I’m gettin’ lean in ’17
a lean that’s all encompassing
I wanna be all I can be
and represent my Lord and King
through ALL things, help me to SING
It’s on Him I’m gonna LEAN!
I have just recently begun watching the show “This is Us” on NBC. I’m a little bit behind the ball, but I’ve binge-watched almost the whole first season online, and it’s so, so good! It’s the kind of show that you either love or hate.
This show wrecks me. Even the music makes me tear up. But the character that I really connect with is Kate. As a child, she is “chunky” and much of the storyline revolves around her becoming more self-conscious of her size. Then as an adult, it shows her measuring every meal, obsessing over every calorie of everything she eats…exercising and doing all the right things- only to lose 1 lb. Kate is charming and lovely, and yet all she can see is her size.
When I watch the show, it’s like seeing myself on the screen. I religiously count all my calories, and then feel like a failure when I haven’t lost a pound. Then I over-indulge during the holidays and feel like a failure when I’ve gained a pound (err…or two, lol)…the cycle never ends.
And now that my girls are entering the teen years, I try so hard to say and do the right things…
I say things like– Eat healthy so you can be HEALTHY, not THIN. Exercise so you will feel good and feel good about yourself. Wear clothes that fit you and flatter your curves. Recognize that people come in all shapes and sizes, and embrace the body God gave you! You are beautiful!
But deep down, I fight those negative thoughts every single day. I recently admitted this to someone close to me and told them that maybe this is my “cross”. You know how Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him? Well this love/hate relationship with food and my weight is just that- something that can either get me down every single day- or it’s something that He can use to keep me close to Him. Every moment I go to Him instead of turn to my own thoughts, well that’s another victory!
So I’m committing to getting LEAN in ’17!
I’m going to LEAN on HIM and NOT myself!
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Romans 8:37