Delight in Weakness

Today as I was doing dishes and tidying up the kitchen, I was thinking about the lack of pain I am experiencing compared to many years before this summer.  Yes, I do still struggle with pain but it is nothing like what I had before.  To do the dishes and tidy the kitchen used to be horrid in the pain the department.  My low back would hurt to the point of stabbing pains and then numbness down my right thigh.  Not any more.  I got choked up as I worked away because it truly is so freeing to be able to bike, walk, clean, hike, swim, and do all the things normal moms do with their kids. 

As I worked, it also got me thinking about Paul and his thorn in the flesh.  Being obese is a "thorn in the flesh" for me.  It was one that I caused/allowed because of my own selfish desires.  Paul gloried in his infirmities (2 Cor 12:9-10) because they motivated him to rely on God for his strength.  There is no way I could have stuck to this journey for 11 months on my own.  My own strength is way too weak.  Learning to eat to live has not been easy.  Living to eat because of selfish desires adds such heavy burden (literally) to oneself.  I still struggle at times with desiring to binge on my favorite things but when I turn that desire to Christ, He helps me to remember the consequences of selfish desires.  It is moments like the one above that I enable me to count it all joy to have endured the pain that motivated me to make the changes.  The past month I haven't made any progress in actually losing pounds but my clothes continue to fit better so I know I am losing inches through exercise.  Obedience truly has benefits.  Yesterday I purchased an XL off the clearance top at Christopher and Banks.  Not CJ Banks, the plus size store, but the sister store Christopher and Banks.  It fit nicely!  I was so excited!  Now, it was a fuller style than most of their clothing so therefore was very forgiving, but it fit!  The clerk at the store heard my whoop so I explained to her the reason for the whoop.

I cannot help but wonder what my praises will be next year as I continue this journey to being healthier.  I am hoping that my heels continue to improve so that I run and feel the wind in my face as I run.  Regardless of being able to run or not, I know that continuing in obedience with provide blessings that I wouldn't have known before. 

Continuing to press toward the mark...