Done Like Dinner!

Can you believe it?! We really are finished this Bible study!

It's been hard and challenging and time-consuming, but difficult to believe it's over already. Even harder to believe is that I've stuck with it the entire eight weeks!! I just have to say, if not for my wonderful friend Alicia going through it together with me, I never would have. Man, I hope you guys have someone like her to help you on your journey!

Cyber-friends are awesome and I've become very close with some of mine, but that just doesn't compare to having a friend you can physically get together with on a weekly basis to complain to, comiserate with, and mutually encourage. There's nothing like knowing her stomach is growling on the same days and for the same reasons yours is! (HEARING her stomach growl has been fun, too!!)

I've struggled in the last two weeks with being passionate about this journey, even though it's clearly worked as a weight-loss tool as well as forcing me to examine deeper spiritual issues that I didn't realize were a part of the problem. But now that we're finished, I know I'll miss it. It sometimes felt like a chore (the daily lessons usually took me an hour or so to complete), but I really did learn a lot and I don't think I'll ever be able to comfortably over-eat ever again.

And I don't just mean literally comfortably, but spiritually. Gluttony is a form of idolatry. Idolatry is sin. Sin is slavery. And slavery is, well... BAD!!

God designed my body to be healthier than it is. It's called His temple, for heaven sakes! I've filled it with garbage and treated it like crap over the last 12 years. I can't go back to that. I don't want to be a slave anymore.

Over the course of this study, I've learned to talk to God more. I've never believed He cared much about the logistics and specifics of my life, but rather about who I am and how I handle those specifics.* I think He desires more conversation so that I'm better equipped to handle the details with our relationship in mind. No relationship grows without conversation.

I've decided to stick with the general idea of the eating plan recommended by the study, but to modify it a little to suit me better. I've HATED those stinkin' "half" days with a burning passion since the very beginning, so I'm doing away with them. Kinda sorta.

Instead of trying to decide at each meal what HALF of what I would normally eat is, I'm going to eat my normal breakfast (which is rarely more than a piece of toast anyway), allow nothing but fruit or veggies besides liquids during the day, and then eat a small supper. I'll still only be eating half what I do on "normal" days, but it'll be more of an overall average half rather than a literal, meal-by-meal half.

I'll try that for the next seven weeks anyway, and see how well it works. Right now, it seems like that would work better for me than this nebulous concept of determining half of a "normal" meal. "Half" and "normal" are such relative terms!!

So that's my plan. I'm hoping once the end of July rolls around, Team Purple will agree it's been a success!!

* This is not to say I don't think God takes a personal, unique interest in me and you ~ He does! I believe He wants an intimate personal relationship with every person. What I mean is, I don't think He necessarily leads one way or another when it comes to deciding whether I wear green or blue today, whether I choose to hang out with friends or stay home, or even whether I remain a stay-at-home mom or take a job outside the home. There are people who are undoubtedly called in a particular direction in short- and long-term situations, but I believe the larger percentage of us are simply called to follow Him, to bring Him glory, in our current circumstances, whatever they may be. By and large, He leaves the everyday practical details up to us.