Making everything new!

Well, I have lost 14 lbs since January started and I am pumped. I think I have finally realized that a short time of sacrifice will pay off in the long run. It certainly isn't easy. I have heard a 3 Musketeer bar calling my name and dreamed about eating bacon, but I WILL prevail. I have way too much at stake to falter now.

I am not saying you can't have those things, and believe me, I fully intend to, just not right now. I have to reach my goal and learn to maintain before I can (occasionally) indulge. Right now, I know that if I give in, just once, I will fail. It has happened to me before and I am determined to make this happen.

Revelation 21:5 says, "I am making everything new" and I realize that this is not specifically about me and my weight loss journey, but I still hold on to it because through this process, He is making me new. My pastor used this verse this past Sunday in a sermon on Characters: The Woman At the Well and I was meditating on the verse when I realized that even though I am already a Christian, there are things about me that He is making changes in me. I can claim this verse specifically for me. This weight loss journey isn't just about getting the weight off, but about God making a change in my life. This change is about healthy eating, and spending time with my Father in Heaven instead of always running to food when I need comfort. God is my comfort!

So, my journey continues and faith grows stronger at the same time. I may not be as the woman at the well with my sin, but God continues to seek me out, just as He did her. He offers you and me the same Living Water He offered to her. Will you allow Him to make you new as he is doing to me?

Pulling up my bootstraps.....

It has been 6 months since my last post. I feel I have failed miserably at the task I set before me last year, but I am pulling up my bootstraps and jumping back on the horse...so to speak! It is a new year and 2012 can and will be, only what I make of it. Everyone seems to start the new year with a weight loss goal but this is more than about weight loss. For me, it is about self confidence, purpose and healthy living. This is what I plan to focus on for the next 355 days left in 2012.

1) Develop my relationship with my savior

2) To be a better mother and wife to my family

3) To actually live "Financial Peace"

4) Lose 50 lbs by October

5) To run a 5K

Life is never complete on this earth. There is always something to be learned, things to improve on and relationships to develop, but there has to be a sense of purpose with all this. My journey is about being the woman God intends for me to be and to do this, I have to change from the inside out and it has to start with my relationship with my Savior and from there, my health, my husband and children.

There is a song that has been going through my head this week and it is called "Alive Again" by Matt Maher, our church band sings this and it is so uplifting to me.

I woke up in darkness
sounded by silence
oh where, where have I gone?

I woke to reality
losing its grip on me
oh where, where have I gone?

Cause I can see the light
before I see the sunrise

Chorus
You called and you shouted
broke through my deafness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

You shattered my darkness
washed away my blindness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

Late have I loved you
you waited for me,
I searched for you…
what took me so long?

I was looking outside
as if love would ever want to hide
I’m finding I was wrong

Cause I can feel the wind
before it hits my skin

Bridge
Cause I want you!
Yes, I want you,
I need you
And I’ll do what ever I have to
Just to get through
cause I love you
Yeah, I love you!

I love this song and find my self humming it all the time and as I read the words, I realize, that I AM alive again and I intend on living my life in a way that will allow Christ to shine through everything I do.

I will be blogging about this as I go along because it is beneficial for me to put it down in writing and makes me accountable to anybody who reads it. Those who know me, know I have struggled a lot over the past few years and my life is not a bed of roses, but I keep pushing forward, always trying to be the woman I know Christ wants me to be. It has not been easy, nor will it be this time, but I will press on trying to reach the goals set before me.

Paul writes in Philippians 3:13b-14 "forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

I may be taking this verse a bit out of context, but really isn't about constantly reaching for those things God has called you to do? I think it is a perfect verse for me to begin this year, for anybody who wants to seek out God's will for your life.

Until next time.