Days 32-39

Vernon and I got back from a trip to Seaside, Florida yesterday. If you haven't visited the Gulf Coast in Alabama or Florida, I strongly recommend making the trip . . . it's AMAZING!!! And, if you're one of my Texas friends reading this and thinking that the trip wouldn't really be worth it because you've been to the Gulf Coast of Texas and it's not that great, let me tell you now to get those images out of your head immediately!!! The Gulf Coasts of Alabama and Florida are simply spectacular and NOTHING like the Gulf Coast of Texas. I've often wondered how they are the same body of water!

The vacation was wonderful . . . it was great to be with my sweet husband away from our normal routine. I definitely loved it, but there were things that were really hard about it . . .

1. I still had to cook every single meal . . . not my ideal vacation, but it was also kind of fun. The Lord showed me the blessings of it - eating on the balcony, listening to the water and uninterrupted conversation with my sweetheart. That's definitely not a bad way to spend the evening!

2. I've been to Seaside before and you can buy the GREATEST chocolate cake in the whole world there! I didn't realize just how hard it would be to go there and not eat that cake. It was HARD!!! There were times that I had to stop myself from premeditating how I could sneak some home. That was a great reminder about how we don't just accidently fall into temptation or sin . . . we plan it, we plot it out and then we take action. In order to be obedient, we have to capture our thoughts and realize where those thoughts lead us . . . do we need to change the course of our thoughts in order to change our later actions? Had I not taken captive those thoughts, I would be sitting here with that cake right now, being disobedient in what I'm trying to break free from. Obedience leads to freedom . . . NOT chocolate cake. I wish chocolate cake did bring freedom!

3. The other thing that I didn't realize would be hard on this trip was stopping for gas at "convenient" stores. Wow. It was brutal walking into those gas stations and not buying some kind of treat . . . either a soda or some candy or even just some gum. For whatever reason in the past, the food I've eaten while traveling hasn't felt like it counted because there aren't really any great options, so that just gave me permission to eat a ton of JUNK! What a striking revelation! A disgusting revelation too. And, it occurred to me that the food we consider "convenient" is TERRIBLE for us! I've come to realize that it's just as "convenient" to eat grapes and apples for a snack as it is to eat something with a wrapper on it. So why do these "convenient" stores only sell us garbage? Granted, it's yummy garbage that I desperately wanted to partake in, but it's just a sad state of the way things are. I was telling my mom about that today and she said that one of the challenges on The Biggest Loser is to take a road trip and have to go into the convenient stores all along the way without purchasing what they used to. GOOD CHALLENGE!!! HARD challenge. It's also a sobering thought to realize that had I not taken charge of my eating now, I could have ended up in even more bondage that would have been even harder to be set free from. My challenges are no different that those contestants on that show. My hat's off to them for doing what they are doing. I praise the Lord for bringing me to a place of recognition early in the battle! He's SO GOOD!

The Lord definitely continues to bless me in this process . . . He's constantly teaching me and revealing His provisions for me. He's showing me where I struggle and how to find victory in Him. He loves me real good.