Not So Fast! #100creativedays Day 91

Every so often my church has a time of fasting. I am always full of excuses about needing to eat because of my antidepressants and my unstable mood when hungry. This time the call seems to be more directed towards fasting from Social Media! Yes, probably a bigger pleasure for me than eating!

So from midnight tonight, until 18:30 tomorrow I will turn my data off my phone and practice restraint via computer. No blogs, no Facebook, no twitter, no instant messaging... You get the idea!

Work emails yes, gmail yes, SMS and phone yes. I was going to say no gmail but I'm in the middle of an insurance claim and it hardly feels gratuitous...

I'm also giving up tea... I may just go crazy... I'm seriously into tea.

The point of this is to sacrifice a pleasure that we depend on. As a church we want to reflect on the things we want to hand over to God. For me personally its an act of obedience and a sign of me putting my trust in God.

I've been struggling to hand all areas of my life over to God. The way I've thought and acted with regards to romantic relationships shows a massive struggle to have things my way, not God's way. I also need to trust God with my job and future. I need to trust in His provision, and worry less. I'm still struggling and see this mini fast as a gesture.

Fortunately the fast is only 18.5 hours, so expect feedback tomorrow evening :)

A note #100creativedays Day 70

Hey

I blotched last night's post and need to sort it out asap.

I did some baking tonight, but the details need to be kept under wraps until tomorrow, I'm hosting a Mexican dinner. Exciting hey?

I'm not going to waffle on, its late and I don't sleep enough. I lost a chunk of time when I fell down an internet rabbit hole. Reading about adoption of all things.

Check out this blog if adoption etc interests you, especially from a Christian point of view.

WWW.iamnotthebabysitter.com

Breaking Out Of My Chains

I remember seeing a YOU magazine article years ago, where a women claimed that she had shed piles of weight, just by the power of prayer. I was very cynical about it.

Over the last 18 months I have been on a journey of really drawing closer to God and have been so blessed. God gave me a PILE of blessings over the last year and the more I give over to Him, the better things go - figures right? Now, if you have got this far and are still reading, good.

I seem to be getting the same message from so many places, in so many different ways:

• We are the image-bearers of Christ
• Our bodies are our temple
• Jesus was super fit, He walked everywhere (Thanks Mom)

So, I started to think.... if I am an image-bearer... and should be following Jesus' spiritual example... maybe I should be following His physical example? God designed my body to be strong, to work the field and to get me places. How dare I flop into a heap? Then I heard a sermon on "work" and how it is good to work and how God doesn't want us to be lazy. These words almost haunt me. I was also reminded to dedicate everything that I do to God's glory (yeah, not easy!). So I prayed. I asked God to bless my diet, to give me self control and perseverance.

I just did my home work for the Beth Moore "Breaking Free" Bible study that I've joined on Saturday mornings. Working through a study on how we need to find our satisfaction in God, feed our souls, I came across two absolute gems of scripture.

"Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?

Why pay for food that does you no good?

Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is

good for the soul!"

Isaiah 55v2

 

"You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.

I will praise You with songs of joy."

Psalm 63v5

 

I have been slowly becoming aware that the root of my weight gain is comfort eating, I feel like I am breaking habits and teaching my body to be satisfied with better food. At the same time, I am feeding my soul like crazy and aligning my whole self-image to God's image of me.

 

Pray for me, wish me luck, whatever fits into your beliefs. I know that there is no way I would be making this progress, with such surprising ease, without God's help!