Thank you God

A woman came to me recently describing a period in her life when she battled with serious depression. I've known her for many years.

At that time in her life, she doubted herself, her value, and even God's existence. I nodded as she went on, understanding that she had been in a really hard place.

At that time, she was meeting with a counselor and was invited to a group that was meeting weekly to deal with a variety of issues.

It turns out that I was a part of that group and was working through some difficult issues relating to childhood abuse I had experienced.

As she became aware of the influence and level of evil that had existed in my life, she concluded that God MUST be present and active in our lives.

It was at that point that she began her walk back toward Him.

I was stunned!! God used those dark moments in my life to bless her which in turn, blessed her children.

Thank you Lord for being with me always, even when I don't have a clue.

I LOVE my iPhone

I do love my iPhone. I can check all 4 of my email accounts including my school account.

Facebook loads in about 10 seconds!

Park Smart is a program that records the location of my car when I go into the store and shows me a map back to my car. No more pressing my clicker until I hear my car or see it's lights flashing. :)

I have 3 versions of the Bible and the concordance searches the entire Bible in seconds for a word or phrase.

I have scrabble or sudoku for those long lines that everybody hates. I think I'm becoming ADD.

Web MD is at my fingertips. I hope that's a good thing.

Whether it's a thesaurus, dictionary, or encyclopedia - If I think of a question, my iPhone has the answer.

I recently added a Spanish translator and a sign language program.

It has a digital tape recorder and even a brain exerciser!!

Best of all, it has a digital photo album for those great photos of my grandsons.

What more could I ask for?

And the lucky number is . . . . 1 4 6

Battle of the Bulge

Food for Thought

2 Rules for a flat stomach

Yo Yo Dieting

. . . . on and on the phrases go and yet I had never given them much thought. After all, I had been skinny most of my life -- and no, that didn't make it any easier when I began to face weight gain. Yes, I was lucky that I didn't have to think about calories for decades. Even then, it was the result of megadoses steroids that caused me to gain more than 80 pounds in 3 years.

On January 1, 2008 I weighed 210 pounds. I was depressed, discouraged, and hopeless. I decided that there had to be a way for me to lose it. I researched the amount of calories burned at rest and depending upon which source I believed, it seemed to be between 1800 and 2200 every 24 hours. I was very limited as far as exercise because of my MS.

I decided that I would limit my daily caloric intake to 800-1000 calories daily. I allowed myself about 150 calories for breakfast, 200 for lunch, 200-300 for dinner. I had two snacks a day and totaled my calories every evening. I found that it helped me to write down every single bite I took each day.

I started losing gradually and soon I had lost 20 pounds. Dan noticed right away, which helped alot. Even as I lost the next 20-30 pounds, most of my work and church friends couldn't tell. I was always sitting in my wheelchair so it was harder to notice. I didn't mind, I just kept at it. By September I had lost 55 pounds and people were noticing.

Now, here it is February, and I have lost 64 pounds!!

I was in a hurry as I got on the scales this morning and I froze when I saw 146. I rechecked it about 6 times but it was true. If you've read this far, you must care about me or be really bored.

I, on the other hand, am so excited and grateful. I just have a few more pounds left to go.

:)

:)

:)