Thriving...in Spite of It

I start every morning on the back porch with a cup of coffee and my Bible. Even though I live in the suburbs, there is no shortage of wildlife activity at that time of day (and I'm not talking about the neighborhood party animals dragging themselves home).  While a squirrel and bluejay engage in their daily skirmish on top of the fence, squabbling over whatever tidbit the squirrel has just found, birdsongs fill the trees. Occasionally, one of them will come out his cover and find a perch on a nearby rooftop, so he can maximize his volume well enough to irritate even the soundest sleeping  of all the snoozing teenagers on the block. It's a cheerful setting. Over the past few weeks, though, my curiosity began to grow. Whenever I heard a bird singing, I would wonder, is that the robin, or the cardinal? Or is it the mockingbird, imitating one or both of them?  The App Store is a wonderful thing...almost as wonderful as Wikipedia ;) In the modern style of self-educ...

As I peel my second orange of the day, in hopes of fending off another sugar withdrawal headache, I'm feeling the effects of a little too much self-indulgence the past year. From a steamy summer, savoring repeated trips to Chick fil-a for the refreshment of their famed Peach Milkshake, and into autumn and winter, which brought the annual Pumpkin Spice Latte binge, followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, then Valentine's candy...well, it amounts to one massive sweet downward spiral for this sugar addict. Shameful. Even though my denomination does not traditionally observe Lenten season, you can see why I feel the need to do it myself.  There are times to indulge, and times to enjoy, but I'm attacked with pangs of guilt, (pains unfortunately unabated by Motrin or Excedrin) regularly, on the 24th of the month, as I work my way through Proverbs 24, to verse 27. "It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one's own glory, is not glory." Ouch.  " He  must   ...