Authentic Woman of God

I did not write this ... because i do not yet have the wisdom on it, but i'm a work in progress, a building being built. I think  what being an authentic woman of God is has  alot to do with living from the inside out. 

"Proverbs 14:1 says, “The wise woman builds her house”.  The image of the wise woman who built her house is an image of a woman who does not mourn the passing of her youth.  This woman embraces whatever the next season of her life brings.  This woman has a sureness in her steps though they may be slower.  This woman has grace painted on her face, not hardness.  This woman has strength in her eyes that no workout routine can give her. Though her voice may be shaky, it is sweet as honey to those who receive wisdom from her lips.  Age cannot rob her for she is more than smooth skin and fine bones.  This woman is timeless and she does not fade away as she gets older.  She puts on a full display of everything inside of her.
To become a woman is a sacred endeavor.  The sacred passage into womanhood is God-breathed!"

Honoring Hunger Cues

So currently i am reading " Intutive Eating" by Eveyln Tribole. It talks about alot of things i already know about intutive eating, but it really gave me some new insight on balanced eating. The findings that Ancel Key's study  was a valuable study that cannot be replicated in humans because of ethical concern. However, it provides a wealth of knowledge and insight on the effects of semi-starvation in the human body. From yo-yo dieters, to those with eatings disorder, low caloric intake and ignoring hunger cues can have profound effects on  the body. Psychologically, the body sends out hormones such as cortisol which effects mood and evokes obsessive thoughts about food. Physiologically hunger and satiety cues are disrupted and thrown off balance and metabolic processes altogether slow to conserve energy. I thought it was really interesting how they gave a testimony about Karen and how she feared being hungry(  from her experiences with fasting) because of the out of control eating that followed. Fear of hunger seems like a strange concept, but it seems to really make sense. Our body and mind have memory when we starve, i find the lasting mark of it fascinating. In addition I thought the section about hunger silence was interesting because coffee and tea really does make us fuller, but it get's in the way of being able to be receptive to our hunger cues.If we aren't eating when our body needs food, its goes into starvation mode and learns to start storing fat more readily. I have rethought drinking too much coffee or tea after reading this chapter. Wow.

Trust

And this is what trust looks like ...

All those other times she fell.. she didn't know how to trust .. she forgot to hang on to her dad. The love of a father is not distant and when she strays, even when she turns cold,  he is waiting with open arms.

So even when this life twists us until we break, never let go of his hand. With all this renewed trust comes so much hope, but God help us to not hope in the wrong things, only you.  Lord I pray that we learn the personhood of who you are .. and that you are not a angry or judgmental God. And help us know that you are a God that does not take something away without giving us back something better.

Unconventional Beauty

Dear Emotional Creature: I believe in you. I believe in your authenticity, your uniqueness, your intensity, your wildness.  I love your restlessness and your hunger. You are our greatest natural resources. ~Eve Ensler 

Mantra of the Week

Having positive mantras are important because they can validate us, remind us of what is important, and help us have positive vision of the future. They help us have more positive self-talk. My mantra for the week:  

I am beautiful mind, body, and spirit. I have the right to feel. I have the right to a voice. I have the right to be respected and loved.

Removing the Splinter: Idoltry

Offend my mind to get to my heart. Hmmm if someone told me I was an idolator it certainly would not cause an opening in my heart. Some people don't like explaining things in a gentle way because they think it has no effect. But the side of God I am most in love with is his gentle and sensitive side. So i always use that approach when I am explaining things to people.

 What is interesting is that i've been thinking about the things that cause low self-esteem. One of the big ones is comparing our lives/selves to others. A more gentle way to put a form of idoltry is comparing. The word idoltry seems to be harsh, it almost has the phrase attached " YOU SINNER".

So lately ive been realizing that God wants me to let go of a lot of things. The reason why idoltry is such a problem is it causes us to remove our focus on God and on the things of this world that are fleeting. Idoltry can be obsession with our weight, relationships, status, job  etc etc . . anything that consumes our thoughts and actions. Idoltry can get in the way of our relationship with God and sometimes lead to greater sin. See the enemy wants to distract us because if he can distract us then we are disarmed when a spiritual attack comes. So to prevent ourselves from this we must seek first the kingdom of God and THEN everything else. Idoltry decieves us into thinking that our inner hungers are met ... when in reality it leaves us unfed. Idoltry makes us unhappy with our lives because we forget the goodness of God, and we start focusing on the things we want or don't have.  The reality is NOTHING can statisfy us like God and he loves us so much that sometimes he doesn't give us the things want because when we idolize them without seeking him first ... we can't be ready to recieve them, because if we got them we would lose God. For a long time i was deceived to think that God doesn't care about the desire of my heart, because i was SO obsessed about having this one thing I was angry at God because i didn't have it, I even walked away from church. I pointed a finger of blame on him when really, the problems was in me. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the Truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:24-25 RSV). We would focus on that idol and use it to fill the place in us where God needs to be. God wants to give us him and more ... he does want to give us the desires of our hearts, but we just can't lose him in the attainment of that.

Ouch that one hurt to realize ... alot to let go of. .... thanks God for pulling that one out of me. Thank you for protecting me even when I was too ignorant to see the truth and caught in my ways.

The Identity of God

 

The Identity of God is so many things

God is my everything.

 Healer        

Protector 

Savior

Father 

Counselor 

                              * source of strength *