Correlations! Love them!

You know I am doing the "Reading the Bible in 365 Days" on YouVersion.  I love it so far, and I have completed Day 10 (since I started on Dec. 31).  I am always afraid that when I start something like this, my interest will wane and then it will be "Oh yes, I WAS reading the BIble every day but then...life got in the way and I stopped" but so far, I have been excited to settle into the recliner with a cup of tea and read the devotion and the scriptures each morning.  The app is on my phone and on my Nook so I can read along wherever I am, in the car, at one of the girls' houses, sitting in the waiting area.

I also began a re-study of Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst.  This is with a group of ladies on the WW over 50 FB page but it is a separate group who are studying the book together.  One thing I do crave is discussion and interaction during a Bible study.  Maybe it is because I am a teacher, a teacher of literature, one who thrives on discussion of what one reads.  The 'leader' of this group listed a reading schedule and a set of questions from the book to answer as springboards for discussion.  After the first few days and seeing nothing posted, I plunged in and started.  Several followed, and that format has continued into our second week. However, I am noticing that not too many people have responded to my posts, or to any of them for that matter, and most of those who are posting are Babette, Karen F, and Beth Z, all who are friends from DWLZ!  I will keep plugging along with this and try to respond to others' posts, if there are any!  

Last night during the football game I read Chapter 5 in Made to Crave and it really hit home.  "I am made for more" was the recurring theme. I read it, then I returned and re-read it.  I really began to think about it, more deeply than I had during the first time through the study, which was several years ago.  I really am made for more than being an overweight retired grandmother.  The 'retired' part I like and the "grandmother" I like to replace with "Mamaw" but the 'overweight' I don't need.  When I am overweight, I am sluggish.  My knees hurt.  My energy level is zapped.  My self-image and sense of self-worth begins to plunge and that is happening right now.  I feel fat.  I think I look fat.  Plus I think my knee problems and the swelling ankles have a direct correlation to the excess weight I am carrying around.  I just feel so much better when my weight is lower.  I also like being able to pick out clothes and not worry about whether they will fit or not or if I can zip them or if the muffin-top shows too much.  I am, really, I am made for more than this.

This morning when I started the devotional reading there it was again.  Not exactly in the same words, but it was there.  Two spots.  

In Psalm 7:10-17 is this message:  If we fall for temptation and start to enjoy and nurture it, we give birth to disillusionment.  Falling for temptation - yet another roll at Logan's or Texas Roadhouse or a piece of fudge from the candy store at The Island.  We start to enjoy it - the sampler pack of fudge from The Apple Barn?  I sat down with it and carefully divided the three small cubes in halves, then ate one half from each type.  Before I stood up, though, I had eaten the rest of it.  All myself.  It tasted good. It was there.  What was I going to do with those extra pieces anyway?  So I ate them.  Threw the empty package away!   Same thing with Rolo candies.  I can't eat just one of them. I have to eat several, letting them melt in my mouth to savor the chocolate, then chew up the caramel and savor it as well.  Talk about a slippery slope......oh my.   And I enjoy eating those things, so I nurture it (buying the fudge at The Island when I knew I shouldn't) and then I think "Oh I can eat some of it and it won't hurt me because I will start to watch what I am eating later on" and that is just wrong.  I can't eat that stuff and I wasted my money on a box of fudge I can't and won't eat now and if I had just left it there, I wouldn't have this dilemma.  (the box of fudge is going to Megan's house today and I am leaving it there ---she can take it to school for her students)   I can't be disillusioned to think that I can handle eating just one piece of fudge or one cookie or make poor food choices and I will still lose weight (or maintain a healthy weight).  Drive that point home.

The second spot was from Matthew 8:23 - 9:13  During the storms of life (dieting, swollen ankles) it is natural to panic (and I think something is horribly wrong with me).  The response should be trust and be not afraid.  This one is hard for me because my imagination is very active.  Also I have been watching too much television and the commercials on some of the pharmaceutical products are downright scary.  When I woke up this morning, I just knew that my appointment with Dr. Hart was going to lead to a hospital stay for me.  Of course I thought the same thing the last time I saw him.  I felt so relieved and comforted after my appointment, but all of that flew out the window when the girls and I went to Jingle Rails and my knees hurt so bad going up the stairs and I was out of breath too. I need to trust that God is with me, that He is walking beside me each and every day, that I need to listen to Him and trust Him, and that Dr. Hart will get to the bottom of why my feet are swelling and take care of the problem.  No panic.  Trust.

The final spot that hit me hard was that the relationship with Jesus should be our top priority.  I don't like to admit it, but often with me it is not.  There I said it.  I try.  I really do.  But I don't focus on it and nurture it like I need to do.  This morning really hit me hard - with my weight loss I need to nurture that relationship and trust Him.  With my health issues I need to nurture that relationship and trust Him. With every facet of my life I need to nurture that relationship and trust Him.

Today many things that have been on my mind and in my heart seemed to correlate. I love it when that happens!