Grace in the Midst

Have you ever met anyone who, given the choice, would CHOOSE to be irritable, achy (and not just a little achy), tired, discouraged, bloated and as a good friend recently described me - totally up and down?  I have.  Introducing - Me.  Those things don't sound like something anyone would CHOOSE, do they?  And how do I even know I have a CHOICE?  Well, because I have experienced life on the other side - for months at a time.  And, it is amazing!  I KNOW that I can feel energetic, motivated, painless (well, almost - I did take a nose dive off a 20 foot cliff), stable and consistently happier!  I've done it.  Then, I didn't.  Then, I did again.  What is IT?  Sugar.  Sugar and I are like two peas in a pod - except the pod squeezes the life out of me and I keep choosing to jump back in the pod.  My most recent success in the sugar area lasted almost 6 months and even my husband couldn't believe the difference in my overall...

I've recently been reading the book 7:An experimental mutiny against excess , by Jen Hatmaker, and once again have found myself completely convicted.  Actually if I'm honest, I go back and forth between laughing my head off (she is hilarious) and feeling convicted. "7  is the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence." ( Food. Clothes. Spending. Media. Possessions. Waste. Stress.  ) This morning in my prayer closet (the shower) I was struggling with how much I have and how little I give.  Though Jen Hatmaker is in no way condemning (actually quite the opposite), I have a tendency to figure out a way to condemn myself without much prodding.  As I was beating myself up, I heard His still small voice (I think it was His, I never know for sure) whisperin...