95 day journey till Easter ~~~~~ Days 90 to 88

Day 88       Jan 2, 2013       It’s me not the food that needs to behave

One thing I’ve learned over the years is the fact that it’s not the food that needs to be obedient. Too often we try to give the task of being obedient to the kind of food we eat. After all it should be the one who behaves as we do our part and eat all the “right” things, whole wheat, all natural, diet drinks, fat free, or whatever else. Needless to say if we eat more of those “right” foods than our body can burn up we are going to gain weight anyway. Once when I was on a fat free diet I figured I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted as long as it was “fat free.” Guess what? Yes you guessed it, I gained weight.

 

The food was being obedient but I wasn’t. On diets we’ve had success with often once we lose our weight and stop dieting we gain our weight back. Why is this? It’s frequently because we haven’t taught ourselves to be the one who obeys God’s rules for healthy eating by eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are satisfied.   

 

It doesn’t matter what food we eat. We can eat a candy bar if our stomach is truly hungry and we stop when satisfied. However, it’s always smart to eat the food that is best for us nutrition wise such as vegetables and fresh food but don’t think it’s the one that needs to be obedient. Obedience to proper eating habits is our job. We are the ones who need to behave not the food.

 

Day 89          Jan 1, 2013     God’s Word In Action

A good task for anything we do is to keep God’s word in our heart. This is how I conquered my stress seizures over 20 years ago and this is how I can defeat my weight problem. Scriptures such as “I can do all things (lose weight included) thru Christ who gives me strength (Phil 4:13). God’s grace is sufficient (2 Cor 12:9) I don’t need food to complete me or my life. My body is a temple of God (1 Cor 6:19,20) I need to take care of it and use it to glorify God not disgrace Him by my choice of eating habits. Earlier in that same chapter in Corinthians it talks about how we may think all things are lawful for us but all things are not helpful and we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be under the power of any of it. It goes on to say food is for the stomach and the stomach for food but eventually God will destroy both.

 

The ice cream I thought I needed, the fulfillment lasted about as long as the ice cream bar did. Once it was gone it all was gone including the satisfaction. What I need to do is concentrate on the fact that what remains is my spiritual temple I’ve been assigned caretaker to. It is the thing that will last forever and it’s up to me to see to it that it is cared for properly. It doesn’t require ice cream, pie, cookies, or extra food servings. It requires care, nurturing, attention, and the proper feeding of spiritual food instead. It entails me to allow God’s word to be in action in all that I say, do, and eat.

Day 90    12-31-12   The Fight Against Frustration

In attempt to do anything in life whether it’s dieting, going to college, working, training horses, riding cows, building bridges, etc we will always run into some kind of frustration. Recently as I weighed myself to see if I had lost any weight the scale went up instead of down.

 

Instant frustration could be felt over the fact that all my hard work wasn’t paying off. At the rate I was going I might as well quit now instead of trying to go on. The same old tape recordings in my mind began to play once more, “this is the way it always is, and no matter how hard I try I just can’t seem to lose weight so why bother!”

At the risk of trying to lie to myself along with everyone else I truly wasn’t trying. My ratio of efforts was reflecting on the very scale I stood upon as I pointed my finger at it yelling “liar, liar!”

 

When we lie to ourselves we are only adding to our frustration instead of taking away from it. Frustration is grown on the root of stress and it needs dealt with properly like everything else. Yes, life has its frustrations but that is no excuse to yell and scream and point our fingers at everyone else without looking at what the true problem is.

 

Frustration has a way of setting us back but we don’t have to give ourselves permission to stay there and make matters worse. Its better we stand upright once again and keep moving forward stronger and better as we overcome each of life’s frustrations and setbacks one day at a time.

 

© 2013 Karen J. Gillett at Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing for Growing Beyond

 

 

Stepping out in faith

Looking out over the tip of this boat makes me think of Peter and the disciples journey across the lake they were on. All must have seemed fine until they saw Jesus walking on the water towards them. Peter spoke up and said, "If it's really you Lord then tell me to come to You on the water." Without hestitation Jesus said, "Come" and Peter got out of the boat.

As I work on my daily disciplines I can't imagine being so disciplined in my faith that I could step out out of this boat and start walking across Walton lake towards Jesus. Whether our faith walk begins off the side of a boat walking on water or at the the treadmill working out each day the journey still carries the same purpose. Stepping out in faith and continuing to walk forward keeping our eyes on Jesus.

At my last doctor's appointment I was told my blood pressure was too high. Hoping to keep myself from adding more medicine to my daily intake I am going to try to lose ten poiunds by my next appointment in August. To some that seems like a simple task but to others its as scarey as thinking about stepping out of this boat in an attempt to walk on water.

We need to remember that to man some things are impossible but to God all things are possible. I have to rely on God's strength to get me thru mixed with my own desire to be obedient to God and glorify Him with my actions. Actions of discipline and living intentionally to care for the temple He has set up in me the day I asked Him to come into my heart years ago.

One day at a time, one discipline at time. Moving forward in faith and progress with my eyes on Jesus not anything else.

In love W.I.T.H. Jesus,

Karen

Daily Disciplines

As I work on my daily disciplines I find myself making progress in some areas and still faltering in other areas. This means I should give up, right? Wrong! We are way to willing to “throw in the towel” and quit at the first sign of trouble, difficulty, hard work, and tough decisions.

We need to be encouraging one another to go on, to move forward and not let the things in life stop them from achieving what they want to achieve. As I think of our granddaughter graduating from 8^th grade she, like everyone else is going to need to have that ability to stand up and face life head on and not be stopped by it.

She needs to know like everyone else that we will succeed in some areas that come easy to and stumble in other situations that come with great difficulty and pain. Either way it doesn’t matter, the instructions are the same. We need to keep moving forward and the best way to do that is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What He has to offer us goes beyond what we see on earth, it takes us into eternity where we fall alive into the mansions He is currently preparing for us. John 14:2,3 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Today as I drop to my knees in prayer one more time my point of pray for my granddaughter, myself, and all my “All UDDERS” as I call them is this, “Lord God I pray this day that each and every one of us will walk worthy of you Lord, not as fools but as wise redeeming the time, because the days are evil as we understand what Your will is Lord and seek it. For every stride forward we take may we do so to Your glory Lord God as our actions draw us closer and closer to the You and the goals needed to succeed in walking worthy. Guide us on this path, show us where we need to go, forgive us when we fall short, be patient with us as we get back up on our feet and try again.

Praise you for allowing us access to Your throne thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ that opens a door that once was closed. Thank you for Your love. Praise you for Your wisdom. We love you Father, thank you for loving us. ”

Daily Disciplines:

My daily discipline today is keeping up on my cleaning. I did well as I found I can take a moment or two and accomplish a lot more than I think.

Another daily discipline is working on my closet clutter. Being a pack rat it’s hard to keep the piles down. I’m proud to say I threw away some denim material the other day and it didn’t kill me. I’m alive to tell about it. You have to realize I have more denim in my house than anyone could possible need in their lifetime.

Now on to the confession….the daily discipline where I falter is my eating habits. That one is going to take some time to conquer, fight, and give up as I strive to replace them with better more healthy habits.

One day at a time, one discipline at a time.

Saying no

Recently in our quest to lose weight and eat healthy my granddaughters and I have joined forces. One day as I said no to this lovely muffin I sent a picture of it to them and told them what I did. Or better yet what I didn't do. I didn't eat this. Some of life's journeys are hard and it helps to have the encouragement of others to get through them.

There are journey's that are not always fun but having a cheering section around you helps. Our plan is to go without sugar until July when we go on vacation. We may mess up once in awhile on our journey, so far so good, but that's okay as we learn to pick ourselves up and keep on going. Moving forward in life in spite of the obstacles that may come our way. The best thing our cheering section can do for us is to holler "jump" when those obstacles appear as an encouragement to keep on going and don't let life stop you.

Coping Skills

The journey in to work this morning wasn’t a fun one. The first snow of the season had finally hit. Driver’s not yet prepared with their winter driving gear slowly crept along the snow covered roads. Taking my time to get where I needed to be safely I began to think about being prepared and how things in life show up and we need to be ready to deal with them.

Over the years as I tried to cope with life's difficulties I did all sort of things to cope with life. Some of the tricks I pulled out of my hat worked well while others turned into dangerous paths that led to even more trouble.

Trying to cope with life is where we get into a great deal of our trouble. We do it all wrong when we try to do it without Christ. The tricks we pull out of our magical hat to survive are skills we dreamed up. No wonder they fail.

The biggest thing we can do for ourselves in coping with life is to remain strong is Jesus. We can’t give up on Him or ourselves. Just because we keep our Bible close at hand and pray frequently doesn’t mean life isn’t going to be a challenge for us.

As hard as it may be we can’t allow the emotions of the moment to take over our senses. We can’t turn to false hopes and temporary comforts like drugs, food, alcohol, or other people in order to survive. These are not the permanent solutions we need to survive.

Once when my sister fought with her husband she left the house to think things over. Her first reaction was to run to the grocery store and buy herself a candy bar before going some place to have a good cry. It didn’t solve anything but boy that taste of chocolate was her temporary comfort.

Storms in life are going to hit. Unfortunately some appear to get them more than others but everyone has their storms. We just need to prepare ahead of time for when they do hit. We do this by reading our Bible, develop our relationship with God, and practice fighting against Satan’s lies and his tricks.

For the next few journal notes I’m going to talk about things I did to try to deal with life. Tiny little things I used to get me through life. After that we will talk about the good skills that will make a longer lasting difference.

Merry Christmas my fellow Paulette’s. The other day I was thinking maybe I should have referred to us as Petterette’s. Now there is a word for you. Peter, because of the things in life he dealt with, his insecurities, his mistakes and struggles. Both men in the Bible finally overcame their flukes and flaws and were powerful witnesses for God. We will too. It takes time, effort, and the willingness to finish well.

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Birthday Jesus!  

Journal Note #4

Well time has passed and so has part of the goals I’ve set for myself. My husband came home from being away at work for a week and out the door went my efforts. Again that isn’t his fault it’s my fault.

One day at a time we need to challenge ourselves to press on and to not give up. When we stand before the Lord in judgment God’s not going to accept our excuse that our spouse made it difficult to be what we wanted to be.

The idea of blooming where we are planted is all about growing where you are in your walk with Christ, your spiritual maturity and your ability to overcome. Instead of sitting here asking “why me” we need to stand up and say, “What I can learn from this.”

Today I am challenging myself and my fellow Paulette’s once again to move forward with our goals. I don’t know about you but too often in the past I was the first to give up when things got tough, I don’t want that for my life any more. I am choosing to finish well even if it takes my entire life to do it.

Dear Heavenly Father, today I pray for my fellow Paulette’s out there that are struggling as I am struggling. Forgive us Father for allowing the things around us to take us off our course of being who we need to be in You. Help us to lean more on You instead of away from You. To take the challenge to work on improving ourselves and use it to glorify You.

This week’s goals:
1. Balanced checkbook
2. Clean one room per day
3. Complete a half done journal note in my diary
4. Exercise self-control when it comes to my eating and exercising


Today’s promise sword:
I can do all things THRU Christ who strengths me. Take that Satan!