God Given Determination

I was so touched by the kind response to my ‘God Inspired Healthy Eating’ blog post, that I thought I would continue a bit of my weight loss story.

God definitely helped me lose the weight, because I had no self-control when it came to food. I remember being at a friend’s house and she had chocolate in a draw, she offered me some and I remember thinking, “how can you let chocolate sit in your draw? I would have eaten it in one sitting.” Or, pancake day (is that exclusive to Britain?). My Dad had to beg me to stop having too many pancakes.

Overeating was a huge weakness for me. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10b. In my weakness God gave me strength and determination to lose the weight.

In Galatians 5:23, one of the fruits of the spirit that is stated is “Self-control”. It was not good that I gauged myself on food, but how would I stop? God wants me to have self-control, I knew He wanted me to over come this weakness. So I continued to pray.

Then one day after praying I found I had a God given determination, I thought “I am going to do this” and I told my sister Susan and she was excited for me and she knew from the way that I spoke that I was going to do this.

I have had to educate myself in food. Everyone is different, but food is a huge issue for everyone. When getting healthy, I researched food and tried different plans to maintain my new weight. It is a learning curve for everyone.

Our Heavenly Father loves us and being in a relationship with him means “praying without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). My Mum has always taught me to pray about EVERYTHING. God cares about the little things and the big. He’s helped me work through a huge weakness of mine and workout how to eat well. And, he cares for each and everyone of you too.

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My Sin is Sad, My God is Greater

As far back as I can remember I have believed in God. As a teen though, I wanted to do my own thing and have “fun.” But, now that my eyes have been open to Truth, I see that there was no fun in those times, just sadness.

Ezra was a great leader in the Bible who saw the sin of the people as a sad thing. He knew what their sin meant. He knew it meant sad things for them.

God had told them, do not intermarry with the people of the land. There were many reasons why God had this rule, but it wasn’t to ruin their fun. It would cause them to stray from Him and His ways. It was His will for them to be a separate people for Who was to come. It would cause sad things for them, heartache. But, many disobeyed and married them anyway.

Ezra knew too what it would mean for the people he loved and he wept over it. Eventually, the people saw how sad it was and what it meant for them and they wept with him.

“While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly” (Ezra 10:1).

Their sin caused them a lot of deep heartache because they had to separate families. Imagine husbands and wives separating and children being without their families intact. The grief of their sin was huge.

Let us think about the sin around us like God does. It is sad. Even something we might think is small, like a hurtful thought towards someone is sad. People are made in God’s image. All of our sin is sad. Instead, if God’s heart is for His glory, and our goodness and if He is love and light, and there is no darkness in Him, we should want to choose His ways and reap joy, laughter, peace, and love.

Hellos Are Great, GoodByes Not So Much

Traveling to see our son and family in Texas is always such fun. They are wonderful hosts. His hysterical sense of humor and their overall hospitality is extremely welcoming. My husband, Ray and I always have a splendid time with them and we look forward to our Texas trips. We step off the plane to hugs, laughter and an overall feeling of love. Our hellos are always great!

But, after a few weeks it’s time for us to head back to New England. Heading back to the airport is tough. We try to let each other know how much we love and will miss each other. When we part, our hugs are a little tighter and linger just a bit. As our son’s car pulls away we wave and try to get that one last look until the next time.

Hellos are always great, goodbyes not so much.

What helps each of us through the goodbyes is knowing we will see each other again. We have already begun the planning for the next time we meet. There is great comfort in planning and looking forward to the next hello.

Jesus spoke about the ultimate goodbye and hello. Because of His great love for us, He wanted to comfort us in our grief.

He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:1-3

Jesus knew if we were to be comforted through the ultimate goodbyes, we needed the hope of the ultimate hello. He promised that He is preparing a place for us and that He will come again. Our Hope is that we will see Jesus and every other Christ follower again.

Jesus spoke to those people that were following Him. Jesus said, And you know the way to where I am going.” John 14:4

I want to ask you do you know the way? Have you planned for that ultimate good bye and hello? One man Jesus spoke to asked Jesus, “What is the way?”

Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I pray you will ask Jesus to be your HOPE and that you are ready for the ultimate goodbye and hello! I plan to see you there.

Pursuing Happiness and Coming Out Empty

Oh the pursuit of happiness, always leaving us empty. Maybe, just maybe, the next thing will fulfill. More money, less body fat, extra education, a new job or relationship, we wonder if ________ is the answer to the yearning.

Attaining these things will never satisfy that unrelenting void we hope to fill. Our bodies, formed by a Creator, were woven with a longing for the worship of Him who created us.

When we accept God’s gift of His Son, Jesus,

“Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art”

Then we have found the pursuit of happiness. It is Jesus, your soul praising Jesus. Freedom envelopes you in an unexplainable way, for eternity.

This is what we are searching for. I know because, I have found it.

“For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 8:35)

I am so Thankful

I am so thankful that God has given me eyes to see His heart and ears to hear His voice. I don’t think we remind ourselves often enough that God chose us. Not the other way around!

What a gift it is to go about my days knowing God walks before me and stands behind me. No matter what I may face, I can be confident because of who I belong to. I don’t have to be fearful even when my future is uncertain. I don’t have to buckle under the stress of this life because God carries the load. I simply obey His call.

When I look at the lost and broken around me, my heart hurts. I see a world that rejects this free gift of peace and chooses chains instead of freedom. Satan so cleverly masks what is evil! He high jacks love and makes it dirty. He whispers lies in half truths and rejoices as our homes and families fall apart.

As I walk this narrow and difficult path set before me, I thank God for the provisions that He has provided. His Word always encourages me and convicts me when I start to wander. His Holy Spirit whispers in my heart and pushes me to step out in faith when I don’t feel brave or capable. And I’m thankful for His provision of sisters and brothers in Christ who walk along side me always encouraging and uplifting me as we share in our journey’s toward the finish line. Yes, I am thankful that God has chosen such a wretch like me and called me daughter. And if you are reading this, chances are that you feel that way too!

God inspired Healthy Eating

This week, as I suppose a bit of an experiment, I thought I’d share with you something that’s been on my mind. See if it is helpful, I truly hope that it is. That is: God inspired healthy eating.

As a teenager right up until I was 20, I was overweight. I wasn’t just slightly over-weight, I was obese for my height and although it didn’t get to an extreme, where my health could have been severely affected, it would have been quite dangerous to continue the way I was going.

I tried fad diets. At one point at 18 years old I was on the Slimfast diet, which gave me the worst hunger pains I’ve ever experienced, and it did not work because when I ate my dinner I ate too much to make up for it.

Then one day, I prayed about it. I prayed quite persistently too. I didn’t want to feel so low anymore and it was affecting everything, my confidence to speak to people and my energy to do anything.

And, I did it, I lost 30Ibs. It was an answer to prayer, because NOTHING else had worked. And, I’ve never gotten up to that weight again. Although I did struggle after my daughter was born with losing excess weight and my health, but that’s another story.

Sometimes, I have gone the other extreme and eaten too little and exercised too much. It is very easy, once you get into the swing of loosing weight to be obsessed about it.

1 Timothy 4:8

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

I see this verse as an encouragement to be healthy, but to not make it a god. It is of some value to be healthy for life in general. But, most of all a healthy relationship with the Lord, regularly reading his Word and praying to Him should take priority.

Where Can I Bloom?

The term “bloom where you are planted” has been following me the last year as I was in Utah and then here again in Maine. In Utah, as I felt unsure in a “foreign land”, I never felt like I could really plant myself, dig in and dwell. Some think I had in my mind that we would return to Maine soon, which might have a little bit of truth in it, but circumstances and situations kept me from truly dwelling too, because at times I truly tried to bloom and it just never took.

And now, in a way, I feel like “here I am again,” without a place to dwell. We are still looking for a house, not quite sure where we will find one, since from Augusta to Brunswick and all surrounding towns do not have a single 4 bedroom house, or even a three bedroom with a nook for a bed, lol. There is nada. Zip. Zilch. And so where do I bloom?

For now, I am to worry about today. Today, I have a roof over my head. A bed to sleep in. Food in my belly. Water. And plenty more. I have my hubby and my children to love and take care of. The ocean is a half of a mile away. I met a lovely lady who was sending out her man cog shell fishing at the point nearby. She has 6 children and she needs to hear about Jesus. She arrives three hours before the tide, to send him out, every day.

I have things to do today. I can bloom right here in the now. Where we end up tomorrow, well, I can worry about dwelling there then. After all, it is Him who dwells in me that really counts.