Trash to Treasure

By Hally Franz –

Garbage collectors need a holiday. Administrative assistants, nurses and teachers have special days. Early-rising men and women who take away the ridiculous amount of waste we Americans make should be celebrated as well. This recognition would be especially nice in January after what must be one of the worst week’s of the trash man’s year, the week after Christmas.

My husband and I have survived the early childhood years; our children are now at tween and teenage stages. One difference in these development stages is the size and price of Christmas gifts. Young children equal large packages without much cost, while older ones get smaller boxes that require more money. Play sets and building blocks take up lots of space and come with layers of packaging. How many Christmas mornings have found you filling black bags with mangled bubble wrap, cardboard and plastic, wrapping paper and bows?

I know moms who are willing to let big boxes remain around for weeks, so their kids can have some old-fashioned fun, but I have to admit, I experience anxiety when the clutter and debris begin closing in on me. I’ll sacrifice my children’s creative opportunities if my sanity is at stake.

My son has frequently retrieved discarded items from our trash for some project he has in mind. He gets big ideas about what can be done with a rusted bird bath or old deep sink. I indulge these endeavors as long as he keeps them in his space and in an orderly fashion. Ivan is the one that started us on the path of recycling several months ago.

There’s a favorite school field trip destination in our area that’s called “Leftovers.” It’s dedicated to making art from all sorts of trash, and what they do with old, seemingly useless stuff is truly amazing. What can be better than inspiring creativity (while eliminating mess), and being environmentally conscious at the same time?

I’m rarely able to see potential in dented and damaged objects, bent and tangled cardboard. I am eager to get rid of anything not obviously worthy in function or aesthetics. Thankfully, God doesn’t look at people in the same way I look at things. He sees value in us all, even when we appear worn and weary, haggard and helpless. He recycles daily as He did in the Bible, making heroes of everyday people, heaven-bound treasures from human trash.

PRAYER: Almighty God, He who has endowed each of us with heavenly gifts and talents, help us to discover the overlooked potential in ourselves and others, so that we may more fully serve You.

“Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:13-15 KJV).

Today’s devotion is by Hally Franz. Hally is a former teacher and high school guidance counselor, turned homemaker. She enjoys volunteering at her childrens’ school, teaching Bible classes at her church, leading projects in 4-H, writing, reading, scrapbooking, and rousing (though, sometimes, not pretty) Zumba classes.

Watch Out For Wild Turkeys

By Aubrey Spencer –

Jarrod and I were out for a drive the other day on one of our “coffee dates” when all of a sudden we had to come to a quick stop in order to let a group of wild turkeys cross the road in front of us. (Not something I’d experienced before.) After four or five had crossed the road, we started to take off but noticed one turkey running full speed toward the road in front of us in order to not be left behind by his “buddies.” We slammed on the brakes, avoiding what could have been a nasty feather-flying moment, and watched as that last turkey joined his crew on the other side of the road. I had to laugh at the whole scene. I mean, how many people can’t drive down the road because a herd of wild turkeys are running around them? But then it got me thinking about life in general. How many times do we think we’ve got things under control and start to “take off again” just to be bombarded by another “wild turkey”? We take our eyes off our goal for a second and then get blindsided by problems, temptations, bad attitudes, etc. running full speed right at us.

We need to be prepared at all times—for the “turkeys” we can easily see. And for the ones that come sneaking up beside us, running wildly, ready to cause a crash in our lives. Who knew so much could be learned from an encounter with wild turkeys? I guess God can use anything to remind me of keeping my eyes on Him!

PRAYER: Father, help me keep my eyes on You. So often I get distracted and forget my focus. Remind me that You are in control and that You alone are worthy of my attention.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Aubrey Spencer. Aubrey is a real housewife of northwest Kansas. She is a minister’s wife and a mom to two little miracles, Oliver and Ava. She has a passion for writing and entertaining but realizes her greatest ministry at the moment is to raise her children to be people after God’s own heart. She loves to see how God shows up in everyday situations. Read more of her writings at http://ministrymama.blogspot.com.

Back to Basics

By Don Otis –

What do you want to achieve in the New Year? In fitness language, setting goals and maintaining them is called adherence. As it is with anything in life, your goals determine your behavior. We don’t stumble into good health any more than we do ill-health. It takes intention. Or, in Christian terms, we set our heart (will) toward a goal.

In the past several articles, we have talked about how easy it is to fall off the wagon, so to speak, when it comes to adherence to our goals. We have discussed the importance of consistency, cross- training to break up the monotony, and having definable objectives. We have discussed fat-burning cardio exercises and what works best. This means intensity over duration. In other words, it is better to increasing your intensity on a treadmill than to walk slowly for 45 minutes. We call this quality or quantity. Some people think they have to spend a lot of time to get satisfactory results. Not true.

This weekend I had an hour of sunlight left and wanted to get a mountain bike ride in on the Santa Rosa Plateau in southern California. I met up with a Christian chiropractor and we took off at a breakneck speed (there is a reason they call it “breakneck”). We finished ten miles on single track trails just as the sun set. I had resolved to work out that day, even if it was challenging to do it before the sun set.

Here are some of the questions in the Exercise Confidence Survey asked by fitness trainers who want to access the resolve of new clients.

Do you get up early, even on weekends, to exercise?

Do you stick to your exercise program after a long, tiring day at work?

Do you exercise even though you are feeling depressed?

Do you stick with your program even when you have household chores or social obligations to attend to?

I would add many of my own questions to the survey, like “Are you willing to turn off the television or stay off Facebook long enough to exercise? The biggest distracters are our schedules, family obligations, vocational responsibility, or fatigue/depression.

For me, one of the ways I stay motivated is to document what I do. It is simply writing down what I have done for the day on a 4 X 6 card. I have hundreds of these from decades ago. I know, for example, how much slower I am today than twenty years ago. Although my miles are slower, I keep moving and setting goals. This year will end with 1700 miles logged! Whatever your goals are, write them down, check on your progress, and persevere.

The most critical period of adherence to exercise is the first three to six months. This is one of the reasons I encourage a slow, methodical approach that helps people maintain a lifestyle of God-honoring, healthful living. Another reason for the slower approach is to avoid burnout or injury. If you are older or heavier, start with low-impact activities.

If it is helpful, write a contract–even if it is between yourself and God, or yourself and your spouse. Include a series of goals (make these reasonable) and determine to adhere to them–to “show up” even when you don’t feel like it.

Don S. Otis is am ACE Certified personal trainer, the author of Keeping Fit after 40 and Whisker Rubs: Developing the Masculine Identity. He is the president of Veritas Communications, a Christian publicity agency based in Canon City, Colorado. You can contact him at don@veritasincorporated.com.

The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

By Dianne E. Butts  –

The National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is January 23, 2011. Each year, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is held on the Sunday closest to January 22, the date in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton which legalized abortion on demand.

Since then, there have been nearly 50 million abortions in the United States. Here are some more statistics about abortion in America:

• In the United States, approximately 3,700 abortions are performed every day.

• Of all pregnancies in America (excluding miscarriages), 22% end in abortion.

• About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

• Of all abortions only 1% occur because of rape or incest. This means that of those 3,700 abortions performed every day, only 37 are because of rape or incest.

• What about the other 3,663? Potential health problems regarding either the mother or child account for 6% (222). The remaining 93% (3,441) are for “social reasons” (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

• Of all abortions, 18% are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical.”

• Of all abortions in the United States, women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4%; Catholic obtain 31.3%; Jewish obtained 1.3%; and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7%.

• If you’ve seen the “Precious Feet” lapel pin of two tiny human feet, the international pro-life symbol for nearly thirty years, you may know those feet are the exact size and shape of an unborn baby’s feet at ten weeks after conception. Of all abortions, 52% occur before the ninth week of pregnancy and 25% between the ninth and tenth weeks.

• By the time they are 45 years old, an estimated 43% of all women will have at least one abortion.

Do you find anything startling in these statistics? Perhaps you thought abortion today was rare, or only needed or used in extreme cases. This Sunday, on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, how might you pray for our nation? If you’re inclined to do a bit more, where might you volunteer to make a difference? And the next time you have the privilege, how will you cast your vote?

I’ve learned that many women (and men) who have experienced abortion and now regret it, feel they have committed the unforgiveable. Think of it. According to statistics, this issue affects up to 43% of our population. Through hearing their stories, I’ve learned what a difference it makes in their lives, and their walk with God, when someone compassionately reaches out to them with mercy, talks with them about God’s forgiveness, and helps restore them in their relationship with Christ.

“For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 116:8-9, NIV).

Dianne is the author of the coming new book, Deliver Me: Hope, Help, and Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy (Connections, 2011), www.DeliverMeBook.com. When she’s not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C., in Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com

Editor’s note: You may contact the author for information regarding statistics referenced above.

Statistics to Believe In

By Hally Franz –

There are twenty-five varieties of warblers…

As 2010 is ended and a new year begins, there’s a time for summing up the good, bad and ugly numbers connected with the closing year. Some statistics relate to the financial condition of our country. Retailers will calculate holiday sales for 2010, selling us theories about spending and consumer faith or fear. And, we’ll be worked over by the most recent government-provided data on our country’s ever-growing national debt and rates of unemployment.

There will be frightening facts about health in the United States, and year-end evaluations will no-doubt alert us to rising rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity, figures we can live without.

Some of the hardest numbers to absorb are those having to do with our humanity and morals as a society. We get pummeled by crime rates of communities around the country, the growing problem of internet pornography, and stories of violence and abuse.

When we strive to start a new year with hopeful resolutions, we often are bombarded with news that’s far from encouraging. Those funneling the numerical news to the masses sometimes have ulterior motives and may be just as easily spouting fuzzy math and facts.

I had the opportunity to visit one of our state parks recently. In this state park in my back yard, there are 158 species of birds, and twenty-five of those are warblers. Tennessee, Magnolia, Worm-eating, Red-eyed, and Yellow-rumped are five of them. I know nothing about warblers, but they sound like some interesting creature-characters.

There are 3,675 state parks in the U.S.A. and approximately 195 countries in the world. If I do any kind of math, that adds up to lots of crazy and kooky birds, not to mention horses, dogs, snakes, tigers and apes, to name a few.

When I’m striving to move beyond the post-holiday blues to set goals for 2011, I need to hear state park numbers as much as state-of-the-union numbers. While we must face our country’s financial, health and societal challenges, we also need to be uplifted by the God numbers. We humans cause debt, sickness, and sin, but our Heavenly Father created our vast and beautiful world before all those things came about. He gave it to us, and He loves us even when we make messes of things. And, He’s on our side when we start each year trying to do a little better.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, while the world presents discouraging news and numbers, enable us to see the magnitude and magnificence of your creation. Replace frustration with hope as we begin a new year in Your service.

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis1:20-21 KJV).

Today’s devotion is by Hally Franz. Hally is a former teacher and high school guidance counselor, turned homemaker. She enjoys volunteering at her children’s school, teaching Bible classes at her church, leading projects in 4-H, writing, reading, scrapbooking, and rousing (though, sometimes, not pretty) zumba classes.

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