Reshaping it All: Reshaping it All

Reshaping it All - Day 47

Guest contributor, Rebecca from Rebecca's Hearth and Home

I've not shared my struggle with weight-loss publicly before, but as I was writing the following post to a small group of friends and family members, I got an overwhelming feeling that I should share it with you. Perhaps there is someone out there who can benefit from what I have to say, or perhaps, from what I'm going through. If God can use it in any way for His glory, then so be it!

Here is part of the letter that I composed...

"...Life has been totally out of control for so long and, for far too long, I seemed to have lost my way on almost every front. I'd flub up, get depressed, and, for all intent and purpose, quit everything. I've done this in so many areas that I nearly quit living altogether! Not good!

Well... no more! Over the past few weeks the Lord has brought about situations into my life that are allowing me to, and helping me, to once again find my footing and get on with it. This whole week (knock on wood) has been good and I have made progress in several areas...including diet and exercise. I am very thankful and I cannot praise the Lord enough for all that He's done for me. I am finally getting a few spiritual concepts that I've held in my head for years, down into my heart and soul where they can take root and grow. I'm thinking that if I just take one day at a time, I will continue to make progress. What I did yesterday, I can do today...right?

Two things that are really sticking with me are:

God's grace.
Allowing GOD to fill the hole in my soul that I've been trying to fill all these years with food

Where the idea came from this time I don't remember. I simply remember asking God to, please, in the name of Jesus, show me HOW to do it...and it came! I prayed...and it kept coming! It has come every day this week! I pray in the morning and I purposefully, and specifically, ask God to help me through my day. The biggie is, when I feel extremely hungry, instead of just going and getting whatever I want, I pray again...specifically...for God to fill that hole that's making me hungry...and not one time has He failed me since doing so!

When I started this, I vowed that, with God's help, I would not eat a bite after 8:00 at night...and, thus far, I haven't! But, oh, I was soooooo hungry last night. I really was! I believe that I was actually hungry, but I went to bed and I prayed.

I just kept saying, "Lord, You take this! You fill this hole! Fill me with You, Lord! Help me to overcome the flesh and gain victory over it!"

And you know what? Next thing I knew I was waking up and looking forward to another day. And, believe me, I'm being much more discerning about what foods I'm putting in my mouth. I don't want to waste one calorie on something that I don't really want!

So...where am I? What are my goals? And where am I going?

As of this morning I weighed in at 247.8. I am 8/10 of a pound from reaching my first goal of losing 10 pounds. From there my goal is to get back to where I was last summer (234 pounds) by my 50th birthday, which is coming up in August. I think I can do it! After that, my goal is to carry on and reach my goal weight of 150 pounds by my 51st birthday in August 2012.

Will I do it? Only God knows, but, one thing I'm sure of, is this... I have a better chance now of achieving my goals than ever before, because, for the first time in my life, I am allowing God to fill a void in my life.

Visit Rebecca at her blog, "Rebecca's Hearth and Home:"