Cherish the Treasure

Good Evening, O ye Webbie friends......

I apologize for the late post.....Mark is on nights, this week and I had some things to do, this afternoon....Then with making dinner and eating....So here I am! Bright eyed and bushy tailed!! The muscles in my arms, shoulders and chest are threatening to stage a coup, if I continue to work them out, so I'm in a little bit of pain. I welcome the pain, though, it's a reminder that I was faithful in my commitment to working out, everyday! I am feeling really good!! I have stayed on my food plan for almost three days, now and my appetite has calmed, quite a bit, along with my mood. This evening, I discovered the joys of jicama. Jicama is part of the radish family....When you see it in the grocery, it's ugly...the size of a softball and covered in a rustic tan peel. Lemme tell ya, this stuff is good. Crunchy and slightly sweet, it really made my boring "shrubbery" salad come alive. I really want to go and eat the rest of it, but I'm learning self control, so I have to put it away and save it, to enjoy another day! I want to tell you, also, about a company called Walden Farms.....They make things like salad dressings, dessert sauces, condiments and jams; You can buy some of their products at Raleys. All of Walden Farms products are calorie free, fat free and carb free.....I love their ranch dressing, their strawberry jam spread, their peanut butter spread and their marshmallow dip. I actually have the girls at The Country Store, in Sonora, order whatever I want....The items they sell are on the pricey side, but a little goes a long way! I wasn't fond of their ketchup or barbeque sauce and their chocolate sauce was so-so....It's nice to be able to have jam on my flax muffin, in the morning.

Okay, well on with the good stuff.......

I am reading Neva Coyle's Free to Be Thin and applying the principles to my weight loss journey.....I cannot use her food plan, because my body just doesn't do well with a low-fat, carbohydrate rich diet. I can though, use her principles......


What do you treasure?

I've had to think about that a lot, lately! Food has always been a big fat treasure chest for me.....I love to touch it, cook with it, eat it and serve it to my friends and family......When I was unhappy, food would cheer me.......When I was lonely, food kept me company.....When I was bored, food gave me something to do.....When I needed praise or recognition or acceptance, food was the vehicle.....I lived for food! You know what though....food didn't live for me! It never dried my tears, never completely soothed my mind or calmed my fears....It doesn't keep me safe and it won't ever forgive my sins! Food was my treasure and my false god.


This is what the Bible says about treasures......

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34


My treasure was food!! This was a sobering thing for me to admit! I want to have the heart of Jesus, not a heart of Twinkies......I want to have a heart of worship, not a heart of Sonic Cheeseburgers...... I want a heart of praise, not a heart of jelly donuts!! Not only was food killing me, it was keeping me from a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father. I used to think that I was doing okay in my walk.....I had my challenges, but who doesn't? But, in reality, I had a huge stronghold built up with bricks made by Betty Crocker and McDonalds......

I have been in this place before!!

Last year, I did really well, with the Atkins program and working out, but I traded all my hard work for take-out and let the devil convince me that I was happy how I was. That stronghold tower that I have been building, all my life, was never destroyed completely.....I just started adding bricks and the higher it got, the deeper I fell, into the pit! Only coming out to add more bricks, I resolved in my mind, that I was just going to have to accept this as how I was....That nothing would ever help and that I was not worthy enough, not even to myself, to ever even try. I was a failure.....I was a horrible wife, a bad mother, a terrible friend.....Every condemnation that Satan whispered in my ear, I believed! I've been hearing negative things about myself, since I was eight years old, why should things change? I was doomed and I accepted that!! I was devastated, but couldn't reach out.....The stronghold I was building was reinforced with pride and with shame......

This morning, while sitting on my stoop, looking out at the beauty of the morning, I realized something. I am a treasure!! I am God's treasure.......His gold, His jewels!! He loved me so much that He sacrificed His only Son, to save me! So that I would shine, in His glory! Not tarnish......So that He would never have to live, without me, instead of burying me in the sand and forgetting me. Today, I had to seriously look at where my treasure lies......It lies in my salvation! In the matchless grace of Jesus.....It is my need to serve others.....It's in the hearts of my husband and my daughter......It's in the way I love and the things I say and do.......

I am now striving to free myself of the burden of food! I am learning to eat to live and not live to eat.....I am learning that people will like me or they won't....a chocolate cake isn't going to change that.....I am learning that the words of condemnation I've lived with are just a weapon of the enemy, to kill, steal and destroy.....I am learning to pray about the choices I make, before I make them and to listen to the voice of my Savior......and I am learning to believe that there is a worthy treasure, here in my heart.....

Today has been a perfect day, for me.....I hope it was for you, as well. I wish you all my best and I'll see you on the flip side.....Love each other as He loves.....

I will stumble, I will fall down, but I will not be moved. I will make mistakes, I will face heartache, but I will not be moved....On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand....I will not be moved.
-Natalie Grant

In Him....
Lisa