The message from my church on Sunday has been sticking with me this week. The pastor preached from Genesis 12:1-3 and it had a wonderful perspective about how we should look for blessings in our hardships. He spoke about how we all have ways in which we are "cursed" and deal with hardships and in those times it is often very difficult to see in what ways we are truly blessed.
Many times our first instinct is to ask "What is wrong today" or "Why am I sad today" instead of "Where am I being blessed today?"
Now that doesn't mean we have to deny the ways we are cursed or pretend that those things don't exist, but we do need to make an effort to acknowledge the ways we are blessed even with the hardships we are going through.
We have to get in the habit of seeing blessings in the midst of our obstacles. And one of the important things he shared is that we need to remember that we are blesses so that we can be a blessing for others.
"I will bless you and make your name great, SO THAT you will be a blessing."
This whole message spoke to me in several ways but it really made me think about the things I have seen in this group lately. I see people who only a few months ago were really struggling and now they are thriving, feeling more confident, and encouraging others. I am so grateful for all of you and how encouraging of a place this has become, it's been a huge blessing to me and I hope it is for you as well.
Also if you are currently struggling try to focus on the blessings you do have, and think about the ways you do have the ability to be a blessing to others.
If you want to listen to the whole message I will link the recording below, but today I encourage you to think about the ways in your life you are blessed, and how you can be a blessing to others.
I don't typically love cooking with cast iron, despite the excellent results they can bring. It's messy and smells up the house. Add to that, the one we have is super old and not very good. We were recently gifted a really good one from Lancaster Cast Iron so today I decided to give it a try. We have a side burner on our Weber so I could do it outside. I sous vide a steak, then seared it in tallow on the new pan. Man it was incredible. What a difference it made from our old one. Super easy clean up too. Below is the pan, of course I forgot to take a picture of the steak haha.
Do you love using cast iron? What are some favorites you make in them?
Yesterday we surprised the kids and brought home a puppy!! They have been begging for one for years and we felt like the time was right to bring one home.
Meet Angus 🐕 He's a Golden Retriever/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. He's 11 weeks old and currently weighs about 8 pounds, he should be around 35 pounds fully grown. I know it will be an adjustment for a while as he gets potty trained etc but we are so excited. 😂 Wish us luck! 🤪
Cheese is good! I ate a block of chipotle oven baked cheese with lunch yesterday and it was divine. I love it, but know that it halts any progress I'm making, and will even trigger eating in excess to where I'll gain weight. It's sad but I have accepted it. If I eat it in small quantities with a meal, it's ok, but I really have to work to keep it in check.
What's your favorite cheese? How do you incorporate it? Do you see negative results when eating it?
Wow this new month snuck up on me, I mean I knew it was the end of October and Halloween but I just went "Wait it's November 1st already!?!" 😂 We didn't even recap our month yet! 🤪 So let's do that today, and tomorrow we can set non-negotiables for November. Also the time changed last night, (not in Arizona), and the good news is that means I start work now at 7 am instead of 6 am, since we are only one hour ahead of texas now. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 I'm traveling this week so I won't get the full effect until the end of the week, but I'm very excited for the next 5 months of a little later start time. (Even though I think the time changing in general is very dumb)
Okay month end recap: What was the best thing that happened for you in October?
Where did you get stuck this month or have a setback? What did you learn from that?
Good Morning Y'all!! It's hard to believe it's November. Also I'm amazed that I stayed dairy free and no eggs for a month. Thank you Father for your help and strength. I told y'all that I would give you my progress results of no dairy except butter and no eggs.
Well here's what has been healed: rosacea gone, mouth ulcers gone, and rash in odd places gone. I have lost 10 pounds of inflammation. I'm almost down two pant sizes. I'm down one shirt size. I'm exercising in a gym and doing PT. People are noticing that I'm looking different. I'm feeling better. I'm going to continue not eating processed cow dairy. I may introduce some goat dairy and raw cow dairy if I can get some raw cheese and heavy cream shipped to me. But if not I will just stay with none or eat goat cheese occasionally. I'm going to try to reintroduce eggs. I love eggs and it would help when I need a quick meal. I also cut out coffee on October 10th. So I'm going to continue that also.
So November will be a great month....
Good Evening Y'all!! WOOHOO I DID IT!! Day 31 of dairy free except butter and egg free. I'm gonna continue dairy free until I can get my hands on some raw dairy to try. But it will be a while longer on dairy free. I'm going to try an egg one day next week. I'm so Thankful to God for helping me through this month. I had a few rough craving days but i made it. I'm thankful for the support of our tribe here also. Thanks Y'all for all the encouragement. I'm on Day 21 of no coffee.
I think I'm doing my eating correctly. On days that I don't do a lot I notice I don't eat a lot but on days that I do a lot I eat quite a bit more.
Here's my stats. BLESSINGS!!
