Prayers

I first read the book, Made to Crave, by Lysa TerKeurst, 2 1/2 years ago.  It is a powerful message that resonates with me.  I feel like Lysa is inside my brain and knows exactly how I think and feel.  I am re-reading the book and have been participating in an online Bible study with this book over the past few weeks.   It has been interesting to re-read the book after experiencing a season of victory over my eating and body issues.  There was a section I read recently that really struck a chord within my heart.

In Made to Crave, Lysa says:

But through it all I determined to make God, rather than food, my focus.  Each time I craved something I knew wasn't part of my plan,  I used that craving as a prompt to pray.  I craved a lot.  So, I found myself praying a lot.

Don't rush past this last paragraph.  I used my cravings for food as a prompting to pray.  It was my way of tearing down the tower of impossibility before me and building something new.  My tower of impossibility was food.  Brick my brick, I imagined myself dismantling the food tower and using those same bricks to build a walkway of prayer, paving the way to victory.

I want to be healthy for myself and for my family.  I want to be free of the struggle I feel every day concerning eating, food and body image.  I just want to eat and enjoy eating without the emotional garbage of being healthy or not healthy, being on a diet or eating out of control, feeling empowered and healthy or out of control and defeated.  There is too big of a swing from one extreme to the other.  I want to live a balanced life in every area of my life, including eating and exercising.

I have a huge tower of impossibility in front of me.  When I read Made to Crave in 2011, I didn't take Lysa's advice and pray the tower of impossibility down and then build a pathway to victory , through prayer,  with those same bricks.  I am going to pray my way to victory this time.  Not just to a lower weight, but to a lower, healthy, maintainable, life long weight.  I will pray my way to the finish line this time.