Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Credit Where Credit is Due

Very rarely do I sit down to blog and have little or no idea what I'm going to blog about, but today is one of those days. I am just determined that July is not going to turn into another month of me having very little to say, because there is so much going on right now. Today's blog is simply going to have to be a little bit of stream-of-consciousness.

This weekend, the kids and I took a road trip with some friends, to surprise a friend in Virginia. We are in her wedding in a few weeks, but she and the groom had two showers this weekend, and we thought it might be fun to show up unannounced. It was an excellent surprise, and overall, I did great with points. I stayed active even though I was out of town, and I saved my flex points for the wedding showers. I even took my own lettuce along.

My downfall came on the trip home, when I hadn't been able to pack food as carefully, and we were on the road for 12 hours, and we were left at the mercy of gas stations for nurishment. Yes, pretty sure I used all of this week's flex points on Monday. Add that to the arrival of my monthly friend, and the scale was not kind at Tuesday morning's weigh in.

However, the scale was also not cruel in the outrageous degree. I had only gained 1.2 pounds, and I'm fairly sure after standing on the scale this morning, that it's gone already. The victory over the last month has really been in maintaining. I have had health problems. I have had major life changes. The life changes are far from over. And yes, now my little girl is passing through some difficult times and she needs her mommy. Still, at my June 21st weigh in, I weighed exactly the same as I did yesterday. Sometimes the biggest victories are in the moments when the waves of life hit you in quick succession, yet they don't push you back.

I can't take personal credit here. In fact, I think it's time to hark back to one of my earliest blogs, in which I invoked the help of Almighty God in my journey to lose this weight. Let's give credit, where credit is due. To put it in the words of one of my favorite old hymns, "Jesus led me all the way." Now people may roll their eyes here, and say, now what does faith have to do with the size of your hips? Everything.

Weight loss is a journey that starts on the inside and shows up on the outside. In Hebrews, we read "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Somehow, I don't think the writer was make a direct reference to the universal pool of dieters who were and would be throughout all time; however, the general principal definitely applies. Faith is the inward force that, heavenly directed, addresses the thoughts of the mind and the attitudes of the heart, that then express themselves in tangible actions.

The mind says, "But I'm a good, albeit round, person who DESERVES that brownie sundae."
Faith answers, "You are precious in My Sight, and it would please Me if you did not get heart disease and pass into eternity prematurely."
The heart says, "But I've had a terrible, no good, very bad day, and I really need three quarters of this pizza to FEEL BETTER."
Faith answers, "I made today, and I know all about it. Look to me for your emotional needs, and not that greasy wedge of cardboard!"

No doubt, I could fill pages with like conversations; however, nothing serves as a better testimony to the truth, than the actual TESTIMONIAL. I could not have lived through the last six months without knowing that I would not walk through a single step of my journey alone. On the mountain tops, when I reached yet another goal--either in my choices or on the scale, I looked out from the mountain top and rejoiced "I will lift my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help." And in the valleys when, due to circumstance or choice, nothing went as planned, I remembered "though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His Hand!"

I thank God for the victory He has given me in weight loss, not only because of the weight loss, but because during this season of challenges (my own anxiety, my daughter's illness) the tremendous experiences of the last six months offer so much reassurance. HE IS ABLE! And I? As I know from Philippians, "I can do ALL THINGS through Christ which strengtheneth me."

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