Change...for many, this is almost a forbidden word. No one really likes change but sometimes change can bring on a whole new outlook in life. We have change in the weather, change in careers, change in homes, etc. This year has brought on a lot of changes for me.
One change that I felt I was ready to make was a change in my health and fitness. At the beginning of the year I was continually seeing my weight go up. This was causing me to have less energy and when I am working with the youth at our church, less energy is not good. So, after seeing my mother-in-law join Weight Watchers and begin losing weight, I decided it was time. I began counting calories, watching what I was putting into my mouth and writing everything I ate down in an on-line log called my fitness pal. I also began to exercise. It started out as once a week at the gym and has progressed up to 4-6 times per week of exercising either at the gym or at home. The outcome of both of these changes has caused me to lose 37 pounds and now I have way more energy to work with the youth at our church and I feel better for doing things with my own active teenagers.
There were several things that had to happen for me to get to this point. I had lost weight before but it always came back. So why would I return to my old ways of eating after working so hard to lose weight? God, throughout the course of the last few years, has shown me what triggers my unhealthy eating. I am now in the maintenance phase of my weight lose journey and God is helping me hear and see when those triggers get pushed. He has given me words to say when I feel those triggers rising. Granted, I have not been in the maintenance phase for very long yet, but I can already see the difference from times past. Part of my focus this time is just being healthier - not skinner, although that is an outcome of eating healthier. I am not on a diet - I eat whatever I want, I just count the cost first. Some days are better than others. This is going to be a "rest of my life" journey.
Another thing that has made this journey possible is my spiritual health. In the past few years, there have been some major hurts that have happened. God and I have walked through those hurts and I believe there has been major healing there. It is due to this healing that I am able to become physically healed. No longer am I medicating my hurt and pain with food but with the Word of God first and that is the key.
God is so good. He meets us right where we're at. He doesn't ask us to get our act together first and them come to him. No matter what the issues are, he is there to meet us and heal us. Do I still struggle with weight issues and eating? Of course I do. Do I continue to be tempted to sit down with that bag of Lays potato chips or those brownies? Of course I do? Do I ever give in to that? Of course I do. The difference is, I am more in tune with the Holy Spirit and I hear him asking me, do you really want to do that? Then I put the bag away or cut a smaller piece of brownie and give thanks to my Creator, who knows me so well.
What is God asking you to change today? What challenges are you facing or better yet, avoiding? Don't let those things continue to drag you down. Allow God to heal you and to show you how to overcome. If you do, you will find that you won't regret it.
By the way...my mother-in-law, who I said joined Weight Watchers, has lost 45 pounds since January! Way to go Mother!!!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Changes
Written by Gail on Thursday, June 21, 2012 0 comments
Monday, January 23, 2012
Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
The book I am currently reading:
It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily...
But who do you know who lives like that? Do you?
In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a "successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.
Written by Gail on Monday, January 23, 2012 2 comments
Labels: Book Review
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Submission to Authority
Written by Gail on Saturday, January 21, 2012 0 comments
Monday, September 12, 2011
Ten Years Ago Today - 9/11
Do you remember where you were standing ten years ago when the news of the attack on the Twin Towers happened? I do. I can still picture myself in my living room watching the morning news. With disbelief, I went to get Jim and told him he needed to come and see this. How could this happen? Most people can remember where they were and what they were doing. As I have watched interviews with people, ten years later, some of them being the kids who never knew the parent they lost and some who were older, the one thing that strikes me in these children is that none of them showed hatred. They remember the good. They chose to remember the good times, the good memories, and the special things. Every year they have to relive that day as the whole nation mourns that day. We can't always know why things happen but we can choose the way we respond. After ten years, there has been a level of healing.
When we are hurt by others, when we feel violated, we need to remember that God is good all the time. When we hurt, He is salve. When we are in pain, He is the comforter.
On this day in history, remember how we stood together as a country. Remember the men and women who have faught and continue to fight for our freedoms. Remember that we still have freedom. We also need to remember to hold up our leaders in prayer and continue to pray for our country and for our enemies.
We will never forget.
Written by Gail on Monday, September 12, 2011 0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Beautiful
Of all the things that we devote our time and energy to everyday, He alone is worthy of our praise and our worship.
Revelation 4:8b, "Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'"
Written by Gail on Thursday, September 08, 2011 0 comments