There are weeks that make you ecstatic.  There are weeks that exhaust you.  There are weeks when we feel stretched and rather Gumby-like.  With God in our lives, we don't stretch to the point where the rope breaks, but we stretch enough that it can feel as if it frays at the edges.  We stretch and fray enough that a loving God can mend and weave it all back together.

At the end of this second week of habit changes, I realized that dieting had quickly taken the back burner.  My initial quick desire to overcome has faded to the plodding routine of the unexcited dieter.  Many things took the back burner this week as once again Mom and I were thrown into a holding pattern over a medical airfield, the runway just foggy enough to make the destination murky ...

Let's clarify.  I didn't realize how far from my mind making good food choices had been until I stepped on the scale this morning.  By God's grace alone, I didn't gain!  But I didn't lose, either.  Here's to a renewed energy for losing 30 before 30!

But the whole standing-in-front-of-the-mirror-in-the-underoos thing hit me full force when I took a good look at the body staring back at me.  Last year, no stretch marks.  This year, more stretch marks that I care to admit.  BUT - a mere 6 pound weight loss has brought about the retreat of one of those nasty blemishes!

And the thought of a stretch mark vanishing brought this verse to mind, bringing this week full circle: "Behold, I (God) have engraved you (Jerusalem) on the palms of my hands" (Is. 49:16).  If God feels this way about Israel (and Jerusalem specifically), a nation that has loved-and-run so often (as we all do!), how much more will God engrave ME upon the palms of His hands?  He DIED for me and loves me!  These marks on His hands (the scars of the nails AND the engraving of names) - are INDELIBLE.  Those are marks that WILL NEVER FADE!  This reminder - brought about by rude stretch marks - will stick with me as we venture forth into another week of unsure medical diagnoses and tedious tests.  No matter the outcome, I and Mom are written on God's palms!