Bombardment

Have you ever had a time when God is teaching you something and you hear about it from many different angles? This tends to happen to me. Apparently the God who created me knows me well enough to know that I need a lot of information, encouragement and instruction from many sources.

I saw my doctor for a check-up at the end of December and he was concerned about my weight gain (only 7-8 pounds in about 6 months). I assured him that it was just due to the holiday, but it started me thinking. I am overweight enough, and have been so my entire life, that I'm sure it has shortened my lifespan. I'm active enough and have never had other medical problems, but the extra pounds for sure will weaken my bones, my joints, my heart and well, my entire body. So, I decided that I needed to lose weight.

I have a follow-up with my doctor in March and I thought "I'll blow him away at how much I've lost." I guess that's ok motivation. Health, right? Not just impressing my doctor. Then, I saw on the TV that a weight loss show is challenging Americans to lose weight. For every pound lost they will give a pound of food to a food bank. So, I signed up. Another pretty good reason, right? Helping others. Then, my husband and I decided to plan a vacation in June. There's an activity that I'd love to do: glass-bottom kayaking. They have a 2-person combined weight limit of 400lbs. We're right at that limit. So, we decided that if we each lose 10lbs or so that we'll be good to go. Another good reason, right?

All of these are good, but none of them are the best reason. As an adopted child of the Lord, heir of the Kingdom, participant in the Great Commission, my life must reflect the Holy Spirit that indwells me. My utmost and #1 goal and motivation should be getting out of the bondage of gluttony and sloth, thus glorifying God who has liberated me.

So the Lord started talking to me about that. I started studying again how God views food in the Bible, what my identity is in Him (by the way, it's Christ, not the number on the scale, nor the size of my pants). As I began to search for His truth He has rushed at me many sources and reminders that i can trust in. Here are a few for example:

1. My co-worker was talking about how gluttony is a sin, but that the Church is very accepting of it.
2. I have found blogs of women dealing with the same addiction in a manner glorifying to God.
3. On the radio, in Dr. randy Carlson's Intentional Life program, a caller spoke about how he and his wife are making choices to be intentional about how they treat their bodies with food.

There are a number of other resources that I've found or tapped into again. Praise the Lord for providing everything I need for life and godliness!