Maye it is time to do THE GARLIC DIET...

...You don't lose weight; you just look thinner from a distance.  

All week I felt I was doing good.  I stayed on course.  I kept the faith.   I felt joy, even in hard circumstances.  Then came (insert doom music here) weigh in day.  I am up one pound.  However, I know that scales do not tell the whole story.  My clothes feel loose again and my face looks thinner again so I know I have lost weight.  I read once that "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination."  I am still determined.  I ordered new heel lifts for my tennis shoes so I can start walking long distances again.  Walking will help to encourage the pounds to come off.  Then once the pool opens, I can swim laps which will also help.  I struggle with how I look when it comes to swimming.  I have horrible varicose veins and a few months ago the kids and I were talking about looking forward to swimming and Maddie said to me "mom, I don't know how you do it.  If my legs looked like that, I would never wear a swimsuit."  Talk about a low blow.  It took every ounce of courage to step out in public in a swimsuit last summer and this summer I will actually be thinner at the beginning of summer than last year.  I hate being an embarrassment to my children.  While I can't change the varicose veins, I can lose the extra jiggle in my legs.  (Did I just share that for others to read???  I have a feeling many of you can relate.) 

 One thing that keeps me going is joy.  It is becoming my natural response button and it is changing me.  When I am truly doing what God wants me to do, there is plenteous joy.  When you really think about it, overeating is a joyless activity. You are eating to tranquilize and numb yourself. In the process, you are also becoming numb to your joy.  I have come a LONG way in this department.  When I am feeling overwhelmed with emotion, it used to be the pantry I  ran to.  Now when I feel overwhelmed, verses and hymns start popping into my head and suddenly I am smiling.  It is hard to explain but if you have ever experienced this, you know what I am talking about.  

Another thing that brings me joy is giving joy to other people.  It is so hard to focus on "woe is me" when you are encouraging others.  It doesn't take money to encourage others.  A note, a phone call, or a "let me help you with that by lifting you up in prayer" spoken at the right time can be such an encouragement to others.  Make sure you follow through and don't just say it but not act on it.  There is much guilt in not following through which can be a trigger for me to overeat as well.  All that to say "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  ~James 5:16 

Reach out to others to be encouraged as you let others reach out to you.  God never intended us to journey alone.  "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." ~ Proverbs 27:17

SECURED BY SOVEREIGN LOVE
(Text by Isaac Watts [alt.]; Tune by Faye López)

Lord, all I am You know and see:
In vain my soul would try
To shun Your presence, or to flee
The notice of Your eye.
Your all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,
My public deeds, my private ways,
The secrets unconfessed.

Refrain:
So let Your grace surround me still,
And like a fortress prove,
To guard my soul, to guide my will,
Secured by sovereign love,
Secured by sovereign love.

My thoughts lie open to You, Lord,
Before they’re formed within;
And as my lips pronounce each word,
You know the sense I mean.
O wondrous knowledge! deep and high;
Where can a creature hide?
Within your circling arms I lie,
Secure on every side.

Refrain
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