One year ago our family was overweight and out of shape. I weighed over 200 pounds and needed a nap every day. I would easily tire from walking up a flight of stairs and gladly sat on the front porch to watch my children play (as opposed to playing with them). I ate junk and indulged in sweets on a regular basis. I had no desire to see what God's Word said about glorifying Him with my body...because that certainly didn't apply to me. I have 5 children and homeschool and lead all of the administration for a missions organization....how can God possibly expect me to be healthy too?
Then, He convicted JT and me of our sin and made our rebellion painfully obvious. It was ugly and it was wretched. We bore our souls to our Heavenly Father and repented. It seemed to take a few weeks to fully disclose every part of our eating/exercise/pride/gluttony to Him. He just kept revealing aspects our our lives that needed cleansing, and we continued to confess and repent. It was an emotional, desperate and freeing time. It was uncomfortable and healing, disheartening and refreshing. God was glorified, and we finally submitted, willingly.
It's one year later, and what a journey it has been. There were the early days of crying through meals while eating out, begging God to make it easier and faster, and coffee dates that saw me only drinking water. We stuck strictly to the plan God had placed before us, and we saw results. God set our feet to running, and we could barely run a minute without huffing and puffing.
There were certainly lows...walking (barely running) my first 5K and finishing in 48 minutes, trying to run a full 5K and not being able to run the entire course, trying on clothes and not being where I thought I should be, plateauing for weeks at a time with weight..... But there were highs that kept me going....running an entire 5K, finishing a 10K, trying on new clothes in new sizes, and now getting ready to run a half marathon.
No matter what has been accomplished, it is God ALONE who gets all the glory. This is NOT my story...it is His Story. He has only used me to bring Him honor. That's why I am scared silly the night before this race. I do not want to disappoint Him or fail Him in any way. I want His name to be lifted High...for His glory to be on display in and through this journey.
I hope to write more this weekend after finishing this half marathon...if I have to crawl across the finish line, I will finish. I will finish for His glory and His good name. And I will cry...a lot. Thank you all for walking this path with me. I could not have done it without you.
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