Yesterday was a wonder.  Our yard was transformed - from a great green jungle into a clean marvel of landscaping organization.  Guys from the Church (and girls!) showed up to weedwhack, mow, hedge-trim, rake, and all around make themselves sore by means of physical labor.  I found myself tugging and tugging on a patch of weeds that had taken over the front planters.  The strange thing?  No matter how hard I tugged, the weeds would NOT loosen!  I'm paying for it today, since my arms appropriately feel as if I lost the tug-of-war.  First I started with a handful of weeds.  I wrapped them around my hand several times and puuuuuulled.  Then I lowered my expectations - perhaps I could pull a half-handful at a time.  I used the same method - to no avail!  Then, I changed my strategy yet again.  I attempted to pull merely one or two weeds at a time.  The result?  SUCCESS!  As I pulled and pulled, the truth hit me squarely between the eyes: When it comes to weight loss, I do exactly the same thing.  I try to tug out all of the weeds of bad habits at once.  I grab a handful of weeds.  Candy, carbs, no exercise, large portion sizes, depression, grief.  I pull and pulllll - and then give up.  Let the weeds grow; this is just too hard.  But letting the weeds grow doesn't make the Lord smile.  Imitating Christ makes God smile.  Loving Him above all else makes God smile.  This time, success will be gained by attacking one small weed at a time!  First comes asking myself: Does this choice (whatever it may be) glorify God?  Or myself?  Or am I filling a God-sized hole with a good-sized portion of whatever food I'm craving?

Weeds - prepare to be pulled!

The Beginning

I call this "the beginning" - because it is.  It's the start of making and achieving goals - rather than setting them aside at the soonest opportunity.  It's the beginning of feeling determined and MAKING myself accountable to whomever is willing to listen, instead of internally whining because I can't see a change in myself or the world around me.  It's the beginning of desiring to please God through my actions, rather than excusing myself by justifying: "He's the One who will always love me, even if I eat this ... I'll regret it tomorrow, but I don't care right now".  

Why weight loss?  God DOES love me always, so why pound this flesh into shape?  Why try?  Why bother?  Why work at it?

Top ten reasons:
- Because, while God looks at my heart (GOTTA LOVE HIM!), He also looks at my choices and their ability to replace Him with lesser things.

- Because He admires discipline, both spiritually and physically speaking.  If I don't regard Him enough to put effort into maintaining/regaining a healthy temple for Him to indwell, why do I deceive myself into thinking that I am putting in enough effort to maintain a healthy temple for Him to indwell INTERNALLY?  If I can't spend ten minutes walking, am I naive enough to think that I truly spend ten minutes praying?

- Because I want this temple of the Holy Spirit to be healthy enough to serve Him at a moment's notice.

- Because I am tired of being lethargic.

- Because I am tired of sleeping poorly.

- Because I am tired of EXCUSES.

- Because I am tired of HEARTBURN.

- Because I want to enjoy God's creation, rather than the fictional and depressing worldly world of television (i.e., get off my booty and move it)!

- Because I want my ideal of beauty (determined by what I look like) to develop into something that more closely mirrors God's own (I've been bought with the HIGHEST PRICE, therefore I will choose to glorify God in my body).

- Because however many years God gives me, I want to BREATHE to the best of my ability, thereby reminding myself to BREATHE in everything I can about God while I'm on this poor old earth.

This is the BEGINNING of TRANSFORMATION.