As part of my business we do user testing. That is we sit down with web users and watch how they interact with the websites we are testing. This helps us understand where people get hung up and 'drop off' on a website. 

Invariably during the test the participant will make a specific request. "I want to see the site work this way." It would be ideal, of course, to fulfill everyones wishes and for the most part the requests are valid and good ideas, but what the user doesn't see is the big picture. Maybe the requested aspect was intentionally left out for legal reasons. Maybe there wasn't enough budget to justify adding the feature to the site. Or maybe there were platform limitations that led to the current solution. 

It made me wonder if this could be how God views our prayer requests. Ever pray for a million dollars? I have…cause that just might solve everything, right? As a usability tester, I accept the participants wishes readily, but only push to fulfill them if it's in the best interest of all parties involved (business and customer). I am privy to the big picture. It's a reminder to me to trust that God too is privy to the big picture and knows the whys and hows of what is best for me. 

Over the last week, my son and I watched the documentary, 'Fat, sick and nearly dead'. The guy in the movie spent years unwell using 12 different medications daily. One day he wondered if his body could heal itself in the inside, just as it does on the outside. After much research, he decided to go on a 60 day juice fast. By the end of it his conditions were completely gone. It was quite amazing to watch.

At our house we try to eat healthy. Sometimes though it feels like keeping the flood waters at bay. It takes concerted effort to keep the unhealthy foods out. Treats are accessible and easy to buy. One thing that keeps me mindful is my hypoglycemia which is blood-sugar that fluctuates drastically. 

Last year my doctor, in an attempt to stabilize it,  said I could have anything to eat except sugar (including white rice and potatoes), dairy (a sugar), and wheat. With my body's inability to process sugars, the dairy and wheat were fermenting in my system causing yeast issues and inflammation. All good to know and do…but now what to eat? This would require meal planning, something I am not good at. 

This is what has worked:
1. Over the months changing one thing at a time. Milk to unsweetened almond milk. Wheat flour to spelt or oatmeal flour. Sugar to agave nectar. White rice to brown rice. It has forced me to be more creative with meals...somehow it has worked out even when everyone else has pizza. 

2. Realizing how good I feel when I'm eating right. The unhealthy bites of food are no longer tempting when I think of how I would feel afterwards.

3. Keeping lots the fridge stocked with healthy choices.
4. Alternative recipes on the internet. Finding an oatmeal quick bread that can be baked like biscuits as a bread alternative or trying sugar free no bake cookie recipes.

How about you? What kind of dietary limitations do you have?

As a cat owner there is something about your lap being chosen as the place to curl up on. Awww…they want to be close to me and love on me. It's similar to elementary school when you want to be picked for the team, pick me! pick me! 

We all want to be chosen…chosen for a job, chosen as a friend, noticed and chosen. The reality is we are not always selected and not always seen. The cat curls up on a blanket instead of your lap. Someone else is picked for the team and the job is given to someone with better experience. 

And yet…God chooses us. ("You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name." John 15:16 NLT) He is happy to choose us. Think about this next time the cat rejects you, or you don't get picked. The God of the universe, holy and majestic, wise in all things…chose us. It's almost too great a thought.

"Each and every one of us created perfectly in His image. Each one cherished. Each one “one of His favorites”. How would life change if we thought of each other as such? If each person that approached us we treated as beloved of God, cherished by God, one of God’s favorite people?" 
- Kisses from Kate

I picked up the above ceramic owl light at an Etcetera thrift store a few months ago. It was quite a find. Inside was a little red light bulb that made the glass eyes and belly holes glow a startling red. The color...I hadn't seen it since changing the last breastfed baby diaper. It didn't match my taste at all, but I thought it would look great spray painted white.

My first attempt at painting it caused the dried spray paint to blister and crack, even though I had primed it first. I think the humidity outside and then the quick transition into the dry cool house was the cause. Eventually all the paint flaked off. 

My second attempt worked and the result (aside from a few drippy spots) was fine. A white smooth satin finish with a new lightbulb inside, it sits on the desk in my guest room ready to serve as a night light for visitors.

Isn't this just how God works? He chooses us in our ugly state, yet seeing the possibility begins his work of purifying and transforming us so that we might become beautiful and shine for him.

My son has a little blog called, 'www.chunks-o-wisdom.com'. He posts unique sayings or funny things he is thinking about, usually little one liners. Yesterday the weather was beautiful for the middle of January. We went on a walk and returned home to make supper. My dear husband wanted waffles, but our waffle maker still needs replacing, so pancakes was the next best option. My son disagreed. He wanted french toast, and the reason...too many dishes from the pancake batter. My chunk o wisdom for him...'Don't let laziness keep you from greatness.' We ate pancakes and he survived all the dishes. 

Sometimes the thoughts on how much effort (painting the kitchen and trim), working on my business keep me frozen, dreading the feeling of being overwhelmed or muddling through. Yet today I was reminded..."As you anticipate what is ahead of you, you forget that I am with you--now and always. Rehearsing your troubles results in experiencing them many times, whereas you are meant to go through them only when they actually occur. Do not multiply your suffering in this way! Instead, come to Me, and relax in My Peace. I will strengthen you and prepare you for this day, transforming your fear into confident trust." (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

This week I've thinking about glory. God's more specifically. I was listening to a radio broadcast and a lady was sharing a devastating event that happened in her life. It took a while to recover emotionally, but now she gives God the glory for how he worked in her life. 

I had this mental picture of the snow melting into summer in the Narnia movies, or a picture of a paper towel soaking up water. God's glory spreads just like that through the decisions we make, the words we say, and the love we give. When we overcome, his glory spreads through the winter of this world.

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Fear from hair brushing that is. This is what happened when my dear daughter and I went to England last  spring to visit my sister. She told us about a hairbrush, the Tangle Teezer, that could be used without the usual teary drama of brushing long kid's hair. It has made mornings pleasant again, removing the fear of tangles.
 
I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me; he freed me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

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Usability testing is one of the services my husband and I offer through our business. Having done web site testing, doing testing for mobile is a first, so it got complicated. Tonight we figured out our testing platform (device holder). We were brainstorming ideas, improvements on what we had seen others do, but not really getting any where. 

Time to pray for inspiration...and it came with a gentle nudge to dig and dag (my son's words for explore) in my son's room. His room is usually messy or at least disheveled (we are working on that), but this is partly because he is a collector of trinkets and odds and ends. I didn't unearth anything useful until I brought the big box of legos downstairs. 

Then the digging and dagging really started, and while I ran to the store to get a USB extension cord, my son came up with the solution for us. It was inspiring!  

Now about how to run a mobile usability test...I'll leave that for another post and then I might tell you who it was for...hint: where my dear husband and I met.

This Christmas we started a puzzle. Our family likes doing puzzles, well the kids not so much, but we do. It usually doesn't take long to complete them, but this one is different. It's comprised of three main colors, orange, white and black and shows illustrated cats all lumped together. 

The thing that amazes me is that every time I take a minute to work on the puzzle I find pieces. It amazes me because it's a difficult puzzle and all the colors and pieces seem alike. 

Life is like a puzzle. It seems overwhelming at times when you look at the big picture, but when you actually move forward things fall into place.

I realized this during a 30 minute consultation with a lawyer whom I could ask anything I wanted about my business. He provided answers to all my questions. Puzzle pieces in place, ready for the next steps. I left thankful for the advice and thankful that God meets us where we are at with what we need just at the right time to move us forward. 

He is putting the puzzle picture of our lives together one piece at a time. It takes patience to wait for him to slot the next piece in and faith to move forward trusting that he will find just the right piece.

We got my daughter the kids version of Jesus Calling devotional book by Sarah Young for Christmas. Today we read, "Don't just ask Me to bless what you have already decided to do. Ask Me what I want for you. I may fill your heart with a dream that seems impossibly far beyond your reach. And that dream will be bigger than anything you can do on your own. But remember nothing is beyond my reach."

This  was followed by an infectious hearty giggle of delight that went on and on...because the little miss was snuggling into a newly purchased and long awaited (over a year) pillow pet, a Christmas gift from her Aunt Glenda. This gift had been a dream for a long time. 

We just never know what He has in store for us...