The Power of Determination

A week after the New Year, I was ready to jump on the band wagon with millions of other people. The number one resolution made each year is.......you guessed it, lose weight! There's something to be said about wiping the slate clean and starting fresh. Lord knows, I've refreshed my starts so many times my ignition switch is burned out! But this time, this time I was determined. So, I pulled out all of my diet books I have collected over the years; Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, The Mediterranean Diet, Body for Life, Lose It for Life Diet, The "I" Diet (in my case stands for "I Ain't Doin It"), and The Body Fat Solution along with my many collections of the grocery store tabloids touting simple weight loss secrets. As I spread the books out on my dining room table and looked at each of them, a few things dawned on me; for one, I am still overweight. Two, I did not follow the plans laid out in the books. In other words, I was rebellious and disobedient. Three, when the plan wasn't working, I blamed it on the book. Four, I quit before I got to see my "promise body", you know, the 36-24-36 figure the diet books promised me if I would just stick to the plan. I got to thinking, this sounded an awful lot like some Israelites wondering around in the desert for 40 years. Now I know those people were not fat! Lord knows if I was wondering around some desert for 40 years, the least of my problems would be weight loss! I'd give Jillian Michaels a run for her money and then some. So much for the "30 Day Shred", it would be called the "30 Day Dead"! So there I sat asking myself these questions: "What's it going to take for me to take action?", "What's going to make me follow through with my weight loss goals?", "Where will my motivation come from?" and as I glanced back over the diet books I placed on the table, I noticed another book, out of place. The title "The Power of Determination" a devotional by Joyce Meyer. I didn't remember grabbing it with the others, but I opened it and read these words: "Things get hard when we try to do them independently without leaning on and relying on God's grace" and then this "Walking in obedience to God is not too difficult because He has given His Spirit to work in us powerfully and to help us in all He has asked of us (John 14:16). Wow, talk about food for the soul! The issue wasn't all about what foods I should eat, or what exercise plan I should use. The issue was about my attitude, my character and how I was going to allow God to change me, both physically and mentally. I had dwelt long enough on this mountain of failure and God was calling me to the hill country. I got the message and jumped on the eliptical and set that incline to 14! So that's how it started. Join me on my journey as I offer up practical tips on weight loss but more importantly inspiration that will keep you determined and out of that desert!