Being Emotionally Ready for a Weight Loss Journey

This series has been all over the place!  Getting real with the image in the mirror, coming to terms with the different sides of yourself, discussing rock bottom and the freedom that comes from that place, as well as what you need to do to get ready for a Weight Loss Journey.

Personally, it is the paradox of being the healthiest, happiest, and fattest of Your Life!

Life is good right now.  I have a great job, marriage, family, house and garden.  I've been under the loving care of a holistic doctor for three years and we've solved a myriad of imbalances and health issues.  I have learned how to cook, I mean really cook.  Not just make recipes but technique and skill and nuance and I love it.  I have friends, I like to host parties - life is good, except I am doing all of this wonderful stuff in stretchy pants with elastic waist bands and giant shirts that cover my butt.

In this frantic desire to take off the weight, I need to hang on to the things that I love about myself and my life.  I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to remember the negative.

You have to do the same.  Before you undertake any sort of journey - get right with yourself.  Take stock of where you are and where you want to be.  Get your head together.  Get your marriage together.  Are you sick?  If you are, don't attempt a weight loss program!

Is your world falling apart around you?  Go for a walk, eat good food, take care of yourself but don't try to lose weight.

This endeavor is only for the times when everything else is in place.  When life can be put a little on the back burner so you can spend the extra time and energy to fully engage.  If you ARE taking this journey then rejoice that you are in the place where you are free to do so and love the ones around you who aren't quiet there yet.

30 Day Jesus Challenge - Day 12 Double Minded Man

Perhaps at some point in this journey, you may have come to a point where you began to believe but then you changed your mind.  You are confused, conflicted, and swaying in the breeze.

Jesus' half brother James writes about this in 50 AD "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1:6-8

Double Minded Man

In this 30 Day Jesus Challenge, we are walking a path, a journey, a discovery - at each juncture along the way you are asked to make a choice.  Today, you need to commit again to the challenge but moving forward, you need to stop being double minded about it.  For the next 18 Days, get on board fully or quit.

Pray - Jesus, I don't want to be double minded about this.  I want to fully commit to the remaining challenge.

Skipping To The End

Abigail and Dolley readers do you skip to the end of a book to find out what happens?  Do you fast forward a movie to the closing scenes?  If you've missed a TV broadcast, do you search for a recap or do you wait for the episode post?  Most folks do not do any of these things, we enjoy vicariously watching others on their journey.  We like the story, the struggle, the growth, and the journey; but most of all we love the happy ending.  We know it's coming so we sit on pins and needles and watch the drama unfold.  Why then, in our own lives, do we want to skip to the end?

Missing Your Life for Work

In our own lives, the struggle is not that much fun.  We want to quickly skip through the pain and get to the good stuff.  Several years ago, Adam Sandler starred in a movie where he found a remote that would speed up his life.  At first, it was a blessing but towards the end it was heart breaking to see the result of a life not lived.  As Christians, the Lord will not allow our story to unfold that way.

In retrospect, most of the time, when we look back we would not trade who we became out of the struggle for an easier time.  Even some of the toughest times, if given long enough will dull in pain and we can see God's hand on us: guiding, forming, and changing.  We choose not to relive but we appreciate the journey.

Waiting in the Wilderness

Friends, I am guilty of fast forward prayers.  I am particularly impatient with long waits and no progress, like the camping section of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Languishing in the wilderness, isolated, confused, and tormented by the voice of the evil one - we desperately seek to escape those times but the Lord will use them for our good if we let Him.  So appreciate the day, enjoy the journey, find joy in today.  As Christians, we hold on to the certainty of a happy ending.