Donut.
Kolache.
Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Greek Salad with lots of dressing.
Cheeseburger.
French Fries.
I had a day. A few weeks ago I had quite a day with food. I usually eat pretty well taking in lots of fruits, veggies, and unprocessed foods. But not this day. This day I went out with a bang. And then I paid for it the next day.
I wrote a blog post about feeling depleted a few days ago. I wrote about when I had forgotten about myself in the midst of the chaos of raising small children. It's easy to do: forgetting about yourself. As the boys got older, I realized I had to start taking care of me in order to enable myself to fully care for them and their needs. This revelation has changed my life for the better but let me tell you, it's not easy.
Many could look at my life from the outside and think about how good I have it. They are right but that's not the full story. Yes, I have three healthy, smart, respectful, and dare I say, handsome young men. I am married to my best friend and actually like being around the guy...like a whole lot. We live in a beautiful home and are financially secure (for the moment). I have wonderful friends and a village that supports and loves us. For an outsider, things look pretty good for me.
All this goodness is only because of God. I will say, however, God is not a vending machine. I don't pray my prayers and live according to his rules in order to be blessed. I can't sit in my rocking chair on my porch waiting for the check to pay our mortgage to show up in the mail. God does and has blessed me immensely but, that doesn't mean it hasn't and doesn't take work on my end.
The day after I ate a smorgasbord of foods I felt awful. All that one-time yumminess did not sit well. I knew I needed to get myself back in line with my food game and stat. Because I went through a season (well, many seasons actually) of feeling depleted, I was able to find my triggers. Once I realized what provoked depletion and exhaustion in me, I could attack those things at the root changing my physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being at its root.
You see, my life is blessed because I choose to live that way. Not everything is perfect all the time. Life is as good as you choose it to be regardless of circumstances. When I am feeling depleted or like everything is crashing in on me, I give myself a welfare check looking for my triggers to see if one is off-kilter.
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well."
Psalms 139:14
I am made uniquely by a divine Creator with a purpose and for a purpose. When I realize that I am more valuable than the way I am living, I begin to shift my perspective. It is then that I can see that I need to fix the depletion in my life whether that be spiritual, emotional, or physical. It's not always easy looking at that reflection in the mirror identifying weakness and working to change them but in the end, you will be blessed.
I had a day where I paid the price for my food choices. I allotted myself a moment to enjoy the finer things in life (like donuts) and then reigned it back in knowing if I continued down that path I would feel depleted physically. It was a conscious choice I had to make in order to better myself, my surroundings, and the life he has given me to live.
We can look at the outsides of everyone's lives and think they have it all figured out; that they are blessed and we are not. But, if we do that we miss the awesome awareness that life truly is a journey and we are all trudging our way through.
Living a blessed life is not a bad thing. It's a choice. I used to be extremely envious when I'd see others blessed more than me. I would judgmentally think they didn't deserve it. At least they didn't deserve it more than me. And then I realized what a jerk I was for thinking that. I have no idea how hard people work on the inside in order to live a blessed life on the outside. Every day is a choice. I can choose to live depleted ignoring the triggers that exhaust me. Or, I can choose to work hard every day choosing life and life abundantly instead.
Look, living a blessed life doesn't mean we all get to live an easy life. It means we put in the blood, sweat, and tears to get to that place giving ourselves a whole heck of a lotta grace in between.
We all need to remember that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a divine Creator to do great and mighty things. We just need to team up with him and do our part.
To a life more blessed.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Kolache.
Cheesy Potato Casserole.
Greek Salad with lots of dressing.
Cheeseburger.
French Fries.
I had a day. A few weeks ago I had quite a day with food. I usually eat pretty well taking in lots of fruits, veggies, and unprocessed foods. But not this day. This day I went out with a bang. And then I paid for it the next day.
I wrote a blog post about feeling depleted a few days ago. I wrote about when I had forgotten about myself in the midst of the chaos of raising small children. It's easy to do: forgetting about yourself. As the boys got older, I realized I had to start taking care of me in order to enable myself to fully care for them and their needs. This revelation has changed my life for the better but let me tell you, it's not easy.
Many could look at my life from the outside and think about how good I have it. They are right but that's not the full story. Yes, I have three healthy, smart, respectful, and dare I say, handsome young men. I am married to my best friend and actually like being around the guy...like a whole lot. We live in a beautiful home and are financially secure (for the moment). I have wonderful friends and a village that supports and loves us. For an outsider, things look pretty good for me.
All this goodness is only because of God. I will say, however, God is not a vending machine. I don't pray my prayers and live according to his rules in order to be blessed. I can't sit in my rocking chair on my porch waiting for the check to pay our mortgage to show up in the mail. God does and has blessed me immensely but, that doesn't mean it hasn't and doesn't take work on my end.
The day after I ate a smorgasbord of foods I felt awful. All that one-time yumminess did not sit well. I knew I needed to get myself back in line with my food game and stat. Because I went through a season (well, many seasons actually) of feeling depleted, I was able to find my triggers. Once I realized what provoked depletion and exhaustion in me, I could attack those things at the root changing my physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being at its root.
You see, my life is blessed because I choose to live that way. Not everything is perfect all the time. Life is as good as you choose it to be regardless of circumstances. When I am feeling depleted or like everything is crashing in on me, I give myself a welfare check looking for my triggers to see if one is off-kilter.
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well."
Psalms 139:14
I am made uniquely by a divine Creator with a purpose and for a purpose. When I realize that I am more valuable than the way I am living, I begin to shift my perspective. It is then that I can see that I need to fix the depletion in my life whether that be spiritual, emotional, or physical. It's not always easy looking at that reflection in the mirror identifying weakness and working to change them but in the end, you will be blessed.
I had a day where I paid the price for my food choices. I allotted myself a moment to enjoy the finer things in life (like donuts) and then reigned it back in knowing if I continued down that path I would feel depleted physically. It was a conscious choice I had to make in order to better myself, my surroundings, and the life he has given me to live.
We can look at the outsides of everyone's lives and think they have it all figured out; that they are blessed and we are not. But, if we do that we miss the awesome awareness that life truly is a journey and we are all trudging our way through.
Living a blessed life is not a bad thing. It's a choice. I used to be extremely envious when I'd see others blessed more than me. I would judgmentally think they didn't deserve it. At least they didn't deserve it more than me. And then I realized what a jerk I was for thinking that. I have no idea how hard people work on the inside in order to live a blessed life on the outside. Every day is a choice. I can choose to live depleted ignoring the triggers that exhaust me. Or, I can choose to work hard every day choosing life and life abundantly instead.
Look, living a blessed life doesn't mean we all get to live an easy life. It means we put in the blood, sweat, and tears to get to that place giving ourselves a whole heck of a lotta grace in between.
We all need to remember that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a divine Creator to do great and mighty things. We just need to team up with him and do our part.
To a life more blessed.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
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