Christmas

One of the things about being where I am in life, having gone through all that I have, starting over again financially is this Christmas has overall not been stressful. Rather, my kids and I have gotten to enjoy time with our friends, family, church and people we care about.

The weather overall has been fantastic, allowing us time most days to spend some time outdoors. We've also had plenty of opportunties to enjoy a lot of good foods from so many people and to share.

The past few months, my exercise and eating has gotten off track. I've been happily in a good relationship with a wonderful man that is progressing along well as we learn about each other not only in friendship, but in courtship/romance in a healthy way -- something neither of us have experienced in a relationship like this.

One drawback is relationships do take time. The time that was devoted to exercising has been replaced and now we are finding we need to figure out a way to provide exercise to the body, eat well, grow a relationship and fulfill the other duties we have to our work, children, bodies, church, friends, etc.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. His birth is the most celebrated in the world for all history -- at least I'm guessing this is the case. It's a time to remember this, but also to get together to be very thankful, to express generosity, compassion towards others.

I've gotten to enjoy my beau & his children, my children, most of my family, many people from my church, college friends. Certainly many people were missing from this, but it's been great to share with the already many dozens of people, while also getting some alone time.

God is working all around me, not only in my life, but the lives of others. Very wonderful.

Acronym

F = Forgiveness
A = Actions
V = Victory in Jesus
O = Omniscient (God)
R = Radical Change

and, to make it really delicious, we add an "L"

L = Love (God's perfect love)

FORGIVENESS: There are many words I could've put for this acronym, but these are apropo for my life. Forgiveness is a HUGE factor in being able to love, to move forward in life, to let go of things life offenses that keep us in bondage. I've had to forgive myself for not making right choices - some of them were out of sheer ignorance, others, intentional. Then, there are people who have intentionally wronged me or that were perceived wrongs. There is a whole slew of those. Then, there are many where it wasn't intentional by others.

Without the ability to forgive, we hold onto hurts and keep ourselves imprisoned. The Bible teaches us to forgive 70 x 7. Yes, for you mathematicians, that's 490. Believe it or not, there are people who do count and record our wrongs. I was married to someone like that. However, God's point was not so that we count the sins against us, rather we forgive.

None of us are without sin and imagine each of your sins putting a nail into Christ's body on the cross. It's grossly and sickening to think of that. Yet, God forgives us if we ask Him to.

ACTIONS: Once you realize you are making wrong choices or that there is a mess to clean up, you gotta take action. Things just don't clean themselves up. The Law of Entropy states that things go more towards disorder, chaos. Rightly so. A lot of actions have had to be taken to clean up the emotional, relational, spiritual, financial messes that were left in the wake of my divorce. It's still going on.

Faith also takes actions. The Bible says "Faith without works is dead." If you never do anything (act upon) about what you believe, then do you really believe it?

VICTORY IN JESUS: I've had so many victories over these past few years in overcoming things I was not able to until the lies were exposed. God says in James that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God for this and He will give it to us without reproach. Man's wisdom is fallible and full of flaws/lies from the enemy (Satan). However, as I have sought Truth, God's Truth, He's been showing me subtle as well as big lies I've believed.

One of the big lies is that I am not loved, not worthy, that my worth is based upon my performance. That's baloney and a lie from the pit of hell. As I've learned about my signifance in Jesus Christ, I've gained victories innumerable.

OMISCIENT (GOD): I serve a risen Savior, Jesus Christ. God is perfect. His love is perfect. What Jesus did on the Cross is finished, done, kaput. I do not need to add to this. No edits, no addendums. God is in the business of miracles. Jesus won victory over death. Though things may "seem" bad, it is only temporary.

RADICAL CHANGE: I remember always worrying about this and that, living for the future - not being present, being critical over every minute thing, a complete control freak, obsessed & addicted to so many things. Guess what? God has done a radical change in me. Yes, sometimes I still fall into some of that, but since the lies were exposed, I've been able to speak God's Truth into those areas.

I wasn't a horrible person before. In fact, lots of people liked and loved me. But, I wasn't where God wanted me to be and was enslaved to ME, the fear of Man, and what seemed like a gagillion fears. Do I want her back? NO WAY!! So, my journey has been quite adventuresome and going through some rough jungles. Wow, I have learned so much and no longer the same!! Praise You God!

LOVE: I am totally experiencing God's love in my life and I have seen it through so many people, events, things that I'm not sure that I have found all the ways God has loved on me. Without Love, even if I have all the money in the world, the smartest person, the humblest, and the list goes on, all of that is useless. It's through God's love working in others that it's given me compassion, mercy, a change in perspectives, a heart that reaches out to others, to name a few.

God's love DOES make the world go round. If not, God could've really just destroyed the world and then it wouldn't even be able to revolve around the sun.

New Beginnings

As I've pondered many things in the course of the past few years and the many transitions my children and I have gone through, I've decided to create a blog that is not private, rather will share with you some of my thoughts in how God is working in our lives.

I recently shared with a dear friend, it's easy to give God praise when things in our lives are going well, but what happens when things aren't going well and the bad things just keep coming day after day, week after week, month after month, and even for years? Can you still have a grateful heart and give God thanks for what you're learning?

In various stages of the journey I've gone through, sharing of some very personal experiences has been gut-wrenching, and often times, my desire is to seclude myself to just a handful of people to whom I feel I can entrust those thoughts to whom care about us. Granted, many people love & care for us, but each do it in their own ways, sometimes just out of their own brokenness in how they know how to love. Sometimes that isn't too great, but it's what they can do, and so there is grace, God's grace.

The title of this new blog seems as if I'm made an error in it by forgetting that "flavor" is with a "L", but it was intentionally left out. God's favor upon a person's life, or a nation, or a group of people is truly delicious. Can you smell the wonderful aroma wafting through the air of when God's favor touches your life? It is warm, delightful, and sweet. It wiggles it's way into even the cold, ugly areas and allows a bursting forth of flavors that so enriches our lives.

Since a part of me is very private, I'll sparingly use names, places in my blog, rather sometimes substitute names to keep some level of privacy, while sharing poignant things God is doing in and around our lives.

Welcome!