SOMEONE IS COUNTING ON YOU

It has now been FIVE full months!!! Healthy living has its rewards. I have lost over 45 pounds, wearing clothes I have not been able to wear in 3 years and have more energy than ever. Believe me, the energy required to chase after my one year old grandson is a huge reason to continue eating healthy and exercising daily.

I have to confess the hardest part was getting started. For the entire month of December I hated the way I felt, the way my clothes fit, and my appearance in the mirror. Negative feelings are not a good motivator for change. Despite the constant negativity, I continued to stuff cookies, candy and other rich holiday foods into my mouth. Finally, January 2, D-Day dawned. My husband had announced that beginning on that magical day, we were going to start eating healthy. I started off on the right foot with a healthy breakfast and progressed to a healthy lunch with Steve. So far, so good!!!! Then the long afternoon happened, I polished off some leftover holiday dessert, ate two or three pieces of chocolate crèmes and a handful of nuts. I prepared a nutritious supper so Steve wouldn’t know how “bad” I had been. He came home bragging about his “successful” day of dieting and I had a monumental revelation; SOMEONE WAS COUNTING ON ME. I was not on my own anymore; someone was depending on my dieting expertise and moral support. I could be hypocritical and lip sync the experience or I could become committed to the cause and gain the future rewards. I decided to quit fooling myself and become a real part of the team.

There are times we become discouraged. The “whole picture” is so overwhelming that we give up before we can even start. There have been times in my life that I have felt like giving up on my walk with God. One of the things that kept me hanging in there was my husband and kids. It was nothing they said or did because they were not even aware of my secret thoughts. No, what kept me going when I couldn’t make sense of anything was SOMEONE WAS COUNTING ON ME. Influencing someone else to give up on God or bringing a loved one down to my level was more horrible to contemplate then continuing to blindly plod along on an uneven path. Although to some it may seem hypocritical I continued to go to church and give lip-service praise. God rewarded my faithfulness to my family even when I waivered in my faithfulness to Him. The breakthrough finally came. One day I realized I was excited about the Sunday service; I wanted to pick up the Bible again; the tears began to flow as I raised my hands in worship; it had changed from a commitment to my family to a commitment to my God.

Psalms 61:1-5 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.

Every one of us has someone in our life who is counting on our walk with God. It may be a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor or a friend. If you are in a situation where it seems like too much effort to fully commit, do it for them. As you continue doing the “right” things and making an effort when your strength is gone, God will join you on your journey. Soon you will find a little more strength and a little more joy. The path will become more clear and the burden lighter. SOMEONE IS COUNTING ON YOU; DO IT FOR THEM!!!