Reaching

Do you know how it feel when you wake up in the night thirsty?  You are dead asleep and the movement to reach for the cup is such a dreaded one.  It would be so much easier to lie where you are although you know how good that water will be.  That is kind of how I feel this morning.  I feel like I am reaching for my blessings, but it would be so much easier to lie here without making any changes.  That is what scares me that I may shrink back tomorrow or the next day.  I wish I could get over the hard part. I wish I could get over the 10+ pounds I need to gain and over the shock of what I see in the mirror.  I wish that was behind me, yet I have only just started.  So here are a few things I am debating...is it enough, at this point, to just not know when my workouts will come in and scaling back on the intensity when they do?  Or should I go through something akin to a "spiritual detox," if you will, by abstaining from working out for a week, two weeks, a month and then start back at a lesser intensity?  Can I scale down right now and be effective or do I need to hit the reset button?  If you say reset button, what does that mean? How long to reset?  Next, I had planned to make a plan because that is what I do...I plan.  I then wondered if I adhere to a new plan...is that not all I will be doing - creating a new minimum, a new "do or die" or a new expectation?

Can working out ever be done "for God?"  I have seen some people say that is why they do it.  I see that that may be the case for some...if their hearts are really right. I agree that God wants us to take care of our bodies, but we must be cautious that everything stays in its right place. I admit that there have been plenty of times that I started my workout praying a prayer that the work out was for God and His glory.  In my case, it was like saying "This is for you God!!  We both get what we want...I get a little leaner and you get a little worship too. We both win."  I probably didn't even read my Bible a lot of those days. There was no worship going on while I was doing my squats. Rolling my eyes.  Can we call something with a selfish agenda worship?  Why no, we cannot.  That was not worship. I was worshiping my temple and just tying a pretty bow on top.  The Bible says that even our best is filthy rags; I would hate to see what that looked like to God. It probably stunk to high heavens...pun intended.

On to the book...

Chapter two of the book does not disappoint.  The author says, "God has designed our whole reproductive cycle especially for us.  Because it is His design and purpose for us, we should embrace it with all of our hearts.  We should not resist it.  We should embrace every part of our reproductive system..."  My reproductive system as been "out of order" for years except for those two cycles I had after gaining some weight years ago and the conception of my son.  My reproductive system was prodded with medicinal intervention and medical supervision to achieve conception though.  My reproductive system is not working properly due to sin.  I am living out of God's design.  It is not His design to be of low body fat. That is not feminine.  It is not His design to live in a constant state of amenhorrea.  The author goes on to say that "we must positively seek to protect our womb.  THERE IS AN UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK AGAINST THE WOMBS OF WOMEN TODAY THAT IS INSTIGATED BY THE ENEMY...SATAN HATES THE WOMB."  There it is again.  The attack.  The enemy.  I am standing up against Satan and his attacks.  Like I said, I have made it so easy for him that he doesn't even have to spend time on me...as he is only one and not omnipresent like the Lord.  He sends his minions out, but he has not had a need to waste resources on me. He probably just cheers me on from time to time.  No more.  Satan you are weak, and with Christ, I am strong.  My God has a purpose for me and I will deny it NO MORE.  You win no more battles. I am putting on the armor of Christ that HE has laid out for me to fight and win this battle but I have been consistently denying. I put it on. I fight. I will win. Praise God, I will win.

There are so many things in this chapter I want to address.  Instead I will just say you need to read the book if you aren't already.  I do have to quote a few other places "The womb is a powerful weapon against Satan.  The greatest threat to Satan in this world is godly parents who understand God's intentions and who will bring forth and train a godly seed to fulfill His eternal plans....Pray for the health of your womb.  A beautiful ministry that a husband can do is to regularly pray over and bless the womb on his wife."