August 6, 2013 - The "D" Words

College football starts for me August 31st. Can you imagine??? I am already counting the days! Go dawgs! I need to plan for Sunday evening, can you let me know if you plan to attend? As we have Labor Day coming up, let's concentrate this meeting on sides for our grilled items. Can you send me a note to let me know you'll attend? In September we won't meet on the first Saturday again (sorry) as it falls the evening prior to a holiday and I will be out of town. :) Let's do September 8th. October - back on schedule! I was talking with someone recently about how the enemy of our soul targets certain people and it seems they become EASY prey. Have you ever felt as if your life went from one calamity to the other while folks around went in an out of seasons? We all face trials, but it seems some more than others. We then discussed how certain types of people can actually fuel the attack of the enemy. Some "d" words come to mind....discontent, discouraged, downcast, depressed. Sometimes these "d" words attack us all on their own, but sometimes we allow them more liberty than we should. Sometimes...right? I want to use that and talk about our journey for a moment. In my life, I have been a yo-yo with my weight management. (those of you who know me KNOW this is true!) During years when life was "perfect," it was easier to control my weight and make fairly decent choices. BUT WHEN THE DARK CLOUDS CAME.......fighting for my health went out the window. Eventually I lost the will and the desire to fight for anything. I accepted defeat and comforted myself with BAD excuses. I actually fueled the fires of failure. On the inside I was CRYING for help and hope, on the outside I was simply being the yo-yo. I knew that God had plans for my life and some days I could grab that well - others not so. Somedays I could make great choices and some days not. WHY? I honestly believe that being desperate to LIVE is the key and not simply accepting existence. That's good! As I spoke with this person they said, "well, I'd be okay if I could slow down on the sugar. I really try hard and do good sometimes, but then the sugar wins." I looked at this person and said, "then you are not desperate to live. Statements like that simply FUEL THE FIRES OF FAILURE." They responded, "Is that like being desperate to get saved? Like when you know you have no hope and turn to Jesus and you make every effort to live in the truth? I remember being desperate to be free and needing Jesus." YES! YES! YES! Being desperate to be free from sin and born again - DESPERATE enough to never look back - is what I'm talking about. I know all of us have days of struggle, but let's not fuel the fires of failure. If you're starving, EAT.......but eat something on plan. Don't reward bad behavior. Be aggressive with your fueling - refuel your cells, refuel you body with fluids, refuel your spirit with the Word daily. If we are refueling fires, let's refuel fires that give us light, hope, and health by making wise choices daily as opposed to refueling fires of failure by making excuses. Fire it up today and choose life! Much love - PK