[Day 11] Diet and other things
I'm still keeping up with this diet thing, but I feel like I'm still cheating because I've been having bread and crackers with some of my meals. >sigh< I'm actually having pita bread made with whole wheat and flaxseed with Hummus and Taboule. This Mediterranean dish is pretty delicious and it's VEGAN!! Hooray!! lol. The breads, pasta, and rice should be limited to one serving a day. As long as 90% of the food I consume each day is mostly fruit and vegetables, then I'm ok.
My joints are still hurting, especially my left ankle and right hip. I'm practically limping while I'm walking. I keep reminding myself that I want to get better, though. "No more medications," I keep saying. Also, I was supposed to go to my doctor's appointment to see my rheumatologist a couple weeks ago, but forgot. So I rescheduled an appointment but the next available date is some time in mid-November. I realized that about that time, I should be on my 4th week of this diet and I can imagine how much my joints will improve by then. I would also have my lab works done there, too, so I'm curious to see how much my blood will improve (like cholesterol levels and stuff). We'll see, we'll see.
So, other than all that, I've really been working to improve my relationship with God. I've been spending more time in prayer and quiet time with Him as well as daily devotionals and some scripture memory. I find myself constantly wanting God to stir His Spirit in me so that I could be more aware and sensitive to His leading. I notice that He has been showing parts of my character that needs improvement; one of which is patience. By God's grace, He has really helped me to be patient in some areas of my life since high school. But there's always room for improvement, isn't there? Through my small group study, we've been talking about bondage and freedom, and as much as I don't like to admit it, I believe that impatience is a bondage. I feel like I do it a lot when I'm driving and I don't realize that people see this about me when they ride with me. Since yesterday, I've been praying that God would lead me and give me opportunities for growth. Yesterday was pretty good, but today was...wow.
This morning, there was traffic as usual. At a particular corner, the intersection can be kind crazy. So, I wanted to turn right but I noticed that there were some people on bikes who looked like they wanted to cross the street that I was going to turn into. I felt bad because it seemed like they've been waiting there for a long time, trying to cross the street. It was now 'left turns' for my side and the ones across the street. If I remember correctly from driver's ed, you're not supposed to make a right turn until the cars making a left turn across the street has stopped (does that make sense?). So the cars across the street has stopped turning which means it was green light for my side and the ones across the street to go straight or whatever. I did not go, however, because I wanted to people on the bikes to go first. But guess what. There were cars honking behind me...ever since the cars across the street were making their left turn. Do you know how it feels when people are honking behind you? When this happened to me when I first started to drive, I panicked. This time, a voice in my head was telling me not to freak out but to be calm. Since the bikers didn't move I decided to just make the right turn. When I did, the car behind me quickly drove on the lane beside me because I knew they wanted to see my face and shout at me. As it turned out, this lady did. She rolled down her window and talking in spanish was like, "You shouldn't stop at the corner, blah, blah, blah." When she had to move up a little, she still was looking at the side view mirror to look at my face with such anger. God kept telling me to be calm and let this go. I just looked at her and (resisting to make a face and be just as angry as she was) just shook my head in disappointment. I remember in church when the pastor talked about patience, how when we get tested in traffic, we're supposed to say "God bless that person." But because I couldn't remember what the words were, I just said, "God have mercy on her soul." LOL! I kinda laughed when I said it because it sounds like she was facing death or something, haha. But I didn't really mean any ill intent on her. I just prayed that God would give me strength to extend mercy and grace to her...and it was really hard.
Traffic was still kinda slow and when we past the next traffic light, the van in front of her was going to turn to the right lane but it was hard since the cars wouldn't let it pass. This lady was super pissed, though, and was honking like crazy because the cars in front of the van had already moved up. I was just like, "Wow, this lady needs to learn patience like me."
When I look back, I think that there were different way I could have handled that situation (or not handle but reacted). Maybe the next time someone is upset with me and they drive up to look at my face, I could just smile back and wave or something. Or maybe I could put up my hands in apology and mouth, "I'm sorry." I'm still going to pray for God to give me more opportunities to practice patience because little gestures and emotions have a great effect on people than I realize.
My joints are still hurting, especially my left ankle and right hip. I'm practically limping while I'm walking. I keep reminding myself that I want to get better, though. "No more medications," I keep saying. Also, I was supposed to go to my doctor's appointment to see my rheumatologist a couple weeks ago, but forgot. So I rescheduled an appointment but the next available date is some time in mid-November. I realized that about that time, I should be on my 4th week of this diet and I can imagine how much my joints will improve by then. I would also have my lab works done there, too, so I'm curious to see how much my blood will improve (like cholesterol levels and stuff). We'll see, we'll see.
So, other than all that, I've really been working to improve my relationship with God. I've been spending more time in prayer and quiet time with Him as well as daily devotionals and some scripture memory. I find myself constantly wanting God to stir His Spirit in me so that I could be more aware and sensitive to His leading. I notice that He has been showing parts of my character that needs improvement; one of which is patience. By God's grace, He has really helped me to be patient in some areas of my life since high school. But there's always room for improvement, isn't there? Through my small group study, we've been talking about bondage and freedom, and as much as I don't like to admit it, I believe that impatience is a bondage. I feel like I do it a lot when I'm driving and I don't realize that people see this about me when they ride with me. Since yesterday, I've been praying that God would lead me and give me opportunities for growth. Yesterday was pretty good, but today was...wow.
This morning, there was traffic as usual. At a particular corner, the intersection can be kind crazy. So, I wanted to turn right but I noticed that there were some people on bikes who looked like they wanted to cross the street that I was going to turn into. I felt bad because it seemed like they've been waiting there for a long time, trying to cross the street. It was now 'left turns' for my side and the ones across the street. If I remember correctly from driver's ed, you're not supposed to make a right turn until the cars making a left turn across the street has stopped (does that make sense?). So the cars across the street has stopped turning which means it was green light for my side and the ones across the street to go straight or whatever. I did not go, however, because I wanted to people on the bikes to go first. But guess what. There were cars honking behind me...ever since the cars across the street were making their left turn. Do you know how it feels when people are honking behind you? When this happened to me when I first started to drive, I panicked. This time, a voice in my head was telling me not to freak out but to be calm. Since the bikers didn't move I decided to just make the right turn. When I did, the car behind me quickly drove on the lane beside me because I knew they wanted to see my face and shout at me. As it turned out, this lady did. She rolled down her window and talking in spanish was like, "You shouldn't stop at the corner, blah, blah, blah." When she had to move up a little, she still was looking at the side view mirror to look at my face with such anger. God kept telling me to be calm and let this go. I just looked at her and (resisting to make a face and be just as angry as she was) just shook my head in disappointment. I remember in church when the pastor talked about patience, how when we get tested in traffic, we're supposed to say "God bless that person." But because I couldn't remember what the words were, I just said, "God have mercy on her soul." LOL! I kinda laughed when I said it because it sounds like she was facing death or something, haha. But I didn't really mean any ill intent on her. I just prayed that God would give me strength to extend mercy and grace to her...and it was really hard.
Traffic was still kinda slow and when we past the next traffic light, the van in front of her was going to turn to the right lane but it was hard since the cars wouldn't let it pass. This lady was super pissed, though, and was honking like crazy because the cars in front of the van had already moved up. I was just like, "Wow, this lady needs to learn patience like me."
When I look back, I think that there were different way I could have handled that situation (or not handle but reacted). Maybe the next time someone is upset with me and they drive up to look at my face, I could just smile back and wave or something. Or maybe I could put up my hands in apology and mouth, "I'm sorry." I'm still going to pray for God to give me more opportunities to practice patience because little gestures and emotions have a great effect on people than I realize.
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