Tips & Resources

Begin 2010 With Forgiveness!
In one of her books, Corrie tenBoom tells of some Christian friends who wronged her in a public and malicious way. For a while she was bitter and angry until she forgave them. But in the night she would wake up thinking about what they had done and get angry all over again. The memory would not go away.

Help came from her Lutheran pastor to whom she confessed her frustration after two sleepless weeks. He told her, "Corrie, up in the church tower is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. When the sexton pulls the rope, the bells peal out - ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong. But if he doesn't keep pulling on the rope, the sound slowly fades away. Forgiveness is like that. When we forgive someone, we take our hand off the rope. But if we've been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn't be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They are just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down.

I want to begin the new year with as little bitterness and anger as possible. Don't you? This lesson Corrie learned will be a good start. We might also pray for those who wrong us, as the Bible teaches us to do. Then the ringing bells can remind us of the power of God in us to forgive others, just as He forgives us. What a way to lighten up in 2010. Remember, we're not in this alone!

Curbing the Tasting Temptations
Fall and winter offer lots of tasty temptations and indulgences. When you are indulging yourself here and there, remember to keep up with at least a couple of healthy every-day practices, to keep the treats from staying with you until the spring!

While eggs were on my never/seldom eat list, my mom was right: eggs for breakfast serve up protein (hooray!) and they deliver a bonus boost later in the day by helping you say no to the junk food grazing before supper.

Also, it turns out that our taste buds love it when we actually eat three meals a day. If we skip a meal, they jump into gear and demand sweets or salty snacks. I don't know why, and I really don't care why; I just want to curb the unhealthy a little bit so that when I have a sweet or salty something, I don't overdo it.

Notice how more restaurants are serving brown bread with olive oil than with butter? My Greek and Italian friends have taught me that trick to cut back on the hunger SOS from my brain! Try that one out at your own holiday meals this season!