When my husband and I took a trip to Miami last spring (can you say SWIMSUIT????), I was much more careful with what went into my mouth!  I ate only veggies, fruits, and nuts.  Everyday I had a fresh spinach salad full of  raw, sliced vegetables.  The salads were beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.  I got to the point that I didn’t even care for dressing- just a little lemon juice splashed on top.  The funny thing was, the more I ate these spinach salads, the more my body craved them.  Salads from restaurants, with iceberg lettuce, lots of cheese and loaded with heavy ranch dressing, usually my favorite menu item, became repulsive.

Another strange thing began to happen to my eating habits.  Normally an avid dessert eater, I avoided sugar until my trip.  And, the strange thing was, the longer I fasted from sugar, the less I craved it!  Saying “no” to sweets eventually became easy (definitely NOT normal for me!).

After a couple of months eating this way, I was so excited when our big trip finally arrived.  I thought I would have so much FUN eating all of the foods I had been “denying” myself.  Funny things was, when I finally DID eat the juicy steak, scrumptious cake, and all of the goodies, what I really was craving was my homemade spinach salad.

There were definite benefits when I changed my eating habits.

I lost a lot of weight!

I had so much ENERGY.

I felt GREAT!

My body, once purged of all the “bad” food wanted the “clean” food.  It craved the healthy food.  Once I had gotten rid of all the “junk” food from my diet, I no longer wanted it.  My body was functioning GREAT.

But, then…..Father’s Day arrived and with it, a new grill for my husband.  It was a new “toy” and Brian starting cooking on it DAILY.

We immediately became CARNIVORES….eating LOTS of meat- hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs…..  And, for some reason, chip and dip, breads, and desserts just seemed to go so well with the meat.  Even though I continued to prepare the salad, we began eating less and less of it.

After a few weeks of eating this way, I began noticing a few things.

I was CRAVING sugar again.

I was feeling tired and cranky at times.

I gained back weight!

This didn’t happen immediately, but little by little.  But, before I knew it, I really didn’t “want” the salad any longer.  It just didn’t “look” good anymore.  I really just wanted to eat chip and dip and brownies!  The more I gave in to the cravings, the more I craved the junk.

Interestingly, the same thing was happening to me spiritually.

I had been getting up and spending time with God.  My mind was being renewed and His Living Water was refreshing my soul.  I was CRAVING God, wanting more and more of Him and desiring to spend my time with Him.

But, little by little, I began choosing “junk”.  I overslept in the mornings, making for just “snippets” of quiet time with God, not really quality chunks of time alone with Him.  We were traveling often and missing church weeks at a time.  I wasn’t keeping up with my Bible Study.  Before long, I found it easier to turn on the TV and “veg out” instead of spending time with God.  Picking up a magazine, flipping through and reading it seemed “more fun” than reading my Bible.  Just like junk food became easier to choose, junk “activity” became easier to do.  I began filling up on the “world”, instead of drinking in the life-giving Presence of God!

And, after a few weeks of living this way, I began noticing a few things.

My soul felt downcast.

I was cranky.

My mouth “got me into trouble,” and I don’t mean with eating!

But, most of all, I just felt “off”……something was wrong.

I missed God!

And, for some reason, it seems harder, both with eating and spiritually, to “get back on track” then to “fall off the wagon”!  But, thankfully, God is  patient, loving, merciful, and forgiving!  He LONGS for us to come back and drink Him in!  He misses us even more than we miss Him.  All we need to do is turn to Him and tell Him we need Him.  He waits with arms open wide.

“O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You.  My soul thirst for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water……Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You….My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.”  Psalm 63:1-5

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.  Psalm 139:13-18 (NKJV)

The other evening I was scanning the channels on our TV to see if there was anything interesting to watch.   I suddenly stopped scanning when a show caught my eye.  I heard part of a conversation of two young ladies.  One of the young ladies told the other that for her birthday she was going to buy her breast implants because – “ It will make her feel better about herself and bring her more confidence.”   The other girl squealed in total excitement, “My life will be so much better!”

How sad is that?  To think that changing one’s appearance in hope that it will make one feel better as well as her life will be much better!   It’s so disturbing to think that thousands of young ladies might have heard this conversation and wonder if they changed something about themselves that it will make their life better.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about changing your appearance especially if one is overweight and needs to lose a few pounds or more.  We all know that being overweight is hard on our bodies and not healthy.   What disturbed me was that they believe changing oneself on the outside would make life better for them.  I don’t fault these young ladies at all – let’s face it – we see these messages all the time on TV, movies, magazines etc….   If you are skinny enough, cute enough, tall enough, and rich enough, etc… you will be popular and successful in life.  They do not understand that one can change everything external about them but if they do not make the right changes within themselves it will all be totally superficial!

How heartrending that they do not realize that God made them and loves them just the way He created them.  Too many people think that if they change the outside it is what they need when actually it’s the inside – their heart – that needs to be changed – to be right with the Lord!

³ Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
⁴ When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
⁵ But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.   Psalm 146:3-5 (NLT)

Dear Lord may we as mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and friends teach our young girls the meaning of true beauty and true happiness.  May we set an example for all young ladies we come in contact with each day.  May we not be so obsessed about our “outside” shell that we too send the wrong message to our young ladies.  May we be examples of true beauty – life in Christ.  In Jesus precious name, amen.

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since Jim and I heeded to the Lord’s leading to leave Arizona after 20 years of ministry in three churches, the last being 12 years in Phoenix, Arizona.

When Jim and left Arizona in our old RV May of 2009 for a six weeks’ vacation to visit my mother in Pennsylvania; we both were looking forward to a time of renewal, refreshment, and revival of our bodies and spirits. Little did we know that in just a few short weeks our lives would never be the same.

For some reason beyond my comprehension, the Lord has led us on various journeys over the years most people find ridiculous and foolish. This past year being right on the top of the list of foolishness too! When we share our journey with others, for the most part we hear, “You did what?!” “You’re crazy!” “Better you than me!” Why would people say these things concerning our latest journey? The next several “Journey” posts will explain. I will share how God has provided for us this past year, as well as assist us in our adjustment to our “Journey of Change”.

Let us see what Webster’s Dictionary has to say concerning the meaning of change:
: to make different in some particular way
: to make radically different
: to give a different position, course, or direction to
: to replace with another
: to make a shift from one to another
: to undergo a modification of
: to pass from one phase to another

I love the second definition for change; “to make radically different.” I can certainly say that our lives have been made radically different this past year!

The number one remark or question we have received concerning our “journey of change” this past year has been: “How do you know it was the Lord’s will or leading?”

Psalm 37:7 tells us; “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” (NLT)

For several years prior to our vacation and move, Jim and I waited patiently in the Lord’s presence for Him to show us what He desires for us to do next in our ministry and lives. Each year we received the same answer – “Be still”. During our vacation Jim and I agreed that we would not watch TV or pass our time away with “busyness”; that whenever we were not with mom we would spend our time “being still” in His presence waiting patiently for Him to act. We took this time to pray, read His Word, talk and share our hearts with one another. It was during this time that the Lord revealed His will for our lives and the “changes” that would come about in full fruition the coming years.

It was during our vacation last year that we realized that God was working in our hearts and lives the past few years for such a time as this. We were not prepared the preceding years for what the Lord desires us to do… to give up…to relinquish our wills as well as worldly possessions in our lives. We had to ask ourselves the question; “Are we ready for what the Lord requires from us now?” “Are we ready for the next step in “Our Journey of Change”?

Stay tuned as I continue to share “Our Journey” on my blog.