Update: My voice is nearly back to normal ... I sang with others in church yesterday and it felt so wonderful to praise the Lord with a loud, but still crackly voice! I sang till I couldn't and that was a good thing. Thank you all again for praying for me.

I read this in my journal from 1997:

"John Macarthur said this morning that You supply the power and the strength, but we have to put forth the effort." I'm finding that to be absolutely true. I'm also finding that if I wait to 'feel' like doing something, most everything won't get done. From brushing my teeth (what's left of 'em that is) to getting dressed to housework and on and on it goes. My motto the past couple of weeks is "Do it anyway". Run the vacuum, dust, clean, do it whether I feel like doing it or not.

We're a generation of people who were taught to work, but we were then taken down a primrose path of 'self awareness' and 'if it feels good, do it' ... that came along in the late 60's, 70's and 80's I think. It's even worse today. So to many, if they don't 'feel' like doing anything, they don't. At least to my way of thinking that is.

I was skipping thru TV channels the other night and saw a show about housewives in CA. Not sure of the shows name and don't really care ... all I know is I saw a group of spoiled, selfish women, trying to be the 'hottest' member of their group and doing whatever it takes to be that faux person ... by the way, does any woman in CA have the breasts they were born with? According to that show, they don't. One lady spent $8,000.00 for a set of bed linens and her reasoning was "everyone deserves the best you can afford in life". $8,000 for a set of sheets and a comforter & shams ... unreal and yet, sadly, too real in our world today.

As I thought about the waste of spending that kind of money for a set of sheets, I was reminded that the tendency to be that vain and prideful and wasteful resides within me too. It's there, just waiting for the right time to pop out and say "I deserve this!" Oh, my expenditures don't compare with that woman's ... how could it on our income? But still, I can justify anything I choose to if I keep myself out of God's word long enough. It's there that I find balance and reason and sensibility to meet today's world. Thankfully God has graced me with wisdom that says "No, you don't deserve a set of $8,000 sheets ... but you can be grateful for the ones you bought on sale at Kohl's and see them as a blessing from above. You can remember that there are homeless folks who might give their all to have the home you have, so be grateful, not envious of anyone in the make-believe world of TV".

I don't want to be a faux anything. I don't want to do something just because someone else is doing it ... and that pertains to the religious realm also. I want to walk the path God has given me to walk and the only One I want to hear say 'well done' is Him. It's good to have Christian friends commend me from time to time, but all honor, all praise, all thanksgiving must go to Him. Without Him, I wouldn't be here. I'm thankful He gave me life ... not once, but three times.
I'm thankful for each day, even those when I don't feel like cleaning the bathroom!