I just want someone to tell me exactly what to do...

It's payday!!!! Hooray!!! 

After a week of having to make do with whatever groceries are in the house, I finally get to go shopping and restock the pantry and fridge!

This, of course, means sitting down and making out a grocery list, which means figuring out a menu for the week. Ughhhh. Now this is the part I DON'T like. So....I go to my handy-dandy computer and start searching menu ideas for the week. What I really want is someone to just hand me a menu of easy to make healthy foods complete with the grocery list that goes with it. See, that's where I start to run into a problem. No one out there has yet come up with a menu that fits my family. 

There's my daughter who loves real, old-fashioned home cooked meals just like her grandmother makes. (That would be code for "filled with fat, salt, and flavor.") Then there's my son who won't touch anything with sauce, most vegetables, or anything that has cheese on it. Add to the mix my husband who is such a sweet heart and will eat anything, but loves pork; and me, who is diabetic, hates to cook, and doesn't really like pork, and you can see our dilemma. 

It was almost easier when there was no money in the house to go to the store! Everyone had to eat what was already there! Now, however, we have money to shop, but with that comes the responsibility of choice. (Personally - since I hate to cook, all options seem like too much work but that's a blog for another day.)

What I really want, is for someone to just tell me what to do, how to do it, and then preferably come and do it for me. (Did I mention I hate to cook?)

I'm thinking it's not just menus that I want this way. Honestly, sometimes I think I act like I want my life to work out this way, too. I want someone to arrive at my door with a telegram that tells me exactly WHAT to do, HOW to do it, WHEN to do it, and preferably they will also tell me they have taken care of all the details - all I need to do is show up. But it never really happens that way. No one else can tell me exactly what to do with my life because the way THEY are not ME! Only God knows the plan He has for me...and He gives me a choice.

I have so many opportunities, but each of them require me to make a choice and then to prepare to make that choice a reality. We often look at "overnight" sensations and think that everything has just come easy for them...but we forget that along with that opportunity came the choice to make it happen....and the work that went with it.


Right now in my life, I'm facing some "choices". I am trusting God to direct me to the right one, but to be honest - all of them require a great deal of work on my part. It seems like it would be easier to just stay where I am and do what I already know how to do...but that's not what's going to get me where I believe God is telling me to go. I had a person tell me that we should do something everyday that takes us a little outside our comfort zone. (I think this is an Eleanor Roosevelt quote.) Pretty good advice, I think.

So I sit here, writing this blog and knowing that the menu plan/grocery list still needs to be made. I can go to the store without a plan and come home with the same old tired choices...or I can step outside my comfort zone and choose better.

Don't know what the future holds exactly - but I know that the only way to get there is to get up and get moving. Time to quit sitting here at the bottom of the hill waiting for someone to tell me EXACTLY how to climb it. I'll most likely make some mistakes along the way, but at least I'll be moving forward.

With great blessings (payday) come great responsibilities (what to buy)...I don't want to make mindless choices that keep me where I already am. (I also want to use my resources wisely so that they last till the end of the month!) I am ready to move forward. How about you?

By the way...feel free to suggest menu items because I am still clueless on what to make for dinner this week! (I am QUITE serious about this!! All ideas are welcomed...but remember - I really don't like to cook!)

The following is from a blog post by Gwen Smith that I read this morning: (girlfriends in god)

"Jesus told his disciples that if they loved Him, they would obey His commands and His teachings (John 14:15-27). A simple if-then statement. If you love me, then you will obey. He also told them that when He returned to the Father in heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit to teach, to guide in truth, to convict of sin and to remind believers of what Jesus taught (John 16:7-14). To help us. To empower us.

The Spirit of God lives within every Christian. He equips us for each task as we yield to His leading. When God prompts us to do something on His behalf, He is faithful to lead the way and to bless our obedience – for His own glory. It’s all about His glory. He simply wants our willingness and our obedience. Friend, His plans need to be our plans … even if His plans sometimes seem to “interrupt” our plans. Let’s be women who accept His call. Are you willing today?"