The Good and the Bad

I hope everyone has a great holiday! I did. I plan to live even if I don’t have a lot of money. So the lady that I live with and I got on the trolley that goes down Florida’s west coast beaches and took our lunch and had a nice day. We had dinner at the Bubba Bump Shrimp restaurant (yes, based on the movie Forest Gump) and topped our evening off with a run to Cold Stone Ice cream Parlor (I had no sugar-added vanilla ice cream). No, the trip did not surround eating. We enjoyed the beautiful beaches too! lol It was a good day.

Sadly, it did not start good. I woke up to see a call from my baby brother at 7:34 am and I knew something was wrong. I knew he was not calling me to wish me a happy Memorial Day that early. Sadly, he called to share the sad news that his wife had a stroke. My heart sank! She is in stable condition and God has spared her life. Thank God! Please pray for her. We share the same name. Her name is Sheila.

Life is filled with the good and the bad and even though I had a good time, my mind and prayers were always drifting back to my sister-in-law. That’s life. Always the good and the bad.

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Preparation for the Next Level

Since living with my sister, I’ve been going with her to the organic store that she shops at and my eyes have been opened to a whole new world. I’ve known about organic foods, but have not been able to afford it, or so I thought.

So each week my sister goes to the store and she buys enough food for the week and really when I see how much she spends it’s really not that much more than what I would spend at a regular supermarket. And then too, if you are disciplined about food and don’t do a lot of mindless eating, it is possible to scale back on your food bill. That is a lot of my problem. It wouldn’t be that hard if I would be more disciplined. It’s a life-long battle.

I see that God is preparing me for the next level in how I eat and where I shop. We are also going to go to Whole Foods, which is in the next city, but thank God, there is one coming our way soon. I just see that these are some of the changes that I am going to be making starting now.

Food has a great impact on health and with all the chemicals in the food, along with processed food and fast foods, we are a nation plagued with a lot  of sickness. I am committed to taking care of myself, especially as I get older. I do not want to get sick and there are changes that I have to make now.

A poverty mindset comes in all forms. As I walked around this new and very different supermarket and saw the prices, my first thought was “I will have to be a millionaire to shop here”, but I know that is not  the truth. What I do realize is I need to have a different mindset and realize that I am worth the investment.

The Shift

Not every shift comes in a good package. I have to chuckle when I hear people “prophesy” about how God is going to bring a shift, and they assume it’s going to be good. I am sorry, but this is a word for the mature Christian. Every shift does not come in a pretty package.

Here is an example. I feel it’s time to share my testimony. I was praying for God to help me with my weight. I felt out of control and so God helped me. In the summer of 2011 I as diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Yes, I had to take insulin shots and pills. It brought about an INSTANT deliverance. I stopped eating sugar and within months (after God showed me an empty insulin bottle in a dream) I was able to completely come off the insulin shots. So did God make me sick? No, but he allowed something negative to bring something very positive. I am now 67 pds lighter than I was at that time. God is good! God’s shift for me came in a “negative package”. Don’t let this testimony fool you. It was devastating!

For someone, what is about to take place is going to cause you to halt your behavior INSTANTLY. God is about to help you, but it’s not going to be good.

Yes the shift is here, but for some there going to be a snake under the Christmas Tree, ( https://apropheticwalk.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/a-snake-in-the-christmas-tree/) but in the end, you will bless God for the wonderful way he has worked it all out!

Romans 8:28

New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

Transformation

There are different kinds of transformations. Most of us hope to go through some sort of transformation whether it is physical, spiritual or emotional etc. I have desired a transformation physically for some time now, but it seemed to have eluded me even though I have tried many times to make lasting changes.

But in the summer of 2011, I received a diagnosis that forced me to change. Although it was not a desirable thing, I now look at it as a blessing in disguise. Do I wish that it never happened? Yes, I do wish that, but as the bible says, it worked it for my good.

I went to the doctor this past week and was pleasantly surprised that I had lost another 27 pounds. My doctor was beaming. She had given me a big lecture when I first received my diagnosis and I had not seen this particular doctor in a year (I have two that rotate) and when she saw how much weight I had lost she was ecstatic. And honestly, I was too. I knew I had lost more weight even though I had not been on the scale because I had a pair of pants that were falling off me and now I can’t take them in anymore. It’s time to retire them FOREVER! LOL

Yesterday, I put on one of my favorite dresses for church and was so happy that I had room in the dress. This is a dress that I had not been able to wear for a while because I could not get it over my head!!

One thing about losing weight is that it motivates you to lose more. I now have visions of going shopping and getting a whole new wardrobe and going back to my New York style. God is good!

No matter what kind of transformation you need, just know that God can do it. But when you ask, just know that it may not come the way you want. It could come in a painful package. But even if it does God will work it out for your good.

I am still full-figured, but not as full-figured as before, 😉 but I am getting there and I won’t stop until I arrive exactly where I want to be. When that happens I am going to share it all. I know my testimony will help someone!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Keep Pressing

Recently, the Lord showed me a vision of what He wanted me to look like and this was confirmed when a friend of mine had a dream about me this past week and the emphasis of the dream was my appearance. I know some my think “would God show you something like that?” Well, since the Lord confirmed it to my heart, I would say yes.

It’s been a year since I received a not so good health diagnosis that prompted me to make some permanent changes. There are some things that I had to eliminate totally from my diet and I am glad to say that I am doing well with it. It’s just become a way of life. I still have a little ways to go still. I know the Lord is calling me to a higher level of discipline. But I am proud of the progress I have made and because of the permanent changes I’ve made I have been able to maintain my 50 pound weight-loss.

I know I am going to be able to reach my goal because of how far I have ready come. When God gives us His vision for ourselves, no matter what, we just need to keep pressing forward and in the end, we will succeed.

Philippians 3:14

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Subtle Killers

I’ve shared that last summer I got a scary health diagnosis and was forced to make some permanent changes in my diet. As of today I have lost about 50 pds, thank you Jesus! I will share more of that story very soon after I get complete victory!

Well the last time I went to the doctor, my blood pressure was severely elevated. Actually the Lord had kind of warned me. I had been very disciplined with my diet, but had to go out of town to a funeral and ended up eating all of the wrong foods, because I ate what had been prepared. After that trip it was like I “fell off the wagon” because it took be more than a week to get back to my healthier eating. It was right after that trip that I went to the doctor. Although I knew I should be careful of salt, I was not being mindful of it.

I now pay attention to both salt and sugar and honestly there are times when I feel like there is nothing that I can eat. Just yesterday I decided to look up the sodium content on a Dominos VEGGIE sandwich and I was stunned, shocked and saddened to see that the sandwich, has a whooping 2050 mgs of salt in the ONE sandwich!!! I was reading that for women the daily requirement of sodium is 2,300 mg (don’t believe that).

I was watching a show the other day about India and a lady was hosting Oprah in her home and she shared how it is looked down upon to use processed foods in India. Everything is cooked from scratch. Yes, it’s time consuming, but this, I believe is the proper way of eating. I want to challenge you especially is you are a wife or mother to begin to look at the sodium and sugar content of the foods you are giving your family and of course this applies to us single girls as well.

God warned me a couple of years ago about how I was eating. It was mindless and I didn’t really care about what I was putting in my mouth. Unfortunately, I am now paying a price for that. But thankfully, I am able to reverse many of the problems I have and slowly but surely, I am doing so. Here is the thing with Christians. A lot of us don’t drink and smoke, but the one thing we do a lot of is eat and unless we begin to make adjustments now, we are going to be headed toward a slow death.

I want to challenge you to begin to makes some changes NOW. And certainly as a mother, this is very important. Right now Type 2 diabetes is an epidemic with children. The manufacters of all this processed junk don’t care. But God cares and He is warning His people. For someone, this is a real warning today. You can’t eat a deli sandwich everyday. It’s going to kill you!

I know most of us can’t envision our lives without fast-food, but start trying to do it. Right now, I’m eating like a bird…but the adjustments that I have made are FOR LIFE. They are not temporary. I desire to live the rest of my days healthy and strong! What about you??

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.