Grasshoppers

 

Lately, I’ve felt like I’m in an episode of Exodus. You know the one with the grasshopper, okay technically locusts, but it’s pretty darn close. 

In the three years that we have owned this property we’ve always had grasshoppers, but nothing like this year. I’m wondering if the excessive rain this spring was the culprit. The word “biblical” definitely applies here. 

When I think back to one of the first times I traveled to Stephenville to visit my future son-in-law, I can’t help but chuckle to my reaction to grasshoppers. I was so afraid that I refused to get out of the car and walk across the yard to check out some baby goats. 

Today I walk fearlessly as hundreds of grasshoppers fly like a fountain away from me with each step I take. They are everywhere, and occasionally one might actually land on you. However, now I merely brush it off and keep on walking. 

The other day it looked like a grasshopper convention as they all hung out under the shade of our carport. Apparently, even an insect knows to seek shade to beat the heat. Between this extreme heat and the influx of insects life on the ranch in the summer is now becoming my least favorite time of year. 

As I write this sitting inside my air conditioned house looking out the front window at the beautiful view, I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll have to wait a few more months to enjoy my front porch again. In addition to the grasshoppers the blister beetles have decided to make an appearance this year. Sweeping them off the front porch has become a regular occurrence now. 

As much as I am enjoying country life it can be a little challenging to a city girl. Mother Nature generally wins.

A Bird in the Hand

 

I remember as a child hearing the adage, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I also remember not quite understanding what it meant even after my mother tried to explain it to me. 

Its definition according to Oxford Languages is “It’s better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking more.”

Now at first glance this does make perfect sense. In the letting go of the bird in the hand, in an effort to catch the two in the bush, you might just end up empty handed. 

However, on the flip side, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” might hold true here as well. What is actually the worse outcome of the lost bird? Perhaps a day without a meal, which although uncomfortable may not be the end of the world. 

Dr.Phil teaches to ask, “What is the worst thing that could happen here?” He then says to actually answer that question, and follow it to its logical conclusions. Most of the time the worst case scenario is not something that can’t be overcome. 

Learning how much risk you can tolerate, or better yet pushing yourself to accept more risk, in the long run, might actually be the better path. Holding on to what you know to be a sure thing may actually not be the best course to follow. Not letting go can be very limiting, although it’s safety might be tempting. 

I think this lesson has a lot to do with discernment which does seem to come more with age and experience. Perhaps allowing our children to make different choices with different results can help them to hone whether to hold on tightly to that bird in the hand, or to let it go, and attempt to catch the two in the bush. 

Of course knowing “when to hold them, and when to fold them,” becomes the real key. 

Do One Thing Different

 

Have you ever considered changing something in your life?  Bill O’Hanlon has written a manual on how to do exactly that in his book entitled The Change Your Life Book.

O’Hanlon’s premise is that making changes can be a difficult thing, but even a small change can be impactful in changing the course of your life. 

He begins with three ways to make changes:

Change the Doing

Change the Viewing

Change the Setting

Under each category he gives a list of tips to encourage you to make the changes you have been wanting to make. 

I’ve included a few to get you started if you are considering a change.

Change the Doing

Sometimes we actually need to “Stop doing something.” Instead of changing what we do, or starting something new we might need to consider just stopping what we have been doing. O’Hanlon asks, “What do you need to stop doing to find more time or change the quality of your life?”

For me what comes immediately to mind is to stop watching mindless tv shows. If I’m going to watch tv at all I’d rather they be of some value or substance even when strictly looking for entertainment. How many times have I wasted time scrolling through You Tube videos looking for that “just right” video?

Another idea is to “Stretch your brain.” Identity something you are interested in or are wanting to learn. Research shows that allowing the brain the opportunity to learn something novel or even hard helps prevent mental decline. O’Hanlon states when it comes to stretching your brain that you should, “Spend time regularly pushing yourself to engage in the learning process.”

Change the Viewing

O’Hanlon’s advice for accomplishing this is to “Change perspectives.” One fun way to do this is to ask yourself how someone else might solve a problem. Get creative here and consider how your favorite superhero, author, family member or your future self might tackle a situation you are having a problem solving.  “Sometimes we get stuck with one view of the situation, which doesn’t help us resolve it, get through it, or feel very good about it,” states O’Hanlon. 

Challenge yourself to “Ask different questions or notice something differently.” Again if we get stuck asking the same questions or not looking for a different point of view we might not be able to make any progress in solving our dilemma. One question to consider might be, “Is this where I want to put my energy or attention?”

Change the Setting

Actually “Changing the location” might be the key to resolution. Many years ago I made a decision to move to another apartment complex to kick start some changes in my life. I knew instinctively that if I stayed nothing would change, and I would be left with nothing but regrets. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. 

Finally “Change the timing” might be just what you need to push yourself forward. This can be done quite literally by setting a timer for the exact amount of time to dwell on a problem. After that time period move on, and come back to it again for the same amount of time the next day. Our minds can begin to ruminate in a destructive way if we allow them to. 

If you know you are needing to change either your  actions, or your circumstances hopefully one of these ideas will resonate with you as a possible first step toward change. 

Beauty Is

 

I was looking at my cat the other day, and admiring how beautiful she was when I was reminded of the adage, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Phrasemix defines this simply as “Different people have different ideas about what’s beautiful.”

Now this one has been a little difficult for me to fully grasp as I’ve observed some people’s choices, and have scratched my head wondering, “What were they thinking?” Kind of like that occasional purple house you come across now and then. 

However, accepting our differences in tastes does make life a little more interesting. If everyone was the same it could get quite boring. I try to point this out to my oldest grandson as he questions his middle brother’s choices in pretty much everything.

In our Pinterest perfect world it can get exhausting to keep up with all the latest trends. In choosing the countertops for our current house we went with granite, even though quartz seemed to be the trend of the day. In our last house our walls remained white while others were being painted the popular gem tone colors. Interestingly, when the time came to sell, white had made its way back into the lexicon.

Let’s encourage our children not to be too judgmental when it comes to other’s tastes, and remember the other old adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Noom

Around mid-March something came across my Facebook feed that caught my attention. It was an advertisement about a weight loss program called Noom. 

Now as you probably remember I’ve been a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers for many years, and have had good success with the program. In fact, if I still lived in the metroplex I would not even be writing this post. I used to look forward to my weekly WW meetings, and had even reconnected with a high school friend at one of the meetings.

One of the things I liked about the meetings was the flexibility I had to choose a meeting time that worked for me. When we moved to our new rural community there was actually no meetings less than an hour away. Over time a meeting in Stephenville (about 15 minutes away) was available , but not always practical. During the winter months driving in the dark to and from the meeting wasn’t something I even wanted to attempt due to the many dead deer you would see along the highway. 

As time went by I was having less and less success with maintaining my weight. As much as I hoped to be able to do so on my own I rarely can maintain my weight without some form of accountability. That’s where Noom came into the picture. 

Now technically I only had about eight pounds to lose to get back to my desired goal weight. However, left unchecked I knew my weight would continue to increase if I continued on the same path. 

I went ahead and signed up pretty impulsively for me, since it’s cost was more than what I was paying each month to keep my WW online tools. I did so knowing that I was only committed to a two months stint, which in my mind seemed like a fair amount of time to see some results. 

I shared with Chuck that I was needing something to kickstart my return to healthier eating. 

He agreed that Noom sounded like a perfect solution for me. 

I must admit I have really enjoyed the program. It is easy to follow, there are no restricted foods or food groups, and it provides for easy tracking of weight, water, steps and food intake. But, most of all it includes daily lessons that range from nutrition to psychology. All of which I have found helpful. The basic membership includes a group coach that you can reach out to if needed, and a group chat feature like Facebook. 

In the first two months I had lost the eight pounds, but decided to sign on for two more months to help me with maintenance. I was excited to see that they provided lessons about maintaining your weight, as well. This has always been the hardest part for me, and I have appreciated the support I have received during this phase. 

The program really is working for me, and I want to put my health high on my list of priorities. I’ll take it two months at a time to see if I want to continue. After sharing the program with my doctor at my yearly check-up he pointed out that the actual monthly cost wasn’t too unreasonable if it helped me stay healthy. 

If you have any more questions please reach out to me, and I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions. 

Levi

 

Guest Post-Brittany Beahm

Yesterday we were at my parents watching the boys play on the water slide. Levi was sitting in my lap and my mom looked over and said to him, “God sure knew what he was doing when He made you!”

Levi just shy of two responded, “Amen!”

It was the sweetest, most innocent response and definitely took us by surprise!

We love you big Levi! 

Amen is right!

No Use Crying

 

When pouring some milk for my youngest grandson the other day I ended up spilling some of it. 

Immediately the old adage, “No use crying over spilt milk,” came to mind.

According to Undeniably Dairy this adage means, “there’s no point being upset over something that has already happened, and cannot be changed.”  I can’t help but wonder if some farmer long ago had his cow kick over a bucket of milk, and although he felt frustrated, he realized that all the anger in the world would not return the milk to the bucket. 

The lesson, though, might be to be more careful the next time. 

In teaching this adage to our children, the lesson is not to be unconcerned about mistakes or “spilt milk” but rather to move on, not beat ourselves up, but look for a way to maybe do things differently the next time to prevent the mishap.