Keeping a Diary

For Christmas, our 7 year old desperately wanted a diary, with a lock. As much as I didn't want to get her one - because that means she's edging dangerously close to tween instead of my baby girl - I know how it is. We got her one anyway. I always kept a diary or journal of sorts. Looking back, the purpose of my journaling wasn't to devise a grand scheme against the universe or to conceal dark truths, I wrote as a way of organizing thoughts; planning; recording; reflecting. Those are all really good and constructive skills to have. Over the years, this very blog has acted as a journal of sorts and I'm thinking of adding a new (pictorial) chapter to it.


If you've been reading along with me a while now, you know I have a deep-seated struggle with using food as medication instead of nutrition. Some stress-inducing times ensued, recently, and I gained about 10lbs. I've come too far to do this and thankfully, I know how to turn this horse and buggy around. I'm not making any grandiose plans to cut dairy, gluten, wheat, fat, and all other sources of flavor. That's unreasonable for me. I do know how to eat clean and the two items below will help me do just that...

1.) Grace. The Lord is bigger than any burden I have and when I have that urge to binge, I need to conscientiously PRAY and nourish my body with scriptural truths instead of a pixie stick.

2.) Accountability. I do SO much better when I have enlisted accountability folks asking how things are going; who are positive influences; and who will encourage me to continue on the right path - even if I don't know them personally. It just helps to be part of a team. Accountability works! It's why things like Weight Watchers; Advocare; Beach Body; and My FitnessPal thrive! These apps and groups all encourage you to write what you bite and work through your diet and exercise routines with friends/coaches.

To me, eating well isn't just about being a few pounds lighter (anymore, anyways). It's about properly caring for what God gave me. When we choose to abuse our bodies with food, drugs, or alcohol, we are really just incinerating the temples that God built especially for us to do His work. I wouldn't burn a brick and mortar temple, would you? Why would we do that to our own bodies that were made for so much more than an inanimate building? We have work to do, believing friends, and we need to keep our minds and bodies healthy to do that work. 

Additionally, I'm not wasting my weaknesses. God gave me this weakness, sugar addiction; but, He also gave me a voice as a writer; I'm putting two and two together in hopes of reaching out to others. He casts light out of darkness - all. the. time.

SO, here's the next chapter. I created a Pinterest board called "food journal in pictures." I'm posting photos of every meal (I take photos of basically everything I eat anyway, ask anyone who follows me on social media). Please follow along for accountability AND for clean meal ideas. I'll be posting everything - good and bad - but hopefully there are mostly good things there and you can get some clean eating ideas as well. :) http://www.pinterest.com/dailyupsnpounds/food-journal-in-pictures/.

Wishing you all a very healthy new year!

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, - I Cor 6:19 (ESV). 

Life After Sugar Addiction: Five Fun Surprises

This is me a few years ago, putting some really unhealthy junk
food on frozen yogurt and feeling overly enthusiastic about it. 

1. I can actually taste my food. - I don't eat most "white foods" - white rice, white flour, white potatoes, and white sugar are all included. A couple months back, we were eating dinner with family and as part of my "treat" meal and I had some white rice. I could actually taste the flavor of the rice. I remember how sweet and good it tasted; before, it was just a bland filler food. I realized right then and there that my tastebuds had been gauged SO high, that I wasn't truly tasting everything I was eating because I was so hopped up on sugar all the time. Since I was unable to taste what I was eating, that just lead to needing more sugar, butter, salt, flavoring, toppings, etc. See example in the photo above... I wish I were kidding.
   
2. Certain things are MUCH sweeter now than ever before. - Also, when I was addicted to sugar, nothing was too rich or sugary for me (Did I tell you about the sundae I used to eat regularly when I was pregnant with baby #1? - chocolate ice cream, a banana, chocolate syrup, maraschino cherries plus the syrup they soak in, with crushed up cookies and whipped cream on top). Not exaggerating, at all. I used to eat that one a lot. Anyhow. Certain things like soda (which I almost never drink) and dark chocolate are much sweeter now. Before, dark chocolate tasted somewhat bitter to me. I didn't care about the health benefits. I thought it was nasty. And, with the soda, I could slurp down two or three. Now, I can barely drink one.
   
3. My blood sugar no longer spikes, causing me to feel sick. - I can remember feeling like I was going to pass out when running in morning gym class, around age 14. Pretty soon, it wasn't just in gym, it was happening a lot. My mom took me to the family doctor and he said I was probably "a little hypoglycemic" and we called it a day. There wasn't an official diagnosis or treatment, I just knew I always felt faint and tried to just eat more sugar (fake sugar, even) to keep from feeling that feeling. I didn't realize what I was doing, but I knew I felt better that way. Guess what guys. This is why people say sugar is like a drug. I'm not hypoglycemic. I was addicted to sugar. It just took a good 15 years or so, a handful of inconclusive blood tests, and the invention of Google for me to get that figured out. The sugary protein-less food I was eating caused my blood sugar to spike, a lot, and caused me to eat more, a lot more. Additionally, that faint feeling is very similar to the feeling of an anxiety attack. Guess how I inherently treated that one, too? Oh well, right? Knowing is half the battle. Now, I always start my day with protein to combat sugar cravings from the time I wake up on.
   
4. I never have sugar cravings (well, almost never). On occasion, I start to daydream about donuts and carrot cake. If it's a special occasion, I'll have a treat. However, I don't "have" to have chocolate, gum, candy, cherry coke, wine, cake, candy, Twinkies cream-filled sponge cakes, wine, candy...etc. every darn day. In fact, a lot of that stuff I just flat out don't eat, drink, or care about anymore. I know, a little sad, but at least my clothes fit and I'm healthier for it.
   
5. I don't over-eat. Due to item #3, above, and my six small meals a day, I don't go nuts and binge out on a meal I've been saving my calories all day for OR binge out because my blood sugar is bottoming out and I'm turning ten shades of white. Yes, binge eating is fun. I'm not going to lie. However, it's not good for us and it can easily become a bad habit that quickly leads to weight gain. If I try to over-eat now, I feel sick. Let's see ~ shall I choose barfing or binge eating. That's not a hard one for me. I'm totally content with small meals now. It's a miracle.

Think you might be addicted to sugar? Want more info on how to quit? I'd love to help AND you can check out the following resources about sugar addiction here and feel free to message me via Daily Ups & Pounds' FB page or in the comments below.

Happy sugar detoxing!

It's that time again...

To get serious about losing baby weight. I say "baby weight" like my little babies (who averaged about 7.5 lbs each) caused me to gain 40-60lbs a pop. They totally didn't. My over-indulgent, "I'm pregnant, I eat what I want" attitude did it. My anxiety, that also added a pound or fifty. And, while all those cupcakes, milkshakes, french fries, candy bars, potpies, and cans of ravioli were the best thing ever while I was preggo, now I have to work it off. The truth is, I lost the weight that came with all my babies, now I just have to work on that extra donut and milkshake weight and some pre-baby junk food weight. I know you know what I'm talking about.

So, I know you want to know the damage. I have 50lbs (or so) to lose. Now, the thought of losing that much weight (with four kids) was a little overwhelming to me at first, too. I mean, our schedule here changes every day (which means I can't really have a workout schedule either). I also haven't left the baby yet, and I don't want to. SO, that means I can't go to the gym. It's has also been hot outside for the last couple months in addition to the fact that I'm not a huge fan of outside; so, it's not like I'm super motivated to go walking/running and I can't do that in my house. I spent the last few weeks stacking up all of these can't statements and they started turning ugly; they started turning into a big fat don't want to.

I devised an alternative plan (that should work for anyone should you be in the same situation) and I started it. Because others have told me it's been helpful in the past, I'm going to be blogging my journey to be fit, not fat. It will also give me some check-in accountability to keep going. I have worked off all my baby weight in the past, so I *think* I know what I'm doing. If you have tips though, tell me! I love new ideas.

1. I put my maternity clothes away. You know; If I can't reach for my clothes that expand at the waist, I have a little more motivation to lose weight. No one likes ill fitting clothes. No one.
2. I hooked up my HR Monitor/Calorie Counter. By tracking my calories burned, I can regulate the intensity of my workout based on how many calories I want to be burning. It makes for a  much more effective workout. Everyone has questions about this super awesome device. Here's a whole blog post about it to answer your questions. If you have more, just ask!
3. I dusted off some DVDs. Just because I can't go to the gym, that's not an excuse to skip working out. It's ALSO not an excuse to do workouts that I hate (like sit-ups and crunches, etc). I LOVE the Beach Body DVDs (Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam). They are just like the classes I'd do at the gym, if I were there. My best advice to you, find what you like. If you love kickboxing, yoga, pilates, zumba or anything else, there's likely a DVD for it. Or, if you like running the track, go run outside! The weather is great most places this time of year. Check your local library, too. I hear they usually have lots of great fitness DVDs.
4. Finding a workout buddy. Ok, I know what you're thinking. "If I can't find time, myself, to workout, how will I ever sync up with someone else's schedule, too?" You don't have to workout together, just exchange texts, emails, Facebook wall posts, tweets, or whatever to stay motivated and accountable. I know you can do that! I have a couple of these peeps to keep me in line and I'm SUPER thankful. 
5. Taking some before photos. I don't go through the trouble of measuring myself and stepping on the scale at every second because, quite frankly, I don't care about numbers. I want my clothes to fit and I want to move comfortably. I want to see the difference. So, I take before and after photos (one of my favorite Pinterest searches, too, btw). I'll post them here, on a new page within the blog, once I've made some progress.
6. Changing my diet...I was looking through the 2,800 photos on my phone earlier today. I would say a good 2,600 of those are of food. Cake, cookies, snacks, drinks, fries, candy, etc. I'm hoping that the upcoming food pics will be of things like: fresh fruit and veggies, peanut butter, small pieces of dark chocolate, bubbly seltzer water, chicken, salad, eggs, and other delicious good-for-you treats. Now, don't do anything extreme. Don't pickup a yo-yo diet. Figure out how many calories you need to safely lose weight, and eat that many each day (by way of healthy foods that you enjoy).
7. You know that ________ (treadmill, elliptical, bike, weight set, etc.) that you had to have? Go use it. It's not doing you any good just collecting dust. Make time to go use it. That's what I'm doing with the elliptical machine. Find about 30 minutes of your favorite music and make a playlist; once you listen to all of it one time through, your workout will be over. You're welcome.
8. Be as consistent as possible. Maybe, like me, you can't workout at exactly 7am everyday and you can't eat like a bunny everyday either (because sometimes, picking up a bucket of chicken is just what happens to busy families). Don't sweat the minor misses, focus on the big picture. Keep  your focus every day; make goals and try your best to keep them. Don't be hard on yourself, but don't let one day off your diet turn into weeks, either. 

That's all I have for right now! I promise this blog isn't turning into a a sob-fest about all the weight I have to lose, but I'm hoping that these weight-loss journey stories will be helpful to you. My posts about faith, family, and other stuff will all still be here. After-all, this blog isn't about me. It's about everything in this precious world and how it all works together, by grace. Fatness and fitness included. God has a reason for all of it. :)

Overcoming unforgiveness, what a relief.

I'm not a grudge-holder. I don't do silent treatments or blacklists and I can't stand it when people do that to me. I rarely get offended or angry and certainly can't stay that way. It's just not the way I'm wired. So, it was quite a surprise to me when I got to the chapter on Overcoming Unforgiveness in Beth Moore's book, Praying God's Word. I honestly thought I could skip over the chapter because, like I implied, I'd rather have a root canal than be in disagreement with someone. I thought I could skip it, of course, until I started reading it. Isn't it always the way? Satan seems to go after us in the areas we think we're strongest. I may not be one to huff and puff, but after reading Beth's words, I have learned that I'm good at holding grudges in my heart. I've allowed plenty of past hurts to take residence there and creep back out in bitter words and thoughts from time to time. I have allowed these things to make me feel worthy of basking in self-pity when I was having a "woe is me" kind of day. I really wasn't the super-forgiver I thought I was.

I didn't realize that this spirit of unforgiveness that I was harboring was really a stronghold between God and I. He wants us to forgive; after-all, we aren't the judge of others wrong-doings, He is. Beth Moore says it better than I ever could in the following paragraph taken from Praying God's Word (pg. 220),

"Innumerable strongholds are connected to an unwillingness to forgive. Left untreated, unforgiveness becomes spiritual cancer. Bitterness takes root, and since the root feeds the rest of the tree, every branch of our lives and every fruit on each limb ultimately become poisoned. Beloved sister or brother, the bottom line is...unforgiveness makes us sick. Always spiritually. Often emotionally. And, surprisingly often, physically." 

Beth goes on to describe forgiveness as "letting something go to God" as opposed to the "feeling" we think it is. She says, "[f]orgiveness is the ongoing act by which we agree with God over the matter, practice the mercy He's extended to us, and surrender the situation, the repercussions, and the hurtful person to Him."

Let me tell you something, friends. Since reading this chapter, I've put her definition of forgiveness into practice and it works. Of course, I do catch myself trying to harbor things from time to time, but now I'm quick(er) to cast them out. It's somewhat therapeutic to carry burdens around only to hash and re-hash. Sadly, that kind of therapy is about as effective as scarfing down some ice cream sundaes to cast away hurt. Neither way works. The best way to forgive is to surrender the situation, as Beth said. It will show Christlikeness and open space in your heart for more virtues, fewer strongholds.

What a relief.
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^{This post is listed on the Time Warp Wife's Titus2sday blog link-up. Please head over to Darlene's site to check out all of the awesome blogs linked up today!}

Thoughts on addiction...

I started reading Beth Moore's books for one reason and one reason only. The only stronghold I naively thought I had - addiction - prompted me to pick up Praying God's Word. Though otherwise healthy, I was convinced that I had underlying blood sugar problems that made me feel faint, sick, and a little foggy each day. I've had my blood sugar tested to no avail and, guess what? I'm fine. My blood sugar has never been high nor low and my other medical exams were always fine as well. I've even had my brain checked out. It's all fine. After having my sugar tested for probably the fourth or fifth time in my adult life, I started reading about "sugar issues." I quickly learned that the only thing wrong with me was with my heart, and not something that could be picked up by any medical test or treated by any doctor besides Jesus, the Great Physician. I was addicted to sugar. 

This may sound like a laughable addiction to those who haven't been there. I mean, it's not like sugar is a hardcore narcotic, right? There are plenty other worse things I could get into, right? Sadly, though, it's a real life PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL health issue. It had a daily affect on me and, consequently my family, job, pocketbook, mental stability, etc. I saw the full effects of this problem when I tried to detox my sugar addiction (and it took multiple attempts). I went through all kinds of crazy. I felt like I couldn't move; I felt incredibly out of control anxious (because I couldn't use sugar to quiet my anxiety); and, I felt physically ill. Yeah, doesn't sound so funny now, does it? I expected to cut the white stuff and get back to living life as normal immediately, whatever that meant. There was a problem, though. If I couldn't have sugar...what was I going to do? How would I combat my anxiety?

In addition to fixing the action, my heart had to be healed as well. I needed another way to deal with stress (other than feeding it). Beth Moore says it very well in Praying God's Word,

"No matter whether your addictions are to substances or behaviors, God can set you free. What He requires from you is time, trust, and cooperation. The immense power of an addiction is rarely broken in a day. You see, God has as much to teach us as He has to show us. He could show His power by instantaneously setting us free from all desire for our stronghold. Often, however, God chooses the process of teaching us to walk with Him and depend on Him daily."

Resting on those thoughts made it a lot easier for me to see how trusting God was my only option; and, today, my addiction (and anxiety) are seemingly gone; I still like sweets, don't get me wrong, but I consume in the sweet like honey wisdom of the Lord to get me through instead - not ice cream and candy bars. If you're struggling with an addiction of any kind, please lay it on the Lord! If you think you're struggling because you're predisposed to this or that, lay it on the Lord!

You don't have to clean yourself up for Him, just start praying right where you are and allow Him to start working on your heart. Pray to trust Him; to be released from your burdens; to be able to seek righteousness over evil. And, give it time. As Beth said, your walk isn't a skip through the park. It's often a long walk, and sometimes it's 95 degrees out, humid, and all uphill while you're walking. Don't give up, yet delight in the time and care He's taking to refine you. Trust, trust, trust, and give Him time. 

Where do you get your beauty tips?

I was digging through my makeup bag the other day for some gold eye shadow. I thought to myself, I should make a VLog on makeup application! I hear so many adult women claiming that they don't know what to do with this or that beauty product and that's something I know quite a bit about. Maybe a VLog demo would be helpful? And, upon further consideration, maybe not.
The Lord convicted my vain notions and has been putting my nose in scripture that illustrates real beauty ever since. He's been working up this post in my heart and, I could probably write a book on all I've learned. Maybe I will sometime, but for the sake of today's post, I want to share a little of what I've learned as I've been taking beauty tips from the Bible.

As a woman, I know the depths to which we travel to for the sake of beauty. To be completely honest, I have changed my entire appearance a multitude of times just for the sake of vanity. It's a rare day that I'm happy with my appearance through and through. I just realized, after fussing over many boxes of hair dye in the wrong shade, make-up that didn't blend correctly, fake nails that snapped off, designer jeans, purses, dresses, and shoes that I had to have, workout programs that I gave up on and miracle diets blown, true beauty doesn't come from any of those places! Now, before anyone gets bent out of shape over this, I want to tell you that I don't see that any of these things done in balance are wrong; when primping our outer image to perfection takes away from the time we spend adorning our heart with the love of Christ, though, it's an issue. It's a big issue. Very clearly stated, the Bible says: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Now, I'm almost certain that I don't stand alone when it comes to having gone to great lengths for the sake of outward appearance. I don't know about you, but until now, none of the quests for beauty I've been on have had a darn thing to do with fearing the Lord. Fearing gray hairs, yes; Fearing judgement, a larger dress size, blotchy skin, droopy eyelids, and brittle nails. Yes, all of the above and more.

I don't know why the Lord chose now to bring this to my heart; Maybe I've been spending too much time in front of the mirror and too little time in my Bible. Maybe it's because I will soon have three daughters in the house and this is a truth that they desperately need to realize early and often and I need to be ready to give it to them. Maybe it's because one of you readers needs to hear this just as much as I do. 

I love the message given in I Peter 3:3-5:

³  Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,


What an awesome message to share with our friends and daughters! How on earth can we project beauty on the outside if our hearts are not adorned first? Why start our day digging through a cosmetics case instead of praising the Lord for all that's good? Many of the most beautiful women I know don't go to great extents with their daily beauty routines, but their Christlikeness makes them beautiful indeed! 

Of course, there's a little something to be said about outer beauty, too. As Nancy Leigh DeMoss says in her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets them Free, "We as Christian women should seek to reflect the beauty, order, excellence and grace of God through our outward and inner person." She goes on to note that there is room for a balance between inner and outer beauty. This is evident in I Timothy 2:9-10.⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

I think these are the messages that we need to be giving to our daughters, sisters, friends, and mothers. We need to heed Biblical direction and teach that insides adorned with a heart for Christ will ultimately lead to outer beauty as well.

So, my beautiful readers, I don't mean for you to run off and cancel all of your salon appointments, ditch your workouts and throw your cosmetic cases in the trash; the summary of this post is just this...before becoming overwhelmed with the world's definition of what's gorgeous, fill your heart with the true beauty of Christ and let that guide everything you do - including your morning makeup routine. 

He stirs up the seas, and quiets the storms! A look at Isaiah 51.

Before I started writing this post, I grabbed my Bible and began praying. I really had nothing on my heart that was begging to be made into a blog post and because of this uncertainty, I prayed.  I asked God to lead me to a verse from which I could develop a post that would glorify Him and be something that you readers and I really needed to hear. I flipped my Bible open, landing on Isaiah 51:9-17, a verse that I can't remember studying before.

Now, I hesitate to use the word "ironic" because God is sovereign and He knows exactly what He's doing, therefore, nothing is truly "ironic." As I read through Isaiah 51:9-17, though, irony was the only term I could think of.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I've written about the Lord delivering me from anxiety issues that had been harbored in my heart nearly my entire life. I know many of you struggle with this as well. It's incredibly easy for us to build an altar for our fears - no matter how rational or irrational they are. It's easy to give them all power over our lives, never begging God to intervene because we can "handle it" ourselves. How many times to we fear the world and all it entails only to push God, maker of the world and ruler of our lives, out of the way so we can engage in self-soothing round of worry. (Self-soothing and worry may sound like an oxymoron, but for those of us who panic incessantly, we know that worry is what makes us feel better - as well as worse - and that's why we do it). I think Isaiah 51:12-17 speaks to this. Read verses 51:12-14, below, and see if you agree,

"I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the opressor when he sets himself to destroy." 

When I sought the Lord for deliverance from the darkness of anxiety and the shadows cast by worries of this world, I was able to see the above illustration quite clearly. He allowed me to see. I was looking inward, as many of you may be today. The world constantly tells us to "look for the power within yourself," "aim to be the best you, you can be," "work on your image," "love yourself," etc. Looking inward, focusing on ourselves, only magnifies our altar of worry and discontent; and, the bigger and bigger we build our altars, the smaller and smaller we see God. Once we repent, however, and accept that God is the only one who can lift the darkness of anxiety or any other stronghold that's keeping us, we can enjoy His full majesty once again - or for the first time, perhaps. He frees us! The following verse (v. 14) sketches out the very result of faithfulness and repentance I've described:

"He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit, 
neither shall his bread be lacking."

What a beautiful and comforting truth.

I realize that I've posted similar write-ups on this blog, but there's really no limit on illustrating His glory through posts such as these, is there? It's also important to remember that we can be right back in the darkness if we allow our focus on Him to fallow. He is the one who comforts us. It is written, and it is true. If you have anxiety or any other stronghold, remember that He is the one who stirs the seas (v. 15) and He will calm the storms of your life; just seek Him.

If you feel that you've been sucked into the pits of this world, I would love to pray for you to receive deliverance today. Feel free to email me: tess [@] tapestryofthemundane [.] com (brackets and spaces removed) or leave a note in the comments box below so other readers can pray for you, too.

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This post is linked up to Grace Laced Mondays, Better Mom Mondays and Just for Fun Fridays

Hop on over to to those awesome sites to see who else is sharing.

Mock Apple Pie and Faith

To play along with an April Fools themed small group get together we went to, I baked a mock apple pie.  If you've never had a mock apple pie before, you really wouldn't believe how authentic it tastes. Ritz crackers are boiled in water, cream of tartar, and apple pie seasonings in lieu of the apples. When the apple-esque mixture emerges from the boiling pot, it lands safely in a traditional pie crust that's then topped with a decadent mix of crackers, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, etc. While this carb-loaded concoction bakes, a beautiful aroma of...you guessed it...baked apple pie fills the house. The finished product, while probably much worse for you than traditional apple pie is delicious; and, those boiled crackers, for whatever reason, pass as apples. The full recipe is here, incase you're so intrigued to learn more. The point of this post, though, isn't so much the apple pie. The pie got me thinking, though...

How often is our faith, our daily walk with Christ, like a mock apple pie? It's so easy to go through the motions. It's easy to sit through church services and maintain transparency with a smile and, "I'm just fine, thanks," while gradually removing ourselves from situations where that question may be continue to be asked.

Maybe you have excellent Bible knowledge and know all the hymns, but have no true heart for Christ. Maybe you're looking away from Christ in an effort to hold yourself up in un-Biblical ways while you hurt and try to heal "in your own time." Maybe you've removed yourself from all Christian circles - checking out of Bible reading, church, and prayer, too, because __fill in the blank with any number of excuses__. We are all sinners and, because of our sinful nature, I think we've all played the role of mock apple pie at one point. Some live in the darkness for brief moments of life and some live there for much longer...or eternally. After-all, if we tell ourselves that we're filled with apples long enough, we may start to believe that our crackers really are apples.

If your insides really aren't apples, yet crackers weakened by the elements and terribly out of place, it's time that you surrender to Christ for full restoration through repentance and faith. It's time that you gain accountability with your fellow believers and time that you begin relying on Him and only Him to be refined, transformed, and used for your intended purpose.

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Living like a mock apple pie may appear easy and desirable, but may your heart's desire be the real thing. 

What's holding you back?

I've been hearing about this Beth Moore lady for quite a few years, but I never imagined the Lord would use one of her books to change my life. If you haven't read any of Beth Moore's books, pick one...any one. You won't be disappointed. I love reading, I really do, but I prefer books that are quick, conversational, and filled with wit and substance. Beth's books are like that. She has an amazing gift of writing and teaching. She's the kind of person you'd love to have coffee and scones with and call your friend. 

About the same time I was trying to make a break from Corporate America, a friend of mine was pouring over Beth Moore's books and her Bible studies. I decided to check them out and found that Praying God's Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds looked like the perfect book for this girl who who has had stronghold after stronghold for what seems like forever (one of my strongholds has been FOOD, shown stage right there, though I didn't realize it). 

I didn't know what "spiritual bondage" or "spiritual strongholds" were, not to mention that I had a bundle of them. I didn't realize that things I saw as "personality quirks" were really strongholds keeping me from Christ - fear, pride, bitterness, food, and addiction to name a few. This book is packed full of scripture and kept leading me back to God's Word; it showed me how to overcome these things through deep-seated prayer and the Word - thus drawing me closer to Him and helping me trust Him more. I recommend this book to ALL women, Christian or not, new believer, seasoned believer, questioning believer.... It's an excellent read and I wouldn't hesitate to say that it changed my life. 

Here it is on Amazon.

If you read it, let me know what you think.