less and less of me...

Yesterday I celebrated a milestone weight loss goal in my trek to a healthier and stronger me. For reasons beyond genetics, I'd allowed myself the majority of my life to carry more weight than ever comfortable. This "shell", as I referred to it in my younger years, provided beneath its layers a false security I felt I could safely hide behind. As is common, even after the life-transforming power of God radically healed the reclusive wounded girl I once was, I remained trapped within walls of fat I no longer "needed". As is also typical with women, I've tried a plethora of plans and diets over the years only to quit frustrated and unsuccessful. But surrendering to the fact that this body was just my fate was never an option. It felt so disloyal to the woman inside me who had painstakingly shed years of weighty encumbrance to then sentence her to a life of physical confinement. "It is for freedom Christ set us free." (Gal. 5:1) God has not designed us to carry such weight and although my frame managed to do so, it has not been without unnecessary aches and pain. It was never intended to be this way. In the very same way that God brought healing and freedom to the heaviness of soul that caused me years of agony and affliction, He desires to lift off the heavy physical yokes too. I have found that God is truly a stellar Personal Trainer who, with our tenacious cooperation, will get results every time. Like any great coach He is committed to and concerned with the whole person. It is an injustice to who He is to say He is only mindful of our "spiritual" being. He is the God of wholeness and completeness. I am forever grateful that He is in no way content to watch His daughter live fit and healthy on the inside, but unable to function to the fullest on the outside. I am a woman who honestly has no concern for the number on the scale or the tag. Vanity and appearance could never provide enough motivation for me to skip the chocolate and hit the gym. What has finally become the catalyst for change is far more than the great desire to just look and feel better- it's the honest realization that I've been given this one lifetime to have and experience life to the fullest. I have but one trip to this planet to fulfill the plans, intentions and call of God. Just as I've purposed in my heart not to hinder the journey heavy laden and oppressed within, so too do I intend to walk free and lightly in the most literal way. So, as I said, I celebrate months of hard work and progress because it is the continuation of God's work in my life. Apart from Him, as I've come to experience multiple failed times before, I can do nothing- this I know. Cooperating with Him, however, "showing up for our sessions" so to speak, has empowered me to understand and believe that I really "can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" His great love and His commitment to the entirety of who I am leaves me overwhelmed and eager for more of Him and yes, in every way possible, less and less of me!