{"id":667,"date":"2012-12-28T14:27:44","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T14:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=667"},"modified":"2012-12-28T14:27:44","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T14:27:44","slug":"what-are-we-celebrating-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=667","title":{"rendered":"What Are We Celebrating Today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving is past. Christmas is over. New Year\u2019s Eve is just a few days away. Soon, the world will return to normal and everyone will say, \u201cThe holidays were great…it\u2019s so sad they are over!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But for me, this season continues into January. You see my birthday is January 13 and my husband celebrates his birthday on January 30. And if you\u2019ve been following my blog, you know that I have a granddaughter who will be joining us any time now, so we\u2019ll have yet another birthday to celebrate in the midst of this period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So you see, our celebrations begin with Thanksgiving and continue through to the end of January.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What I have discovered is that making New Year\u2019s resolutions on January 1st<\/sup> that revolve around food and weight loss just don\u2019t work for me. I can guarantee that the celebrations in January will involve good, decadent foods that don\u2019t belong on a resolution list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So last year, I decided to wait until February 1st<\/sup> to make these resolutions. It worked! For a while. Then it became more and more difficult to follow this plan because of health issues. Mainly plantar fasciitis. The pain in my feet has made it painful to do any type of exercise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I understand that my weight loss isn\u2019t solely dependent upon my movement. I must also eat less and eat the right foods. However, after being discouraged, it was easier to fall back into my old routine and eat my favorite foods, none of which are of value to my physical well-being.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So here I am, months later, still with painful feet and a poor diet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I recall some of the words from a Bible study that made such an impact on my life. Made to Crave[i]<\/strong><\/a><\/em> by Lysa TerKeurst must come back into my life. Her encouragement two years ago allowed me to understand my desires and cravings and that God designed us to crave Him, not food.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So as this year comes to a close and a new one begins, I know that God is the only One who can fill the void in my heart. He is the only One who can satisfy that deepest desire. He is the only One or thing I am to crave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are some great Bible verses Lysa shares in this book that I\u2019d like to pass along. God\u2019s Word is such an encouragement to me in all other areas of my life, why shouldn\u2019t it be same for weight loss? I pray that you\u2019ll find some encouragement through these words as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cForget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 43:18-19 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDo not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world\u2014the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does\u2014comes not from the Father but from the world.\u201d<\/em> (1 John 2:15-16 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is permissible\u2014but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible\u2014but not everything is constructive.\u201d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 10:23 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And I love this one. Israel had been wandering around the hill country for a long time. Then God said to them, \u201cYou have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.\u201d<\/em> (Deuteronomy 2:3 \u2013NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have been on this journey long enough. It\u2019s time for me to end it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So with God\u2019s help (and a visit to the orthopedic doctor), I am on a path that will take me where I want to be. No, where God wants me to be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You see, when I feel the way I do, I am not useful in God\u2019s Kingdom. It\u2019s difficult for me to move. It\u2019s difficult to find motivation. It\u2019s difficult to jump in and help. And that is exactly where Satan wants me to be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about you? Are you in need of a change? Do you need to head north? Now your issue may not be food and exercise. It may be laziness, or pornography, or gossip, or ______ (you fill in the blank). Whatever it is, God tells us we\u2019ve been doing it long enough. It\u2019s time to try something different. Something new. Like following His commands and craving Him alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve said it here on my blog, for the whole world to see, I suspect my motivation will increase. But I know my plans will succeed as I place them into my Father\u2019s hands. He will increase my productivity and desire to do this because I\u2019ve given to Him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What a great year 2013 is going to be!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n
\n
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[i]<\/a> Made to Crave<\/em>, Lysa TerKeurst, Zondervan, 2010<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanksgiving is past. Christmas is over. New Year\u2019s Eve is just a few days away. Soon, the world will return to normal and everyone will say, \u201cThe holidays were great…it\u2019s so sad they are over!\u201d   But for me, this season continues into January. You see my birthday is January 13 and my husband celebrates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,34,16,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asking-god","category-craving-god","category-following-god","category-loving-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":674,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}