"Surely Not!"

I am a light sleeper- takes me forever to fall asleep, and the mere whisper of a child moving in the next room at night can wake me up. Which is why I was the first one to hear the big mutt whining to go outside before 5 this morning. Naturally, I am married to a heavy sleeper who can also fall asleep within seconds of his head touching the pillow. In quiet hope, I lay there listening to the dog fuss for a few minutes, even coughing loudly, in the hopes that hubby would stir enough to hear the animal, and let him out, but alas, no such luck. Which is why, I am blogging, after trying to go back to sleep for an hour with no avail, I decided that maybe God was giving me the opportunity to do a quiet time with him and catch up in the bloggy world before the house started stirring.

I laid there pondering a few things:

1) I kneaded my muscle that sets off my sciatic nerve on my L side, and contemplated getting up and marking the worst trigger point with a pen so I can show it to my acupuncturist later today. I decided going in there with circles drawn on my butt might just be too strange. (While we are on this topic though, acupuncture has made such a big difference to my pain level. I highly recommend it- my only caution would be to find someone practical and not too much into a new age approach.)

2) I realized that I woke up more achy and sore than I have been for the last few weeks, the reason being that I have been off wheat, sugar, and some dairy for that length of time and I felt really good, except yesterday I ate a fast food hamburger and a little piece of bd cake. Do I think it is fair that such things seem to set me off??? nope. But I know realize that I need to be that strict, at least for a while longer. I have to say that there is still a lot of things I can eat, but eating gluten and sugar free prevents you from just mindlessly snacking. I have dropped over 10 pounds as well, and that it without starving myself or being hungry. I guess what I was eating, though it was still a pretty healthy diet, was not agreeing with my system.

3) A sermon I heard yesterday has stuck in my mind since I heard the pastor read Acts 11. In a vision, Peter is shown by the Lord that it is ok to eat animals that the Jews had always considered unclean. Peter's first response was "Surely not, Lord!" Regardless, he heard what the Lord had to say, pondered on it, and God used his heart change to help bring the Gospel to the Gentiles, and form the church in Antioch, from which great growth came. The pastor then asked us what our "Surely not, Lord!" situation was...what situation God has put us in to show us that we had been holding onto wrong beliefs about Him, that were not in accordance with His will. Hmmm, yah...I've had a few of those, and feel like I am living out one now. It is painful, but a blessing when I can see where I have been off. It is a sweet feeling to surrender things to the Lord that I have held on tightly for so long. I just wish I could get there a little sooner, instead of waiting till there is no other option but defeat and despair! Because you are human too, I know that you struggle with the same things, some of you have been put through more than your fair share, things that I can't imagine. I just keep thinking of His promise in Jeremiah 20:11: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." I know that if we obey in the face of our "surely nots", He will bless us.

Oops, that wasn't meant to be a sermon! On a lighter note, it is snowing, which though yes, I live in Canada, I do not live in an igloo, drive a skidoo, or wear mukluks and parkas year round. (If that is the only message I get out there through my blogging, I will be happy.) Oh, and I don't say "eh"- might as well repeat that one too. And, yes, we do say "sorry" a lot. Anyways, we don't get much snow in my parts, so I am waiting for 3 happy boys to wake up and run outside to play before they even eat breakfast or brush their teeth.