Philippians 3:14

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

As I've shared  a few days ago, I jumped into my new journey as I was in the beginning stages of recovering from a severe asthma episode just a few days before.  It's been a week full of mega doses of steroids, antibiotics, and doctor visits, a week of me struggling for every breath I inhale.  Thankfully, I'm finally feeling my body begin to recover and today I felt good for the first time all week.  God chose this week to send me in this new direction He has for me, when I had more than enough justifiable reasons to just stay in bed.  I don't know why, but I do know I've learned a few things over the past few days.

God ALWAYS calls us where and how we are; it's not about what we have to offer Him, it's about what He is doing in and thru us.  You see, it's not about us at all.  I've had to rely on God, His direction, and His strength for every single thing this week.  Thankfully He's provided me a wonderful family willing to help every way they can.  He's also given me an unusual desire to follow His direction in all of this without digging my heals in and trying to tweak things to suit my way.

By calling me while I was down, it gave me the time to focus on the changes I need to make, being realistic about where I'm truly starting from.  I couldn't pretend I am in better physical shape than I am and chance setting the beginning bar too high... this week, I completely understood how foolish that would be for me to do and that if I did that, I'd just get frustrated and quit within a week or two.

Another reason I feel God chose this week to send me back to WW was that I wasn't strong enough to be running around town and then hitting drive-thru all the time... it forced me to eat at home.  I realized how much more I enjoy the food at home and that it actually doesn't take any more time to fix lunch at home than it does to go out.  I had the time to do a mental inventory of my fridge and pantry and to make a shopping list of things I wanted that work well with the WW plan.

Our local WW is encouraging activity clubs this year.  Being accountable to a small group of others who attend your meeting time and enjoy the same activity as you, committing to participating at whatever level you are capable of, and in the end, earning a charm for your keychain.  Ironic, that my first week back I can barely breathe while I walk and this is the week that the clubs formed.  God gave me a gentle shove to join the walking club aka WOW (Walking On Wednesdays:).  It was more than a bit humbling to only be able to commit to half an hour of walking/3 days a week, when most of the ladies in this club are at least 20-25 years older than I and were committing to an hour a day, every day:)  I was humbled again when I faced my treadmill for the first time on Thursday.  In the past, I've always hopped on, turned it to 3 mph to do a warm up lap, then gradually increased it to 4.2-4.6 mph by the time I was at my first mile; then I'd chug along doing 2-3 miles.  This use to be my daily routine.  Well, it's been months since I've been on my treadmill to begin with, and now I stood facing it, barely breathing.  Almost immediately I discovered that I was unable to go faster than 2 mph AND I was only able to do 1/4 mile, then I had to rest up for awhile before facing it again to do the other 1/4 mile.

Why am I sharing all this?  Because I've found joy in the fact that God scooped me up in my weakest state, saw my worth, and proved yet again that He won't ever give up on me and the plans He has for me.  Yes, the charms I look forward to earning for my WW keychain are a fun enticement, but earning the ultimate prize of bringing God glory through my journey and seeing His approving smile as I stand before Him in Heaven someday is what this is really all about :)  Allow God to call you right where and how you are.  You don't need to "get it right" before He can use you; matter of fact, it's impossible to ever "get it right" without Him at all.  If you feel Him tugging you in a certain direction, just go ahead and follow His lead.  I promise, you won't ever regret it.