Not Your Typical Church Lady

It's because of the cream cheese. I love cream cheese. I love it in cheese danish, in icing, in dips, on cheese steak sandwiches, on bagels with or without jelly and on crackers. I love it in, on, or around anything. Cream cheese is my Achilles heel. To be completely honest, all foods are a terrible temptation for me. If you put me in a room alone with a million dollars and a piece of cheese danish, I can guarantee you that when you return, every cent will still be there untouched and unbothered, but you will never see that cheese danish again.

Because of my love for cream cheese and its cohorts, my clothes became way too tight. When that happened I knew it was time to make a change and so I signed up for a well known fitness and nutrition program. But one cannot simply sign up for something and have your clothes magically fit again. There had to be commitment on my part to hold up my end of the deal. It was up to me to make sure I exercised every day. It was up to me to make sure I drank my daily quota of water. It was up to me to make it a point to eat more vegetables and less cream cheese. (No cream cheese is actually what is recommended but... ) No one else could do it for me. I had to do it.

That was in December 2019. Over a year later I'm still on the program and have seen some spectacular and surprising changes. Exercise is a regular part of my day. Nutrition continues to be my biggest obstacle, but I'm working on it. It's a personal thing. No one knows how much sweat and effort is put into making this change happen but me. And my husband and daughter because sometimes they have to listen to me huff & puff through a workout. It is not pretty.

The purpose of telling you all that was not to pat myself on the back or sound braggy. I know better than anyone, that there are days I don't feel like working out. There are days I just want to sleep in. At any moment, I could fall back into my old ways. There is no safe zone with fitness, just the routine of discipline and the discipline of routine.

Developing faith is very similar. YOU have to decide you want to make the change. YOU have to make it a point to read your Bible. Yes, reading a daily devotion is a good thing but here's some tough love for you: You have to read your Bible if you want to gain insight and understanding, not just a tiny daily devotion. Reading the Bible is like the nutrition part of fitness. If you actually do it, you will have spectacular results. No one else can do it for you. YOU are the one who has to carve out time and make your relationship with God a priority. Stop relying on other people to give you bite size chewable pieces. Get your own. It's called daily bread for a reason. You need it every day. Don't expect to go to church on Sunday and get your fill for the week. That's not how it works. This is something that needs daily attention. Every. Single. Day.

Does that sound harsh? Too bad! This is tough love day and everyone needs to hear it. We've been namby-pambying around too long. Enough of that. You want a new normal? I'll give you a new normal. GET TO WORK. Some day we're all going to have to answer for what we do or fail to do. Use your time here on this earth wisely. Seek God. (Seek is an active verb there- it requires action.) Make your relationship with God a priority. No one else can do this for you. No one else can grow your faith. It can only be done by you, with God. It won't be an overnight change. Well, it might be- God reveals himself in mysterious ways sometimes. To make this fabulous and wonderful change, it will require commitment from you.

There will be days that you might want to just skip your time with God and sleep in. There will be times when life throws you a curveball and you'll have to change things up a bit. Don't obsess over it. Don't let it worry you. Just pick up the next morning and keep on going. You don't have to wait till next January to start reading your Bible every day. You can start right now, today! You don't have to wait for a special circumstance to stop what you're doing and spend some time in prayer. You can do that right now. We always seem to wait for some catalyst to push us into action (like pants getting too tight because of too many snacks.) But why? Seriously, what are you waiting for?