Health

Thirsty

RSCN6795_1916When my daughter was a baby, we frequented many doctor’s appointments. She especially enjoyed one where I had to get my blood drawn, laughing hysterically throughout, clearly relieved (if not entertained) by the fact that she was not on the receiving end of all the needles this time. I, on the other hand, was not amused.

Once the nurse finally found my vein, the blood was not flowing freely. After watching my blood drip slowly into the vial, the nurse asked, “Did you drink anything today?”

Apparently juice didn’t count, so the nurse gave me two cups of water to drink immediately. A mere two minutes passed after I swallowed. The nurse prepared my arm and stuck me with another needle (to my daughter’s great delight!), and the vials were filled within seconds.

I had just seen a vivid illustration of what I’ve known for years: our bodies require water just to function at a normal level. My blood didn’t flow freely until I drank the water I needed. That day, I left the doctor’s office with a renewed resolve to drink more WATER.

Most of us would admit we’d rather have our water in some other form: flavored, sweetened, carbonated. And while these drinks may satisfy us temporarily, they don’t have the lasting benefits of water.

Our attitude toward water reflects our view of what satisfies in life. We often pursue things that have no lasting benefits—things that leave us just like we started: thirsty.

Jesus said he is the water of life, and whoever drinks the water he gives will never thirst again. In other words, we need God just like we need the water we drink. God is the giver and the sustainer of all life. We can search for satisfaction in other ways, but nothing will quench our thirst like knowing the God who created us and fulfilling the purpose he created us to fulfill.

One popular commercial says, “Obey your thirst.” To do this, we have to know what we’re thirsty for. We can continue to pursue things that leave us empty, or we can let God quench our thirst permanently with the knowledge of His perfect love, which has the power to satisfy our deepest needs.

 

Photo Copyright j.e. fernandez

When No Means Yes

Multiple Choice from Bing ImagesThere was a time when I said yes to everything. If something good came along, I was in. Looking back on how busy I was, I wonder how I even had time to breathe.

It came to the point that all the “good” I was doing crowded out the “best” I could have been doing. I was doing whatever was asked of me, yet there were desires in my heart I kept pushing to the side because I deemed them lesser things. I’d succumbed to the mistaken notion that only the weak say no.

My wake up call came when I was too physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted to say yes to anything at all. I’m grateful that season was a short one, but through it I learned some valuable lessons.

We’re each created for a unique purpose—a special, God-given task only we can fulfill. When we don’t, something inside us dies. We can do a million “good” things, but if we’re not doing the very thing we were created for, we’ll get restless and our generation will miss out on what we had to offer, whether it be our gifts, our talents, our time, or the other lives we were called to invest in.

Wisdom is learning that saying no might actually be the most loving thing we can do. It’s understanding that our no means yes to something greater, and realizing if we’re too busy to stop and love people, we’re too busy. The world will keep spinning if we say no to the lesser things. But it will miss out if we don’t say yes to the best God has for us.

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2)

True Love…is WISE (Day 35, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Decaffeinated

Coffee Heart from Bing Images There are those who like coffee, and those who are obsessed. My friend was among the obsessed. For her, coffee was not just one of life’s perks, it was life. Her friends and I would fuel her caffeine addiction by making sure she had her daily doses before a meltdown ensued. Why? Because we loved her, of course.

Her habit persisted until a doctor ruled her beloved beverage a detriment to her health. She had a certain condition that didn’t mix well with coffee, so it was off-limits for the time being—much to her dismay. Saying goodbye to her daily cups-o’-joe would not be easy on her. Or her friends.

Each day, she came up with her list of reasons why she needed her coffee to survive, and we had to remind her what the doctor said. It would seem so loving just to give her what would make her happy. But with her diagnosis, the caring thing to do was to be honest about the potential negative side effects.

Now, coffee is not bad for everyone, and—to the joy of caffeine lovers everywhere, doctors have more recently noted some positive effects. But at the time, for the good of our friend, as much as we wanted to shower her with gift cards to her favorite coffee shop, the loving thing to do was to help her make changes that would benefit her health.

In our closest relationships, we may come to know someone well enough that we see habits that could potentially hurt them. And it’s likely they will see the same in us. We may be tempted to keep quiet, thinking the loving thing is to let them go on doing whatever makes them happy, even if it leads to the edge of a dangerous cliff. But true love is honest. If we really love someone, we’ll speak up—not in judgment, but in gentle concern for their well-being.

True Love…is HONEST (Day 18, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Pondering Life in the Produce Section

Eat healthy fruits and veggies bowl | Flickr - Photo Sharing! www.flickr.com1443 × 1103Search by imageHave you ever thought about life while shopping the produce section? It’s a pretty inspiring place, if you stop and look around. Color, beauty, flavor, order, variety—it’s all there, row upon row, for our enjoyment and sustenance. Processed food has nothing on fruit and veggies.

Just think of how unique each is in appearance and flavor. Like works of edible art. Beyond that, they’re filled with all we need to benefit our health in different ways. And they carry seeds to reproduce more of their kind.

The grocery store is filled with aisle after aisle of processed food and we never stop to question whether there was a maker behind it all. We wouldn’t doubt the little bowtie pastas, fish-shaped crackers, or cream-filled cookies are man-made. And we wouldn’t tell someone the boxed, canned, or packaged food we consume is the result of some random explosion.

Yet many walk through the produce section thinking it all came about by chance. Yeah, we know there were farmers, gardeners, and grocers involved. But really? Would we believe that all the amazing deliciousness that grows on trees or on plants or in fields, came about by accident?

Whenever I see such order and beauty I know there’s a maker behind it. Where there is uniqueness in color, shape, and size, there is creativity, and where there is creativity, there is a creator. The flavor, the goodness—all reveal the gentle care of our loving creator, who cares for our needs and desires. And every good and perfect gift has come from him.