Statuesque

Statuesque is such a nice word.  To be honest, I thought it was a nice way of calling someone fat, so when a woman called me "statuesque" yesterday, that was my first thought. I knew it meant more than that, so I took it as a compliment and after actually taking the time to look it up, I learned it was an enormous compliment.

Especially after I looked up the definition.  Tall and dignified.  School always taught me the first definition is the preferred one.  I'll take it, even though I'm not considered tall by today's standards.
The dictionary goes on to say imposing, striking, stately, majestic, noble, magnificent, splendid, impressive, royal, massive, and beauty.  Please note, of all those words, the only one that implies fat is massive and that word is massively outnumbered by more complimentary ones. I am not only complimented, I stand corrected. Sweet.

Then, to add to that one, the woman said I reminded her of Barbara Bush!  I assumed she was talking about my white hair. I mentioned that I loved wearing royal blue because it looked so beautiful on her at the inaugural ball. I figured if it complimented her hair and complexion, it would do the same for me. And, it does. When someone says I look good in that color, I mention how good it looked on Mrs. Bush.

She looks good in red, too, doesn't she? So do I. When I responded that those colors go well with the color of our hair, the woman who started this whole conversation said it wasn't just the white hair.  It was my whole demeanor, my countenance.  She said she kept watching me as I browsed through the books, saying she thought some of the words that define statuesque. It was humbling to hear her high praise, especially since I'd never met her before.





It bothers me when I'm expected to talk about myself.  It's taken me two years to come up with a bio for my books.  It's something that needs done, I know, but I honestly don't know what to say. Authors should include bios, but I'd rather someone else wrote mine.  The one I did was about 150 words instead of the 400+ available.

I don't like to hear others brag and I hate it even more when it comes from me.  Bragging, to me, is a strong sign of insecurity.  Proverbs 27:2 says, "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. I'm sure the high praise pouring from that woman's lips meant far more to me and the friend who was with me than anything I could have ever said about myself.  She blessed me greatly and I'm grateful.

Restraints

Oh, the things I do to try to get my weight under control.  This morning might have been one of the healthier attempts, but it was even more different than ever. My weight has yo-yoed since I was 13 years old.  I'm within months of 60 years of that kind of foolishness. Unfortunately, the "experts" tell me it will never stop. According to most, it will never get better, so at the age of 72+++, I'm supposed to be stronger to fight those urges than I was at 13? Get serious.

I will, however, never give up. Why bother you ask? I Corinthians 6 tells us why sexual immorality is wrong.  The same principle needs to be applied to food. "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies." I'm overcome with a sense of guilt when I overeat because I know I'm not honoring God with my body. I'm denigrating what I cost Him to save me from my sins.

The second reason is that my poor old body is wearing out. I've been on cholesterol medicine for almost 10 years now and I have a sneaking suspicion the doctor is going to strongly recommend blood pressure meds as well. My numbers are beginning to climb a little. When I finally caved on the cholesterol meds, the nurse said if I got my numbers under control, I could always go off them.  And, she's right.  Those times I'm exercising and watching what I eat, my numbers go down.  Trouble is, I don't discipline myself to the point where they stay down. My Romans 7 mode creeps up on me all too easily and too quickly.  Next thing you know, I'm a runaway freight train. Long story short, age isn't the only thing ruining my body. I'm trashing my temple.

Reason three, of course, is appearance. A church bulletin once said, "Never judge someone by the way they look, but always remember that's how you are being judged.  It's not so much vanity as sit is practicality. For some reason, obesity is always associated with stupidity.  It's also a matter of respecting others. We need to show we care about them by looking like they're worth the effort.

I don't think there's a diet on the market I haven't tried and I say again, all programs work, as long as I work the program.  My problem is that I'm too much of a free spirit to stick with any program for any length of time. Recently, an ad began on TV, urging people to lose weight through the "GOLO." program.  Desperate, I called and ordered a month's supply of the supplement.  With it came a new food program, which is different from anything else I've ever tried.

It calls for a cup of vegetables at breakfast!  Eggs and vegetables, fine, but oatmeal and vegetables?  A friend suggested carrots, but I couldn't see me eating a cup of carrots with my oatmeal, so I continued to eat the egg and cheese with peppers,onions, and mushrooms. I'd been eating oatmeal for years and got really tired of it.  This morning, the wild idea to add spinach and mushrooms to my oatmeal struck a chord, so I thought I'd try it. In the first place, I'm a cranberry nut and always put them in my oatmeal.  I've eaten spinach and cranberries in my salads, so I thought, "Why not?" Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My recipe for my vegetable oatmeal is as follows: 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms, 3/4 cup chopped spinach, 1 tsp. coconut oil, 1 tsp. light agave, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tbs. chopped walnuts, 2 tbs. dried cranberries, 1 tbs. PURE cranberry juice, diluted with water to 1/2 cup liquid, 1/4 cup oatmeal. Microwave at 1/2 power for 5 minutes. Enjoy with 1/2 cup of milk.  I know I did.

I have to say this program does more to help me RESTRAIN sensual indulgence (Colossians 2:23) than any other program I've tried. but then I've said that at the start of every program that's ever succeeded for a short period. Lunch also calls for a very large amount of food and I'm still not hungry by then.  Here's where the personalizing comes in. Instead of eating everything I'm entitled to at the prescribed meal times, I've begun to eat lunch about 2:30 or 3:00. when I actually am hungry. For supper, I have 1/2 cup or cottage cheese or Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of fruit-if I feel the need. Don't feel sorry for Bob. He's thrilled. He's a grazer and getting him to a table for a meal is a battle.

Lest I give the impression I'm touting another program that I believe answers my needs and start pushing it off on anyone else, let me hasten to add that it's not the program .It's Who's in control.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have ALL I need to discipline myself in the area of food. Like a clerk at Wal-Mart said last week, "It's a matter of surrender."

What or whom shall I surrender to?  Food, the scale, opinions, fashion, or the Lord? II Corinthians 10:3-5 is a good place to start. Stay tuned.

Fishy

Publishing my first book, The Color of Roses, was exciting, no doubt about it. But using a self publishing company made it seem like it wasn't real.  I felt like a pretender. After all, you pay the money and they publish the book.  No guarantee if it's going to sell. In fact, statistics are a disappointing 8% return on your investment. I'm doing better than that, but have a long way to go.

Traditional publishers, on the other hand, are the ones who decide if your book is worthy of their time, money, and effort. One author who's done the traditional publishers said she just got tired of the rat race.  I'm too old to be in any kind of race, rats or otherwise.

Self-publishing has its advantages, let me hasten to add.  The author controls the content.  Traditional publishers have too much say in what goes into a book.  For me, controlling the content was vital.  It's very distressing to see Christian authors who include graphic sex in their books.  That's not me.  I don't believe God is honored by doing that.

I'm still going with a self publishing company.  However, this time, I had to submit my work and they had to approve it.  That makes me feel more like I'm actually an author.  It takes a while to believe the dream has come true and it's done so because others have said it, not because I've forced the issue. Proverbs say to let the lips of another praise you, not your own.  I try to live by that.

In college, my fellow students nominated me and I was chosen to be included in "Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges," 1991 edition.  I told one student who voted for me I didn't know whether to kiss him or slap him.  It was such a shock and such an honor to be so highly respected among men and women the age of my children.

To have my work chosen is like that. I am shocked and honored. Bob, bless his heart, said he never had any doubt.  Not only does he endure my hours of burying my nose in my laptop, but he endures the frustrations, the meltdowns, and the expense, as well as the highs that come with the good news.

Actually, there's been lots of good news on the book front lately. For example, the craft shows and flea markets have begun again.  Last Saturday was the first of the season.  Walking into the room, a fellow who refinishes furniture asked me when the next book was due.  I was surprised.  I don't write the kind of books I think men will like.  However, men have bought it and men who've read it liked it. Encouraging. And, a woman who bought the book said she was looking forward to the second one coming out.  Still another woman from South Carolina said she'd rather pay the extra price and order it from a bookstore in her home town so it will open up another market for me.  Bless her! Still another woman said she thought my writings were "inspired." No one's ever said that before and I appreciate her high praise. I sold more than I usually do and if I'd have figured out how to use the square, I'd have sold even more.  All in all, it was a very good day.

It's not been an easy road.  I'm a salmon swimming against the current in more ways than one. So many people have been destroyed by believing there's nothing wrong with a sexually active lifestyle. It's the current PC. There are those in the church who've not lived that lifestyle and cannot grasp the pain that those who have are suffering.  They just don't get it. Then, there are those who have lived a sexually active lifestyle in spite of what they've been taught. They may feel condemned by what I write, but if so, they are causing themselves even more unnecessary pain.  My objective is to show that God's way is best and if God's way has not been followed, there can be redemption. My son said I was limiting my audience by my message and I am, but this is the message I believe God has given me and I will run with it as long as He provides the message.

So, stay tuned. Prompted by Love updates will be posted as new information becomes available. Thanks for your support.

Jerky friend

If I haven't mentioned it before, I have tics.  They started about 15-16 years ago when my abdomen jumped, like I was several months pregnant with an active baby.  Highly unlikely since I was in my late 50's at the time and my name is not Elizabeth.

When they began, it would happen every couple of months.  In between times, I would forget about it, sure I would die of humiliation if it ever happened in public.  One day, Bob saw one, and typically male in his thinking, made a very crude remark.  No, I will NOT repeat it. There are some things that are only to be shared between a husband and wife.

Since they began, the tics have now increased in violence and intensity.  Typically, they occur anywhere from 100-500 times a day. Finally, 9 years ago, I found a doctor who said if he couldn't find my problem, he'd find someone in this country who could. He found it on the very first MRI.  I have something known as syrinx.  I've met doctors and nurses who didn't know what I was talking about.  Trouble is, there's no cure.  Not even surgery because with surgery, 33% of the time, the surgery works, 33% of the time it does nothing, and 33% of the time it makes it worse, including paralysis. Too, surgical scarring can cause tics.  Surgery is out unless I have trouble standing or lose control over body functions. Hopefully, I'm old enough I don't have time for those to happen.

Eventually, everyone noticed.  They couldn't help it. A friend smiled as she said she didn't mind having a "Jerky friend."  I appreciate that. If a stranger notices, I smile and say I'm not dangerous, so an ambulance or the police is not needed.

Several medications have been tried over the years.  Trouble is, the medications are for the brain and they do nothing for my spine, or make the situation worse.  That's really what my rant is about today. Medicines, or recreational drugs in particular.


More and more, I hear people younger than myself talk about the lack of  problems caused by recreational drugs.  That's nowhere close to my own observations over years. The first time I had any association with drugs was in Hawaii.  The post commander insisted I observe a burning of marijuana evidence the mp's had stockpiled so I could get a good whiff of it.  One of the mp's was a young, extremely handsome black man.  While the pile burned, I quoted an article by a scientist from the University of Hawaii that stated marijuana is fat soluable and go to the brain and the reproductive organs.  This handsome young man's eyes grew large and round as he said, "Really?" The shock on his face and in his voice made me laugh as I told Bob I think I made a believer out of him.



In Denver, a dad and his daughter had a minor traffic altercation with several young people in another car.  That night, the teens fire bombed the house, killing five of the seven residents in it.  I worked with a woman who knew them and she said yes, they were heavily into marijuana.


In Missouri, three of my son's classmates along with two other teens were doing between 110 and 115 mph, according to police reports.  Worse, they were passing long strings of traffic on a two lane highway in the Ozark mountains.  A girl at that party observed them taking drugs and they were on their way back to town to get more. Five teens and two adults died.  Two young children were critically injured as well as orphaned.

"Anecdotes," will be the dismissal of those who favor recreational drugs. "Where's the statistics?" will be the next remark.  So, what are statistics but compiled anecdotes and is anyone collecting them? The next argument will be that marijuana, in particular, can have wonderful affects on people suffering from pain or seizures.  I agree.  However, go back to what the scientist said about the brain and reproductive organs. He, by the way, said there was a time when he had no objection to it until he noticed his students slipping in their ability to grasp what he was teaching.

Who can say what future generations will suffer because the parents indulged in recreational drugs? Have statistics been compiled? Have studies been done? I have to say it troubles me deeply for more reasons that one.  I have personally experienced what mood altering drugs do to the brain.  It ain't pretty.  I was talking to a woman at the gym in Vero one day.  We were discussing a very troubled young woman.  She remarked that when people go on drugs, everything seems to be OK for a while, then it all falls apart. That's what happened to me. Every time. I would notice my ability to think clearly was slipping.  My tics would increase, my emotions would be out of control.  There were days I couldn't go to work. Days I couldn't get out of bed. And, those drugs were doctor prescribed medications, not something I bought from a dealer.

Let me hasten to add there are people who need drugs.  In fact, my own situation has caused me to wonder if I should pursue marijuana pills with my doctor, but over the years I've learned mind over matter and never remember to pursue it. Marijuana does wonders for children with seizures. I am not opposed to tightly controlled marijuana treatments for children with seizures or those whose pain from cancer is unbearable. Without it, those patient's quality of life would be miserable and worse.  I understand that, but I also know that drugs have side effects.  We just don't know how, when, or how strong they'll be when they kick in. Therefore, why take the risk for "fun?" Or to go along to get along?  Who needs friends like that?

It's been said that saying your bored is an insult to your own intelligence.  That's true in my book with recreational drugs as well.