I picked up a book awhile back titled A 21 Day Journey to a New You - Food, Fitness, and Faith for Women. The book has 21 Biblically-based principles for achieving physical, spiritual and emotional health. Since I've already tried everything else, I figured I'd try this. After all, 21 days is an insignificant amount of time to change decades worth of bad habits.
I read an old saying today - "First, you make your habits, and then your habits make you." How true. Like almost everyone I know, what worked for me when I was a young lady, doesn't work now that I'm mature! I could elaborate on that, but I think you get my drift. I have never really taken care of myself, although there were years that I was in great shape - both physically and mentally (but never the at the same time), and now I'm paying the price. What has always been missing was my spiritual well-being.
My history as a Christian can be summed up like this: During my elementary school years I attended a Baptist church with my friend Judy. Her grandfather (if I recall right) was the minister. I remember going to VBS and still have some remnants of my time spent there. I also remember going to Unity by the Sea in Santa Monica and singing in the choir. My favorite song was "This is My Country". I learned that "Jesus loves the little children", but I really didn't know what being a Christian meant. I knew I wanted to be a Christian, but didn't know how. Then, about 10 years ago I searched, and found, God. I had been saved before, in the early sixties at the Los Angeles Coliseum during a Billy Graham Crusade. But, I expected some sort of noticeable difference in my life (without me doing anything different) and there wasn't one. I ran across Joyce Meyer on TV, then read the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, watched the Passion and began craving more knowledge and understanding. That led me to Oak Haven Church where I continue to learn how to be a good Christian.
My buddy Jack is amazed that after years of him trying to help me turn to Christ, I have actually done it. He says I always knew it was the right way because I had a solid foundation! So, that brings me back to my book.
Matthew 7:24 is about the sensible man who built his house on a rock and when the rain fell, the river rose, and the winds blew, his house still stood because its foundation was on a solid rock. So, Jack was partially right. I did have a foundation. I have always known God was real, but my foundation wasn't solid, it was very slippery.
I plan to spend the next 21 days changing that - it's really not optional at this point. I can be old and overweight if I want to, but it's not what God intended for my life. It's never too late to change, and so I'm trusting God to help me through this. If at first I don't succeed, I'll keep praying. He'll transform my life if I let Him.
During the next 21 days, I plan to establish good habits and change bad ones. Two good habits I plan to develop are to walk Grizz and drink more water every day. The bad habits I plan to change are no over-eating, no late-night eating, less eating out and going to bed earlier.
Today I choose to follow God's plan for my life. Faithfully, I believe He will help me if I let Him.
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