Monday, March 8, 2010

dear emily,

my post on dinner time has convicted me of something.  it is
just too easy to see the deficiencies in our children, bad eating
habits, for instance, and overlook the weaknesses in ourselves.

what have i been eating lately?  first of all, way too much t.v.!
my grandmother called it the 'boob tube' because of its ability
to waste our time and its total lack of purpose.  she spent her
time reading, studying, writing, teaching, and gardening. you
can read about her in the following post.

i also feed myself too many negative thoughts.    if i used my
healthy imagination in the manner of c.s. lewis or lewis carroll,
i might have something wonderful to show for it.  instead, i
have needless wrinkles to prove what lies within me.

ralph waldo emerson said, "what lies behind us and what lies
before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us."

my young friend liz wrote a disarming piece on the joy set
before Jesus.  she said that instead of focusing on our
suffering, we should set our eyes on the prize.

when asked what food He had to eat, Jesus said, "i have
food that you know nothing about...My food is to do the
work of Him who sent Me..." john 4:32, 34

now that is something to feast upon.  it's amazing how much
of the bible is devoted to banquets and feasting.  how did we
ever let ourselves focus so on the fasting?

love,
lea

17 comments:

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Thanks so much for stopping by a leaving a comment on my 'rose' posting.

Enjoyed your posting.....

I'd be interested in reading your friend Liz's piece on the joy set for Jesus.... I wrote something similar a number of years ago as a meditation for the season of Resurrection.

And I agree with your comment re fasts vs banquets........

Auntie Cake said...

Hi Lea,
So glad you "found" me again. I lost track of everyone when the Olympics came on. I usually don't watch any tv, but when it comes time for the Olympics, I am literally glued to my couch trying to soak up each and every Olympic moment. I am glad they only come around every couple of years...

Also, you mentioned something about following, and I noticed my number went up, but last Saturday I had a child pornography site start following me, they did something to my followers who joined after them, which could possibly be you. I finally did a post today and pleaded for help trying to get rid of them, (blogger wasn't any help at all, and I couldn't figure it out by myself)I finally found a way to block the bad follower, and I noticed when I did, my number went down by two. So if I blocked you in some way, I apologize, it must have been tied into that other site and I am so sorry, you were not the target, just an unexpected victim. I was astounded that such a site is now preying on unexpected victims, I guess that is a terrible side to the internet.

Have a good day, sorry to leave such a long comment, but I wanted to get everything straightened out. I felt terrible that I had a very disturbing image as a follower, I am so relieved that I now know how to get rid of them!
Kate

Susie said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me a comment...hope to come back and catch up by reading some of your older posts...wishing you a happy week, warm wishes x

myletterstoemily said...

dear kate,

sorry about your spammer.

and don't worry about me. nothing
happened to me.

i am curious, though, how you stopped
the sicko.

thanks,
lea

Anonymous said...

That was a good letter, of course all of your letters are good. Encouraging and gives food for thought. Boob tube it certainly is. I like the feasting instead of fasting. Ha Keep up the letters.

myletterstoemily said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Simoney said...

Hi Lea... thanks so much for your comment on my latest post; I'm glad you found it encouraging. I'll be following you now.
Luv Simone
xx

Winchester Manor said...

Hello Sweet Friend!

Guilty! I watch way too much TV or should I say, I always have it on...background noise I suppose!

I enjoyed your post and I think many women feed themselves negative thoughts. I'm trying hard not to be so critical of myself. Thank you for this thought provoking post!

Thank you as well for your visit and sweet comment!

Hugs,
Karyn

Deborah Ann said...

Why, indeed do we focus on fasting instead of feasting, that's what I'd like to know!

Your comment about being back in high school was hilarious! But I have to say...blogging is nothing at all like those childish days. Most of us don't know what the other looks like, and our clothes never go out of style, because no one can see them.

No one even cares if you're a great writer! All it takes to get 50 comments on your posts, is faithfulness to comment on other people's posts. That's it!

After a while, you'll figure out who returns tit for tat, and who doesn't. I only go back and forth with others who go back and forth.

Happy blogging!

Denise Kiggan said...

Oh yes. I could certainly do with less sugar and less negative thinking. I like your analogy!

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Your letters are wonderful. I'm so glad you are writing like this!

A quirky fact: being depressed shrinks part of your brain. The shrinkage actually can be measured. So joy is a way of making sure you don't starve your brain.

Vee said...

Oh I like this...we have precious little of a clue, I'm thinking, of the love of God and what He has for us not only in the sweet bye and bye, but right here...TODAY.

Vee said...

bye and bye? Some days I can get my homonyms straight. That would be by and by... or we'll say bye bye to get to the sweet by and by or something... :}

carissa said...

yay for lowercase letters! : ) i love your blog and not just because it's lowercase letters. i heart your heart. these letters to emily are so sweet and creative. i was just reading this morning about how no matter what trials or hardships we endure; the joy that it will be to enter His promised rest will more than make up for them! how beautiful it is to think of this. i'm so following you... can't wait to read more. i may insert my name where emily's is. i could learn a lot from you.

Susie said...

Dear Lea - thank you for leaving me your ideas about what you would say to your sixteen year old self - I love them & will be adding them to the list of things I actually do say to my nineteen year old daughter! Happy week to you, x

Joan Elizabeth said...

Fasting has never been my strong point. And Blogging is my boob tube.

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

We're about to wrap up our seven week study on "Me, Myself, and Lies" by Jennifer Rothschild. So much of what you've addressed here is concretely reflected in this study, where we begin the great examination of our thought closets. Cleaning them out and replacing the junk with God's new. It's been a good dig for me, as I, too, have been guilty of less than healthy diet as of late.

Great advice and encouragement. Keep to it.

peace~elaine