Turning Points

Life can lead you to many turns in your journey. We never know what is ahead or around the bend for us to look out for the dips. Although we sometimes plan our trip with hopes and dreams, but ultimately we don’t have complete control of our wheel.
Yet most of us strive for a sense of direction, and when we lose that sense of "what’s next" we desperately want to get find it. Not knowing where things lead for us is difficult and discouraging, to say the least. We are uncomfortable unless we map things out for ourselves, have a plan of action, put the headlights on high beam so we can see where our roads leads.
Yogi Berra once said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," and while this may be funny, it’s very uncomfortable because it reminds us of the uncertainty and nervousness we feel when we have to make decisions that will affect our journey.
Faith in God’s word is our map, why don’t we seek it for instructions? Often times we can’t wait for instructions because we are traveling at the speed of life. Who makes time to read the signs?
Direction requires driving with purpose, seek God’s guidance with everyday aspects of our lives. Do not be in such a hurry that you run into speed traps & miss the signs. The results are often wrecked lives, where we dial 911 for God to clean up our messes. God wants to be our navigator when we seek his direction, when we do this we can coast through life, stop and smell the roses and take in all the signs God offers us!

Lose It for Life

As with most of my posts this one stems from yet another book, I’m reading. I’m still reading Captivating so, if you are wanting more from there stay logged in!

I borrowed this book due to an appetite for trying to lose weight. More than 2 years ago I weighed 170 lbs and this time last year I weighed only 104 lbs. Yes, an incredible weight loss and about a year of struggling and working out to lose it. However, during that year I also became very sick, to the point of needing my gallbladder removed. I later learned that it could have been contributed to my diet and /or changing eating styles so rapidly.

At 104 lbs, I didn’t look very healthy, but of course not I had been sick. I was told over and over again how bad I looked and needed to gain. Good excuse I guess to start eating better and my love for great tasting foods didn’t help matters. Comfort foods are a killer and desserts quickly became my down fall which quickly spiraled out of control leading to gaining weight back. I found myself at 130 lbs pretty quick.

In January 2006 my husband and I joined a class called Body By God. We learned so much about the foods processed by man versus the foods processed by God. Yes, the foods God intended us to eat are better for you, surprise! It was quite scary learning about the foods we eat and what serious health problems they cause. During our journey with BBG, we learned to enjoy fresh veggies and fruits more along with the introduction of Organic foods! Even my 10 year old son joined us with the love of Buffalo Burgers!!

I have to come clean and admit that my hunger and tastes for these better foods was insatiable, I couldn’t eat enough! They are very delicious! So, good in fact, I ended up gaining weight instead of losing. I’ll be honest by saying I didn’t workout enough and didn’t truly stick to every part of the program. However, two AWESOME GOD things did come out of the BBG class. #1 My husband who was on High Blood Pressure meds, lost 20 lbs and is now Medicine Free. Yes, his blood pressure is down and normal again!! Praise God!! #2 I had been on two – three different daily medications myself and I am also medicine free!! In the BBG class we learned so much about what you should and shouldn’t put in your body and how medications mostly mask or simple act as a BAND-AID for what is the underlying issues.

However, today I find myself weighing in at 145 lbs and I’m tried of WEIGHT being a constant problem. I want to learn how to Lose It for Life and because of the Body By God class I know why I need to; it’s learning more skills to JUST DO IT!

If I’m going to Lose It for Life I need to Surrender myself to God, Accept my own emotional issues, pain and loss that will become uncovered by hunger. Accept that God sees my heart; HE knows what I need and will provide me with help.

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved, by all kinds of passions and pleasures. But when the kindness and love of god our Savior appeared, HE saved us. Not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Titus 3:3-5

I know society plays a major role on the why’s I’m FAT again. There are millions of excuses but I must take and accept responsibility for the WHY I’M FAT AGAIN! When we lose sight of the GIVER of all pleasure (food, taste and eating included) we carry a burden of excess, both physically and spiritually.

I’ve learned this: “When it comes to eating, American culture is Toxic”

Lose It for Life won’t be another diet gimmick. I learned in BBG class that gimmicks and fad diets don’t work for the long term. We only need to use logic to realize if they did they would be out of business sooner or later.

Dissatisfied and unhappy with life, the hope is that external beauty will translate into opportunity, acceptance and new life. But the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us this is vanity and only leads to emptiness. Lasting happiness can only come from our Maker.

Thank you for reading and I’ll keep you posted on my new journey. Prayers would be welcomed and loved. Thank you God for the many inspirational people you have placed in my life. I know that thru You I can overcome this weight thing and be free from gluttony once and for all. I ask for help from my friends with accountability. Please forgive me for not taking proper care of Your temple. In Jesus Name I Pray, AMEN

God Bless you all.
Thanks for reading ~ Allie

From Lose It For Life

Wounded Spirits

So many of us come from different backgrounds, demographics, ethnics, brokenness, all bringing different wounded spirits. But if you gather even a small group of women together, you will find that while details may vary, the scars are very similar. We go to therapist telling of our wounds to find blame for the way we are. Retelling childhood horror stories we can’t help but place blame on our parents. We can even place blame back several generations. Have you ever thought of tracing your brokenness all the way back to Eve?

While Eve may have ate the forbidden fruit and started this generational sin we all live in, Adam is just as much to blame. Adam was there before she took her first bite. Adam had the chance to save us by telling her NO. He should have protected her, he was the man afterall. So, do we blame Adam? Some would feel better knowing a man is to blame. But we must stop the blame game, God made us with free will to choose to sin or not to sin.

Generational sin can stop with you, negative traits do not have to continue, abuse, neglect, shame, guilt, all sin can stop with you. Through our loving savior you have the freedom to stop generational sin. Your kids do not have to suffer as you did. Isn’t that awesome? As parents we have one major purpose, one of the greatest gifts you can ever give you child is teaching the truth, the word of God. Showing God’s true love to your children is the greatest gift to pass on generation to generation.

From Captivating:

The way you see yourself now, as a grown woman, was shaped early in your life, in the years when you were a little girl. Women learn from their mothers what it means to be a woman, and from their fathers the value that a woman has – the value they have as a woman. They need to know that their daddies are strong and will protect them; they need to know that their fathers are for them. From them, we learn that we are delighted in, that we are special… or that we are not. How a father relates to his daughter has an enormous effect on her soul – for good or for evil. If we were not deemed worthy of love as children, it is incredibly difficult to believe we are worth loving as adults.

His Words: The vows we make and the things we do as a result of our wounds only make matters worse. Matt 16:25

Thanks for reading,
Allie