving us food of all kinds,
shapes, colors, aromas, textures, and flavors.
I praise You for strawberries!
And I delight in crisp yellow peppers and juicy oranges!
I praise You for giving us taste buds--
You didn't have to do that!
I praise You also for those edible pleasures
that I sometimes abuse.
Today I ask for the grace
to appreciate the daily sustenance You give me
and to appreciate it so much that I don't feel the need to be greedy.
Maker of everything delicious,
all day long I will notice Your genius and generosity,
and I will honor You with my appetites and my attitude. Amen.

Heather Kopp | Source: "The Dieter's Prayer Book" © 2000 by Heather Harpham Kopp. Used by permission of Waterbrook Press.

From BeliefNet prayer of the day 

to avoid SPAM email MzEllen at

ellen(at)mzellen(dot)com

I believe it was Mark Driscoll that said something to the effect that we should not so much be examining the Word of God, but rather letting it examine us.

It is when I come to God's Word with an attitude of letting it change me that I am most affected by reading or hearing. The Word of God can be either a life-changing event, or it can be an intellectual exercise (literature). For me, it has, at various times, been both.

The Word of God is indeed ancient - the oldest of the Words were most likely penned by Moses, the most recent Words are nearly 2,000 years old. The Words may not have been directly written for us, but certainly we can glean from them what the Spirit wills. All Scripture is God-breathed, effective and true.

It has been only recently that I have delved again into the Old Testament - I know the stories that I heard as a child, but as an adult, my reading has mostly been in the New Testament - for Christians. But there is so much in the Old Testament - when I read it with an open heart, things leap off the page in a way that I had never experienced.

With that heart, when I pray that God show me - He does. When I read so that I can cross the next passage off of my "read this" list, it becomes a literary experience.

Lord help me to remember to bring my mind and heart, open, to the Word.

Access is not cooperating, so that's on the back burner for a little bit (I got dinged 20% today for not having a project in, and I knew it and it just didn't happen for me)

I thought "draft" for my web design class meant "draft" - what it means according to this instructor is "almost finished".  By this weekend.  Yikes.

I have to make a decision about graduation (I got my associates degree, finally) - do I want to do the walking down the aisle thing for a 2 year degree that took me 5 years to get?  (If I do, it'll be with the extra "stuff to wear" for being in the international honor society for 2-year institutions).  I want to get the "stuff" even if I don't walk, just to have it.

And (of course) grocery shopping, getting caught up on laundry, etc., etc...

I posted these Scriptures last year on Good Friday, looking at the last words of Christ, and reflecting them into both the Old and New Testaments.  These words were true when they were written, true a year ago and just as true today.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

“God sent me before you to preserve for
you a remnant in the earth, and to keep
you alive by a great deliverance.” Gen. 45:7

“…Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors….”

Today you will be with me in paradise

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him. Psa. 91:15″

And it shall come to pass that
everyone who calls upon the name of the Lords hall be saved.” Acts 2:21

Woman, here is your son…here is your mother.

Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Psa. 22:9-10

“If anyone does not provide for his relatives,
and especially for his immediate family,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever. 1 Tim 5:8

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
Psa. 22:1

“He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,
in order to present you holy and blameless
and above reproach before him” Col. 1:22

I am thirsty

If your enemy is hungry, give him
food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water
to drink. Prov. 25:21

They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave
me sour wine to drink.
Psa. 69:21

I tell you the truth, anyone who gives
you a cup of water in my name because you
belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Mark 9:41

It is finished.

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.” Jer.:13:31

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need
to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins,
and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their
sins once for all when he offered himself. Heb 7:27

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. Psa 31:5

“…and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?” John 11:26

Prevention Magazine has a "weight loss simulator".  Get a user name and password, enter some basic information and preferences and it will show you a general picture of where you were, where you are or where you want to be.

This is my starting weight.

This is where I'd like to end up.

I am down 1.75 pounds this week.

I am down 10 pounds from where I was the last week in February.

I am down 21.25 pounds from where I was six months ago.

Last week I received my keychain for losing 10% of my original weight.

I am 3/4 of a pound away from getting my 25 pound award.

Next week is the "official" update week (the first week of each month) but I'm on travel and don't know how that's going to work (posting photos and measurements and all that).

HT: Boarshead Tavern

Related links: PBS Teachers, Learning.now.

Yeah...If you do it, you know what it means. If it's been done to you (or to somebody you love), you know what it means. If you know somebody who as left the blogosphere because of "real life" intrusion, you know what it means.
Read about Kathy Sierry here. and here (CAUTION: this post tells a graphic story and uses graphic language and images). I've seen invitations to help participate in debates, "ganging up on" bloggers. I've seen people use other people's bloggers as a launching pad for their own beliefs (and I've done this before and have since made a commitment not to use blogs I disagree with for that purpose, unless debate is clearly invited). I've seen a lot of nastiness, but this is way over the line.

I have rules for my blog, I link to them in the sidebar.

Bullies are bullies are bullies, whether in "meat space", playground space, print or online. And they should be confronted wherever they are found.

this graphic (as well as the one in my meta section) courtesy of Scott McLeod.

Other resources:

• cyberbully.org
• Nancy Willard's website
• Don Wood

(These are geared mostly for kids, but they're good resources)

That is so eloquent...and so true.   I don't think there is much that I can say about it.

Every moment of every day we make choices - every day we become a creature that is a little bit different than the creature that we were the day before.

Better, worse?  Just different?  Closer to God, farther away?  Or have we chosen to remain where we were (not that that is possible).