All posts by Becki

Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: God’s food

a. Mothering Monday, b. Training Tuesday, c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

I’ll admit, there are many times that I’m sitting at church thinking about what we are going to have for lunch.  “Should we go out?  Should we go home to eat?  What do we have?  Do we have enough eggs to make eggs or pancakes?  I think we have hot dogs, maybe we could do that.  No, let’s just go out.  Where should we go?  I wonder what we should have for dinner.  If we go out for lunch, we definitely need to eat dinner at home.  Maybe we could have the hot dogs for dinner.”  Of course this internal conversation is going on while the pastor is teaching a lesson from the Bible.  A lesson that he has prayed about.  A lesson that he spent time preparing.  A lesson that God made sure I got out of bed, my family dressed, and at church to hear.  And my mind is on food.

“My food,” said Jesus,”is to do the will of Him who sent me to finish His work.”  -John 4:34

When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, the one who had several husbands and was currently with a man who was not her husband, the disciples came up to them.  They couldn’t understand why Jesus would be talking to this Samaritan (Samaritan’s were half-breed Jews who were considered unworthy and repulsive to the Jews) woman (at the time, rabbis didn’t talk to women without their husbands there).  But they didn’t ask Jesus why He was talking to her.  Instead they tried to change the subject.  “Rabbi, eat something.” His reply was, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me to finish His work.”  My translation, “How can I even think of food when people need me, when people need to know God?”

Jesus was saying that He got his nourishment from his service.  Food wasn’t even on his mind.  The woman by the way became a follower of Jesus, she went and told others about Jesus.  “Many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony.”  To read the whole account in John 4, click here.

As someone whose mind always seems to be on food, this verse really stuck out to me.  Whether I am eating “correctly” or not, if my mind is more on food than it is on God and the work God has for me, then there is a problem.  So what do I do to get my mind off of food and onto God?  The only way I know how is to make sure I’m spending time in the Bible and praying.  And when my mind starts drifting to food when it shouldn’t, I need to pray and ask God to take control of my thoughts.  I need to be purposeful in focusing my thoughts on God and not on food.  Obviously, I have not yet achieved this, I’m still pressing on in the process.  I can’t wait for the day, that I can write about this in a past tense instead of a present one!

I also am more and more realizing that while I’m training myself to focus my thoughts on God, I need to be training my boys as well.  Just as I need more than a Sunday morning sermon to grow in my relationship with Jesus, my boys do too.  So I can’t expect their Sunday school class to be enough to foster that growth.  Over the summer, we read as a family a great book:

Basically it was a book with all the “popular” stories from the Bible from Genesis through Revelation.  Every story though ended pointing back to Jesus.  As an adult, I enjoyed it and thought it did a really good job of tying the Bible together.  My boys loved the stories, the pictures and talking about it.

Currently, we are doing daily devotions from this book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are great, because they are quick, written for children, have “fill in the blank” prayers and cover a variety of topics.  Even though it’s for younger kids, my 5, 7, and almost 11-year olds enjoy it.  My 7-year-old loves to then take the suggested Bible verse, look it up in his Bible and read it to us.  I love that he’s learning how to find books, chapters, and verses in the Bible, that he’s reading, and that he’s reading God’s word.  He loves the Bible that he uses, Hands-On Bible.

It’s the full Bible with a lot of fun, practical applications to make the Bible real and accessible for children.  And I think that’s important, after all, Jesus did say:

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14

Which, by the way is a Bible verse that I memorized through Steve Green’s children’s Bible verse memory songs:

Click on the picture of the CD to go to Amazon to preview it.

So as I’m learning to be in God’s word everyday and make my food the same as Jesus’ food, to do the will of God, I am trying to be purposeful in feeding my children that same food.  What are you feeding your children?

♥Becki

P.S. Sorry I didn’t post on Monday or Tuesday.  Monday was a busy, busy day and Tuesday was a sick day – I actually took 3 naps and then was still able to sleep through the night!  I must have been really run down.  So today’s post actually was a combination of Mothering Monday, Training Tuesday, and Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word.

Thanks for reading!  And if you think any of your friends would enjoy reading, feel free to click on the share buttons below!  Have a great day feasting on God’s food.

Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: Finding rest

c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

What super power would you want to have?  As a mom of 3 boys, we have many discussions about superheroes and their powers.  My boys would like to be super strong.  When they ask me, I usually say I wish I could fly.  But deep down I really wish I had some type of force field that I could activate whenever needed and no one or no sound would be able to break through.

When would I use this power? (Although if you are a mom, I’m guessing you really don’t need to ask.)  Picture the phone ringing – force field up!  Picture a hot cup of coffee or tea – force field up!  Picture a throbbing head – force field up!  And of course, picture going to the bathroom – force field up!

Sometimes I yearn for solitude with no one pressing in on me.  I know (because I’m constantly reminded by those older than me) that this season in life is fleeting.  I know I should savor each hug and snuggle on the couch.  I know there may be a day when my kids wished I didn’t exist instead of wanting me every 2 minutes.  But despite this knowledge, some days I am just tired and oh so weary and I feel like I have nothing left to give – not even a hug.

Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”  I recently read an article where the author compared Jesus’ life to that of a mom’s life.  I wish I could find it to give the author credit, but I can’t.  Anyway, the author told about how everywhere Jesus went crowds followed him and pressed into him.  When Jesus fed the 5000 he originally was going off to a solitary place with just the disciples for some rest.  He had just learned that John the Baptist was beheaded and wanted to be alone.  But the crowds saw them and ran to where he was.  Jesus had compassion on them and started teaching them and then fed them.  How many times do I intend to have some solitude only to have children following me and then I end up doing something for them?  Definitely more than I can count.  Later that night, he dismissed the crowds and sent his disciples away in a boat, went up on a mountain alone and prayed.

While on the mountain, the disciples in the boat were struggling against a heavy wind.  Jesus saw the disciples straining but did not immediately go to them.  The bible says just before dawn he walked out to the disciples and calmed the storm.  (This was when he walked on water.)  I love that Jesus didn’t immediately go, that he continued to take time to be alone.  As a mom, that is music to my ears.  I don’t need to feel guilty that I desire time alone.  Instead, Jesus shows me that it is important.   So I have been known to “plug my boys in” to the TV or drop them off at a friend’s so I can take 30 minutes to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and the Bible or a good book.  Then I am ready to go back to wiping noses (and other body parts), talking about super heroes, getting drinks, folding laundry…

So whether you are a mom or not, I’m sure you have life pressing in on you.  Mine happens to be in the form of a 5, 7, and 10-year-old.  But yours may be in the form of co-workers, friends, responsibilities, finances… How do you find rest when you are weary?

♥Becki

P.S.  Read Matthew Chapter 14 yourself to see what happened in God’s words instead of mine.  Click here to go to BibleGateway.com

Training Tuesday: The threshold

b. Training Tuesday

I did it!  I “ran” 3 miles for the first time since early July.  As usual, I use the term run very loosely, because my time for 3 miles was 46 minutes, which is over a 15 minute mile, but I didn’t stop to walk to take any breaks and I made it.  I’m pretty sure mentally the first mile was the toughest and I’m also pretty sure I could have run another mile when I was done, so I know I can push myself harder… but really with the way I’ve been slacking, it feels fabulous to know I can still “run” 3 miles.

On the flip side, according to the scale this morning, I’m up .4 pounds from last Tuesday.  Really, that’s no surprise because I certainly wasn’t eating like I wanted to lose weight.  As I was running today, I sat down on my mental therapist couch and was trying to figure out what’s going on that I seem stuck.  Last Spring, I broke 2 weight barriers, the second one was one that I hadn’t broken for 7 years. Seven years ago when I finally got down to that weight, which was a pre-pregnancy weight from 3 years prior, I got pregnant again.  And once again, my weight rose.  So I was pretty excited to hit that mark 7 years later, but then I stopped losing.  I stagnated… not because it is a healthy weight for me.  It was more like mentally I felt like that was a threshold I am unable to pass.  It is almost as if I don’t think that I am someone who weighs less than that.  Am I scared?  I’m not sure.  But I know when I got there, I stopped and then slowly started gaining weight again.

So now, I’m 6 pounds above that mark.  And I ask myself, is this who I see myself as?  Someone destined to be overweight for her whole life?  Or am I a skinny girl in a fat girl’s body – needing to step out of it?  I think in the quietness of my heart, I see myself as someone destined to be overweight for her whole life.  But… I know that’s not how God sees me.    His word tells me over and over otherwise.  But am I willing to trust Him on that?  Am I willing to sacrifice and exercise and deny myself the indulgence of food in exchange for being who He has created me to be?  I know there are probably some of you who want to scream at me, “Just do it… join Weight Watchers and stick to it!”  Well to be honest, I want to scream that to myself also… but I know there is a strong heart issue going on that I need to work out with God.  Because when this weight comes off, I want it to be for good.

So forgive my whining, I’m getting off the mental therapist couch and for now going to celebrate that I did my run.  And truly I pray that in the next month, I’ll be rejoicing on a Tuesday post that I’m below that threshold again.  Thanks for reading and giving me a forum to voice my frustrations and to hold myself accountable.  Hope you are doing better than me on your own health journey!

♥Becki

Mothering Monday: Discipline – What’s Your Motivation?

a. Mothering Monday

Why do you want your children to behave?  Should be an easy question to answer right?  But it is a question that tripped me up when I heard it years ago.  Because the true answer was not one I really wanted to admit.  I wanted my children to behave to make my life easier, more enjoyable, and so that others would look at them and ultimately me and think, “Wow, she’s a great mom.”  It was all about me.

I wanted my boys to be quiet when I was on the phone so I could enjoy my conversation.  I wanted my boys to go to bed easily so I could have a relaxing quiet house.  I wanted my boys to get dressed and not throw a tantrum about tags and buttons on their clothing because I didn’t want it to take 45 minutes to put their clothes on.  I wanted my boys to play nicely with other kids so I didn’t have to supervise too closely and I could talk to the mommies.  I wanted my boys to leave a play area quietly and calmly and not throw a tantrum because I didn’t want to be embarrassed.

And you know what?  Really those aren’t bad reasons.  There is nothing wrong with wanting a peaceful, enjoyable, non-embarrassing life.  But the thing is, when those were my main motives in wanting my children to behave, I’d find myself getting angry, frustrated, and depressed.  In the past few years, I’ve been shifting my motivation.  As some of you know, my oldest son is on the Autistic spectrum, diagnosed with Asperger’s.  A very real conversation my husband and I have had is where we see him in 15 years when he’s 25.  Will he be able to have a job?  Will he be able to live on his own?  Most likely he will be.  But questioning that has caused me to reassess why I want my children to behave.  I want them to develop the qualities and characteristics that they need to be happy, productive, well-adjusted, relational members of society.

I want my boys to be quiet when I’m on the phone so that they learn to be patient and respectful of others.  I want my boys to go to bed easily so that they learn how to live within boundaries that are established for their health and well-being.  I want my boys to get dressed and not throw a tantrum about tags and buttons so that they learn to adapt and problem-solve when something is uncomfortable or not how they want it.  I want my boys to play nicely with other kids because I want them to be kind and considerate and to be concerned about the needs of others.  I want my boys to leave a play area quietly and calmly so that they learn to handle the many transitions and changes that we have in life.

When my focus is on growing these characteristics in my boys, my discipline and training is much calmer, rational, loving, and effective.  I also find that I’m much more prayerful in my discipline when my motivation is growing my boys into men of character and not just making my life easier and making me look good.  So, as you are disciplining your children, I encourage you to think about what your motivation is.  Why do you want your children to behave?

♥Becki

P.S. Thanks for reading, I find that writing these posts is very therapeutic for me… and an added bonus of being able to write on a forum where others read is if they are encouraged, can relate, or feel like someone else understands them.  As always, I love to hear your thoughts!

P.P.S or is it P.S.S?  Anyway… MOPS moms, if you even bothered to read all the way through… sorry for taking a shortcut this morning and just using the article from last week’s newsletter.  But I liked what it said, and well, it’s a Monday morning, and I don’t have anywhere to be, so the thought of climbing back in bed for a little bit is pretty appealing 🙂

Friends & Family Friday: Our words

f. Friends and Family Friday

“A friend loves at all times.”  When I was in high school one of my friends gave me a little sign that said this.  I remember I centered it in a collage surrounded by our particular group of friends and brought it to college with me.  Through 4 years of college that collage hung on my dorm rooms’ or apartments’ walls.  I loved it!

Anyway, when she gave it to me, I remember saying, “I wonder what else the proverb says about friends.”  Because when I find a Bible verse, I like to see what the rest of the chapter says to keep it in context.  So I went to my Bible:

Proverbs 17

1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

2 A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.

4 A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;  a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

5 Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

6 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

7 Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

8 A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it; they think success will come at every turn.

9 Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

10 A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool.

11 Evildoers foster rebellion against God; the messenger of death will be sent against them.

12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.

13 Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good.

14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the LORD detests them both.

16 Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?

17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

18 One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.

19 Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

20 One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

21 To have a fool for a child brings grief; there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

23 The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.

24 A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

25 A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

26 If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right.

27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,  and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

So what did I find?  The chapter seemed to stress the significance of our words to our relationships.  Did you see it?  “A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.” Deceitful – not everything people tell us about other people is true.  Destructive – in fact things that are said are only meant to tear someone down.  Do we choose to listen to it?  Do we pay attention?  How do we know if it is deceitful and destructive or truth?  So perhaps it’s best to not listen at all when someone is talking about another person.

“Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”  I need to work on this.  I sometimes will tell a friend about how another friend has wronged me in my eyes.  My motive truly isn’t to make my friend angry or not like the other person.  My motivation is more that I want to know I’m not crazy or irrational, that I’m justified in being upset.  BUT… when I read this part of the verse, I know that what I’m really doing is tearing apart friendships – mine and others.

“Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”  Oh, how I need these words to take hold of my heart.  Drop the matter – why is it that we find the need to let people know every time they hurt or frustrate or anger us?  Learning when it is appropriate to talk about things and when it is appropriate to offer grace, look the other way and drop the matter is no easy thing.  I’m pretty sure the majority of matters are droppable.  I think in addition to dropping them in the sense of not starting a quarrel, it is important to drop them internally as well, because when we harness the bitterness in our heart, that dam will burst at some point.

Going along with starting a quarrel, “Whoever loves a quarrel, loves sin.”  Do you have friends who seem to always want to fight about something?  I hate to sound harsh, but perhaps those are not friends we should be spending a lot of time with, because they are causing us to sin.  You wouldn’t hang out with a friend who was always trying to get you to steal or break the law (I don’t think…) so we probably shouldn’t be hanging out with a friend who is always trying to get us to break God’s law.

“The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is evil-tempered.  Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”  Words once said are really hard to take back.  We all have been told that, and we probably all have experienced that… but when are emotions are all worked up, it’s so hard to hold our tongues.  But, I do believe that the more we spend time in the Bible, the more we are asking God to work in our lives, the more we are willing to look at others as imperfect people just as we are imperfect and offer them the same grace that God offers us, it does get easier.

♥Becki

P.S. Here’s a few more verses on speaking…

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” (James 1:18-20)

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)  Click here to read Wednesday’s post on this verse.

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14)  This was written by King David at the end of a psalm in which he was praising God and asking God to forgive him.  I think this is an awesome prayer for all of our words and thoughts in relationships – that they would be pleasing to God.

 

 

Thursday’s Thoughts on Home: Five people, one toilet

d. Thursday's Thoughts on Home

My house has five people living in it and one bathroom.  I don’t say that to complain… really for the most part, it’s no big deal.  But, a lot of my friends’ homes have 3 or 4 or more bathrooms, so I thought I’d share some insight on how we function in a one bathroom home…

A closed shower curtain makes the shower/bath a separate room, so you should fully expect that there will be other people in the bathroom while you bathe.  Locking the door for a shower is not an option.

If you really have to go, it is important to call “first dibs” on the bathroom before the family starts getting out of the van when you arrive home.

If someone’s business is taking a little longer it is perfectly acceptable for a boy to go outside to pee behind a tree.  It is not perfectly acceptable but might be necessary for a grown woman who has birthed 3 children to pee into a WaWa cup… just saying… or it is perfectly acceptable to ask someone to take a “break” from their business to allow for a quick pee.

When seeing a kit on how to train your cat to use the toilet instead of a litter box, we thought that would be a fun idea… until we realized that would mean we’d have to also share the one toilet with a cat.

You would think that it would be easier only having one bathroom to clean, but there are five people using the toilet (4 of them male, 3 of them with questionable aim), brushing their teeth, washing their faces and hands, showering or bathing, 1 person putting on makeup, 1 person styling her hair, and 1 person shaving his face and head… so there’s a LOT of grime to clean… So I’ve learned to accept that my bathroom is not going to be the sparkling, beautiful guest bathroom that I see in a lot of my friends’ homes.  That’s OK… it just needs to be functional, well functional and sanitary and perhaps sometimes the sanitary level is questionable.

After 7 years of living here with only one bathroom, I can honestly say that I would be completely content if this is our forever home.  Really, I don’t need more.  Because having too many people for one toilet is a good problem to have 🙂  But if anyone ever feels like adding a bathroom to our home or giving us a home with more bathrooms, I wouldn’t complain…

So that’s all for today, nothing too deep or profound – just a glimpse into my life.  And most likely when Jeff (my husband) reads this he’ll tell me how it definitely was TMI!

♥Becki

P.S.  This is the same bathroom that I fixed the sink awhile back.  Guess what??? It still works!  Yay.  (If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, you can read the story here)

 

 

Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: A gentle answer

c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

This past week has involved a lot of drama… Drama from me as I yelled at my kids over little things because I was extra busy.   Drama from my kids as they, sensing my attitude, seemed to yell at each other.  Drama from various women as they are “fighting” with other women, and for various reasons I was consulted as a judge, moderator or consoler.  So all this drama has really made me examine our interactions.

In doing so, I was reminded of a Bible Verse that my oldest son and I had memorized several years ago as he was struggling with his reactions to some peers who were making him angry.  They would say things to him that they knew would get him mad just to get a reaction.  Things like, “Oh look, here’s the book you should get.”  That was said at a school book swap while pointing to a Dora book – the message to a third grade boy of course being that “You are a baby.”  How did my son respond?  He yelled at them and then began ripping the book.  (Sounds extreme, I know but remember he does have asperger’s, and these were boys that often ridiculed him to get him to react.)  So, anyway there was a lot of that going on.  During that time, I had stumbled upon this Bible Verse:

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

We talked a lot about how the word “answer” implies that this is talking about how we respond to others around us.  The word “wrath” implies that the others already are angry for whatever reason.  So the question is, do we want to turn that wrath away or stir it up?  My son and I have spent hours rehearsing responses to various situations… ways to offer a gentle answer.  “You know what?  My 3-year-old brother would love that book, thanks for showing it to me!”

I wish I could say that he has learned to always offer a gentle answer… it is still a working process.  But on those occasions that he does, the situation is definitely diffused.  And in remembering the verse this week, I’m convicted of the tone of my voice when I respond to my children’s behavior.  “A gentle answer turns away wrath.”  When I am calm and clear, the situation usually doesn’t escalate.

I also think that we as adults need to remember this for our interactions with each other (both face to face and through email) as well.  Let’s remember to respond with “gentle answers” instead of “stirring up anger.”

 

Wednesday’s Wisdom from the Word: Prayers answered with a “No”

c. Wednesday's Wisdom from the Word

“I don’t have to get any shots, right?”  A few weeks ago I took my 7-year-old for his doctor well visit, and of course my son’s fear was that he was going to have to get a shot.  Almost 11 years ago, I thought there was nothing worse than having to hold your baby down while the nurse gave them a shot.  It was me they saw when the pain came.  I was the one holding them.  I was the one not protecting them from the pain.  But I’ve learned there are worse things than that: having to hold your 7-year-old down.  Now, not only are you the one that they see when the pain comes.  You are the one that they are begging to save them from what they know is coming.  You are the one that has to say, “No” this is important.

Why do I hold my children and not give in to their pleas to not get a shot?  Because I know that getting immunized is important both for their health and for the community’s health.  (If you are someone who is anti-immunization – stay with me for the analogy to come, you’ll get it even if you disagree on the merits of immunization…)  Could I have saved them from it?  Yes.  I could have said, “No” to the nurse, taken my son by the hand, and left.  But I didn’t.  I allowed that pain in his life and said no to his begging to not have to endure it, because I saw the big picture.  He didn’t.

Sometimes instead of removing their pain, I hold them through it, I hug them, I cry with them, and I keep them safe.  If I do that for my children in my limited earthly wisdom, how much more must an all-knowing, all-loving, perfect, sovereign God do that for us.

When my oldest was 3 he went through a stage where everyday he asked for ice cream for breakfast.  I would reply, “No.” and get him something healthier to eat.  He knew that ice cream tasted good and that he would really enjoy eating it.  I knew that his body needed something with more nutrition to start the day.  I heard his request, I met his need (that he was hungry) but not the way he wanted.  Again, if I do that for my children in my limited earthly wisdom, how much more must an all-knowing, all-loving, perfect, sovereign God do that for us.  (By the way, he asked everyday, because occasionally in my imperfect mothering I would give in because you know what that sounded good, and I wanted some too.  So he was persistent in asking because today might be the day she says yes… that part of the analogy doesn’t extend to our perfect God.)

Today as I was reading Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word, I was reading/praying in a section on overcoming unbelief.  One of Beth’s prayers got me thinking about all of this, so I’ll end quoting her:

“Dear Jesus, You told Your close followers, who were taught how to seek the Father’s heart, that whatever they asked for in prayer they were to believe they received it and it would be theirs.  (Mark 11:24) O, Father, help me to know Your heart intimately so that I’ll know how to pray, and believe in advance that I will receive it!”  (emphasis mine)

♥Becki

Training Tuesday: Praying about eating

b. Training Tuesday

“God, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which You have called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)  Help me to forget all past failures or even achievements and to focus on pressing forward with You now.” (Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word)

Yesterday I talked about praying for my children and my home.  Today, continuing with prayer, I pulled out Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word.  There’s a section in it on “Overcoming Food Related Strongholds.”  So today, in addition to praying for my boys and my home (with the candle reminder), I’m praying for my eating.  But instead of using the candle to remind me to pray about my eating, I’m doing it whenever I think about or see food… which means I’m pretty much praying all day long about it!

Some of the prayer was intentional, sit down with the Bible or Beth Moore’s book, but most of it was quick pleas: “God I’m going to eat lunch, help me to eat wisely and in moderation.”  “God, that candy looks so good, help take my mind off of it.” “God, I know it’s crappy for me and won’t satisfy me at all, but I really want to eat that macaroni and cheese, please help me to resist.”  “God, thank you that right now that piece of cake is absolutely no temptation for me.  But I know there will be times it is, help me to stand firm in temptation.”

And then there was also the prayer for mercy as I stood on the scale for the first time in a long time.  I offered a prayer of thanksgiving that my weight didn’t go back over a certain threshold that I celebrated last spring.  But I also had to offer a prayer of confession as my weight was showing the consequence of overeating and many “I’ll get on track tomorrow” days.  So today I’m praying for the discipline, the strength, and the fight to overcome this food related strong hold in my life.  And I’m choosing to make good decisions.  To help keep me accountable without going to weight watchers for a weigh-in, I’ve decided that I’ll use Training Tuesday’s blog posts as my check in with my weight fluctuations (preferably losses!).  I’m not ready to “own” my current weight here, but I’m hoping to lose 40 pounds by bathing suit weather.

So thanks for giving me an outlet to work through this battle and place to hold me accountable.  If you are currently trying to lose weight, or inches, or sizes or however you measure, or know you need to gain weight or stop bingeing and purging or whatever your food related battle, feel free to join me and use Tuesday’s comment section as a place to check in and hold yourself accountable as well.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls down and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12)

♥Becki, imperfect weight loss journeyer