This picture truly shows two totally different women. There is more than a 40-pound weight loss difference too.
When I started on this journey and started walking, it was not to lose weight. Remember that the walking wasn’t even my idea…..God pulled me out there and told me to walk. I was pounding the same 3 miles daily trying to find peace in the midst of my storm. In the process I was growing closer to God, finding my joy again, and so much more. I just happened to lose 40 pounds in the process.
Now I did not lose that weight by walking alone. God did put it on my heart to take better care of myself so I started eating better too. I literally did not have a cheat meal for a couple of months. I was so focused on everything God was telling me to do and the weight just fell off. Am I happier being thinner? Yes, I am but the joy you see in the second woman’s face is a joy that can only be found by walking with the Lord. God has truly been creating something new in me and He isn’t finished yet! I can see it, my children see it, and so can my friends and family. I thank God every day for how much He has blessed me over the last few months. The lessons I have learned on those 3 miles of road have truly changed me for the better. Some days I have to extend my walk because I have so much to talk over with God. Anytime I am struggling with anything, I get out there and walk. Some days I get out there and walk for no other reason but to thank Him for all He has done and will do. It has become my war room and I feel closest to God when I’m walking outside with Him so I go daily regardless of the weather. It has been healing me spiritually, emotionally, and physically!
God reveals things to me almost daily and not just when I’m walking.
Today as I was cleaning house, the Lord was putting it on my heart to truly clean everything. I was just going to do the dishes and that turned into sweeping, mopping, dusting, throwing things away we never use, and all along I was making a mental note that I needed to clean out my closet again sometime over the next two days. When this journey first began, He put this same thing in my heart and I threw so much stuff away that was just cluttering up my house and my life. Today I felt Him telling me I still needed to clean more. I needed to throw more “stuff” away and not just in my house. I am going to take a break from social media for awhile and delete the apps from my phone. The more I cleaned today, the more God was telling me to make room for what He has in store for me in 2017. Now I do not know what all He has in store and it’s not for me to figure out. It is simply for me to obey and I need to spend some real time with Him and not on my phone checking in with all my apps. My youngest daughter will be graduating in a few months and I need to spend as much time with her as possible and not on my phone. These are the thoughts that God put on my heart today as I cleaned. I am so excited to see what He has in store for me! I am already thanking Him for it and getting ready just as He told me to do!
As we enter this new year my only goal is to walk closer with God. That’s really all any of us need. Everything else will fall into place just as God has designed. He already knows our future. He has plans for you and me….plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) Will you let Him??? I know I will!
