MUFA!!!! (rhymes with loofah!)

So....I open up my email this morning and glance at the subject line of a 'junk' email received from Prevention Magazine: The Cherry Chocolate Cake that Melts Belly Fat! Ah...an advertisement for the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook - filled with over 200 luscious new recipes in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, "the only eating plan that integrates MUFAs into every meal and harnesses their newfound power to reduce belly fat....Drop up to 15 pounds the first month...Eat foods you love and never go hungry...Get a flat belly without doing a single crunch...Protect your health and ward off a host of ailments...Start losing stubborn belly fat from day one...Every recipe is packed with a special kind of fat called MUFAs (rhymes with loofahs). It stands for monounsaturated fatty acids...MUFAs are the good fats you find in foods like peanut butter, olive oil, avocados — even chocolate! And even better, this new research demonstrates that: MUFAs actually seek out stubborn belly fat and help melt it fast! Quite simply, it's the most astonishing weight loss discovery ever!"

I don't know about you, but anything with cherries and chocolate mixed into a cake sounds divine! (unless you don't like chocolate---you know who you are!) But THEN when they claim that eating this delectable dessert (and other equally delicious foods) will actually melt my belly fat?!....well, I'm on it!!

Ha. Yeah right. Call me a skeptic, but I'm thinking that the only thing that's going to melt my belly fat is eating less and exercising more. ...or maybe lying in the sun on a hot, sunny beach in the Bahamas...

....I think I'll go check on airfares....

Snow Bounding

This morning I let Bentley out the door and stood outside as I watched him attempt to bound over the snow. Trudging through 15" of the fluffy white stuff isn't so easy when the depth of the snow almost exceeds the depth of the dog!

He jumped and leaped and plopped and jumped and leaped and plopped some more until he reached his destination. He then came plodding back toward the house before being distracted by a scent and then he was off!...bounding through the snow again, this time in a different direction and before I knew it he was clear on the other side of the pond, snuffling through the woods, hot on the trail...of what? Who knows? Point being - he was nowhere near the house. I knew that no amount of calling and whistling and yelling at him was going to prevent his new-found cavorting. So instead, I came back in the house, trudged out to the garage, got in the van and proceeded to drive up the driveway.

Every time Bentley hears the van (or the truck - or even the tractor, for that matter!) he will come charging from wherever he is in time and space to ensure that he gets to ride along!

However, this morning, his 'charge' would better be described as a 'footslog', plugging along in the fluffy white stuff which exceeds the depth of the dog!

Finally, he rallied and was safe and warm and heavily panting in the van! I drove back into the garage and we came inside where he is presently positively pooped out and sleeping at my feet! Exhausted. Spent. Ah, if only he didn't have quite so much of the fluffy white stuff through which to plod. Perhaps had he stuck to the paths made yesterday by the wheels of the tractor or the boot tracks made by Brillo Man, instead of schlepping through the 15 inches of fluffy white stuff that is deeper than the dog, he would have had an easier time!

Coincidentally, (or not!) I reached for the morning paper and noticed the Bible Thought printed on Page 4 which reads:

Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established.
-Proverbs 4:25, 26

When we travel through our day, how much easier it is to stick to the path that has already been established for us. We know that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way; to clear the path, so to speak. Trudging and schlepping on a path not prepared is just as difficult as trying to bound and leap through a lot of fluffy white stuff that is deeper than the dog! Even though the white stuff looks beautiful, it's not easy to walk through. If someone hasn't cleared a path, we end up plodding and plopping, instead of dancing and prancing.

This day, I choose to fix my eyes on my Jesus and follow the path which He has prepared. I intend to prance - not plop! How about you?

Note: The dog in the above photo is not Bentley, although Bentley is indeed a Schnauzer, he looks nothing like that pooch!

Our Signature Scent

Isn't it amazing how scents can bring memories to the forefront of our brains? The smell of crayons, wood burning in the woodstove, homemade spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove...all transport me to places in my past and bring to mind people and places held dear to my heart!

There are celebrities who have fragrances named after them. Fans can identify with an actress or singer by dabbing on the scent bearing her name. I read that Ladies Home Journal Magazine published a quiz to help readers determine the perfect fragrance for them - the idea being that every woman should have a specific scent associated with her.

The idea of a signature scent is not new. God introduced it as part of worship. In the tabernacle, a certain scent was to be associated with the Lord. The people were forbidden to use this scent for anything but worship.

Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Take fragrant spices—gum resin,
onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense,
all in equal amounts,
and make a fragrant blend of incense,
the work of a perfumer.
It is to be salted and pure and sacred.
Grind some of it to powder and place it
in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting,
where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves;
consider it holy to the LORD.
- Exodus 30:34-37
Under the new covenant, instead of using incense to make people think of Him, God uses Christians as His "signature scent" to the world.

But thanks be to God,
who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ
and through us spreads everywhere
the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
For we are to God the aroma of Christ
among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
-2 Corinthians 2:14-15

The fact that God identifies Himself with us in such a powerful way is a truly humbling thought. A life lived for God has a pleasing aroma.....what does your "signature scent" say about you? May you spend so much time soaking up the presence of the Lord that others can't help but recognize by your "aroma" that you've been in the presence of the King!

(thoughts inspired by my daily devotional - Our Daily Bread)