Sweet Place of Breakthrough

As I sit here trying to figure out a plan of action for my eating habits, I am reminded of a time before I was pregnant with my fifth child.  I had been experiencing great strides in losing weight and controlling my unhealthy eating habits.

About 5 years ago, I stumbled upon books written by Shonda Parker that talk about being naturally healthy using God's wisdom and guidance.  After reading her books, I decided to make changes in our eating habits as a whole family.  Some of the changes were: raw sugar instead of white sugar, butter instead of margarine, canola oil & olive oil instead of vegetable oil, more fruits and veggies, less packaged foods and more homemade foods.  We were successful in our transition.

Now for the exercise, or lack there of.  We live in the country on the corner of a dead end road.  It is 1 mile round trip (from my house to the dead end and back).  We all love walking and one day decided to walk to the end and back.  We all got to the end, but struggled to get back.  Even the kids, but we were #determined to get home.  After that first walk, the kids did not want to try again.  I convinced them that next time would be easier because I allowed them to take their bicycles.  Success!! We then started a daily regime of walking to the end and back on the nice days.  Then winter hit.  Too cold to walk.  But the next spring brought renewed energy to walk again and we had another successful 3 seasons of walking.

Well, between the walking and eating better and the success of not eating junk food before bed, I starting losing weight.  Then one day, almost 2 years ago, my two youngest children got sick.  I was not feeling very well myself, but they came first.  I got them feeling better and then my two oldest children got sick.  I was still not feeling well, but I took care of getting them better.  Finally, my husband got sick and it was like having another child. :)  All the while, I am feeling nauseous and tired so walking was put on the back burner of our lives.  9 weeks after everyone else was 100% better, I was still feeling terrible.  I went to see my doctor and was told I was pregnant.  I was excited!  We started walking again, but it was hard because I was nauseous all the time.

So here I am.  My baby is almost 11 months old and I have fell back into the routine of eating before bed.  Justifying it by the fact that I need to double my calories because I breastfeed my daughter.  I am still eating healthy throughout the day, but nighttime still gets me.  Also, the walking has ceased as we were in a polar vortex.  It has been a very cold winter here this year.  Well, no more excuses.  I am working on a plan to get back to my sweet place of victory using God's wisdom and guidance.

#Empowered

[Psa 84:2 KJV] 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

This is my new craving for the year.  For a long time, I craved unhealthy food while watching movies with my husband after the children went to bed.  Even before we had our children, we would eat before bed.  Day after day, month after month, year after year, the weight just kept creeping up.  At first I justified my eating habits because I was either pregnant or nursing and needed the extra calories to keep up with my conditions.  In reality, I just wanted food.

Now, I feel #empowered by God's grace to kick this unhealthy habit.  It really should not be hard.  I eat very healthy during the day because I want my kids to see that healthy foods are best.  I was able to kick the habit for about 3 years, but then became pregnant again and used food as an excuse to put on the weight needed for my growing baby.

My baby is almost a year old and I am still in the habit of eating before bed.  I have told my husband my plan of action, and by God's grace, he is going to help me to combat this habit by doing it with me.  Now that's being #empowered.

Jesus Saves

I came to know the Lord in February 2004 when I gave birth to our still born baby boy whom we called Nathan.  Up until then I knew of Him, but did not really know Him or what He could do for my life.  I had 2 young children at that time (a boy who was almost 4 and a girl who was 3).

Since that point, God has blessed me with 3 more living children (all girls).  I have had my trials as well, but I came to realize that living for Christ was not going to be an easy road.  I have family and friends who called me a hypocrite because they knew what my life was like before the Lord entered in and they did not think this was 'real' for me.  Over the years, I lost those friends and had strained relationships with family.  I have also gained good Christian friends and have not allowed the trials to get me down too far.

I still 'back slide' at times, but I know that my redeemer lives and His mercies are new every day for those who call Him Lord.  I know have 2 children that have come to Christ and I could not be happier.