Some time has past since my last update and post. Honestly, I was struggling to find a lesson to post. I was doing surprisingly well this time around and there wasn’t much to say. Since then some things have changed, but I am still lacking the wisdom to put the last few weeks into a lesson. So I will just start with an update from where we left off...
In the last post I was discussing my efforts to get healthier and to lose weight. I believe I mentioned trying to track my calories, not as a diet, but as a form of mindfulness about what I consume. The calorie tracking fell out the window fast. I was using an app to track my calories, but it was only really effective if I was eating prepackaged or take out food. Prepackaged or take out food was not really part of my eating healthier plan and it was difficult to get an accurate sense of my caloric intake when I made my own meals. Yes, there are people who do it and they even have food scales, but this wasn’t for me.
From the few days I used the calorie tracking app, I learned that I am getting enough calories in a day (not too few and not too many), but that I could replace some of my choices with other options to get better use of my calories in a day. For example, I could replace my mocha from Starbucks with food for breakfast, which would lead me to feeling fuller longer and less likely to snack or indulge in sweets.
I was doing well with meal prepping my lunches for the work week and then I failed when I became bored with the same chicken everyday. The key to staying with a meal prep is variety. The ingredients can be more or less the same each day, but should be prepared differently (at least 2 different options for a week). Another key is to have your lunch ready the night before. If you try to make your lunch in the morning while you’re also getting ready to leave then it likely isn’t going to happen.
The Bible tells us we can’t plan for everything and even our best laid plans get changed, but we can make small plans or steps that will make the rest of our day go smoother. If your mornings are hectic then take the time to plan your lunches at night. This can also be applied to exercise. I like my sleep so it would be a struggle to wake up early to get my exercise in before I leave for work in the morning. Not impossible, but enough of a struggle that I likely wouldn’t keep doing it. However, if I come home after work and go straight into exercising I find I am not too tired to do it. Before I was exercising as the last part of my day and I was exhausted, which meant exercise was often skipped. There is not a set way to live out these healthier plans for our lives. Each of us must find the path that works best for us. Why? Because the Bible says our bodies are our temples. We should be doing our part to keep them healthy because that honors God.
Obviously, it is not a dishonor to God if our bodies are riddled with sickness. Yet, if we are unhealthy and sick from our own choices then we should work towards returning our bodies to temples. Bodies that are temples are healthier and their occupants are happier, which means they can do more things for the kingdom of God.
It might seem like I have it all figured out, but I don’t. I am still making conscious choices to meal prep and exercise regularly. My choices are working: I feel healthier and I have lost a few pounds. My advice is not to judge your progress by a scale because weight does fluctuate a bit. However, I still encourage you to celebrate progress (even a pound lost) and continue your journey towards a body that is a temple.
Health update aside, this blog was started to communicate lessons I learned while seeking God and these lessons began in a moment of darkness. I took up this blog again when I found myself in a similar place of darkness. I tried to once again post the lessons I learned, but I found myself struggling to put these new lessons into words. My focus switched to the things I could write about, such as goals for the new year, and it became harder to switch back to the original content: lessons.
I am going to be candid for a moment and do a brief recap of the last 2 months. At the end of December, right before Christmas, my dream of restoration was crushed. My heart was handed back to me as mush, not even as pieces I could put back together. I was struggling to understand and my mantra was “It’s in Your hands”, which was said in a prayer to God. I was so lost and alone that I truly had no choice, but to continually give everything to God. 10 days after this happened there was a glimmer of hope. This is the same time I started to write an update post, but couldn’t because of the unexpectedness of the message. The last few weeks have been filled with random messages that hint at hope and then at the same time do not. Needless to say I am confused.
So my lesson this week, the lesson I have been learning over and over again the last two months, is when you are feeling confused or there is nothing you can do then just give it to God. Repeat as many times as you need “It’s in Your hands.” My prayers have been a time to come to God, tell Him how I am feeling, and to give Him everything I am feeling and/or dealing with. The outcome is not something you can necessary see or tell is happening from the outside, but I feel differently after these prayers. There is a relief in releasing it to God. Whatever happens next is in God’s will and God has a plan for each of us, a plan to bless us and not to hurt us.
