Back on the wagon, friend!

You can do it, friend! Just get back up on the wagon today. Sugar-fast is so hard, but every time I say no to something (which is MANY times a day--I'm such an addict!), I feel like i've won a teensy little battle. And I think it is getting a little easier. One of the blessings for me is that Katy is choosing to fast from sugar with me, so I have more incentive to be disciplined. I'm being her role model, after all!

I've been in Nehemiah this week. Never really studied it before, but it's just beautiful. When Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, he and the Jews are under continual attack from the enemy. The enemy knows their weakness and prepares for when the Jews get too worn out to work. So here's Nehemiah's prayer: "Now strengthen my hands." And God gave their hands strength--so much that they were able to build a 2-mile wall in 52 days. Miraculous kind of strength.

Our hands need strength, my friend. It has just occurred to me that nothing goes into my mouth without the help of my hands! So today I'm going to pray for our hands to have strength! To resist picking up that ...(whatever)... and putting it into our mouths!

At the end of Nehemiah, the people gather for Ezra and others to read the Book aloud. They are so convicted of their sin, their weakness, their faithlessness before a faithful God, that they were weeping as the words were being read. Nehemiah stopped them and told them to stop grieving. They were to go and enjoy choice (healthy) food and sweet drinks (Diet Coke), and share it with their friends! He said, "Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!"

I am really struggling not to be grumpy in the midst of this move. Too much to do, too little time, not enough money. And yet, I can allow the joy of the LORD to make me strong. Praise music, reading my Bible, talking to my Father--those things bring me to a place of joy, and that will make me strong. Strong in my mind, my heart, and my back! (Oh, and my hands:)

The joy of the LORD is our strength, dear Jana!

Random thought: I've noticed that whenever construction work is being done, there is usually music playing (to make them strong?). So while they were rebuilding the wall, I wonder if there was a worship band standing on Mt. Zion playing while the workers hammered away. My husband would have been in the band. Your husband would have been designing the structure. You and I would have been breaking our backs lifting rocks! (Not because we're not capable of anything else, but because SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO THE WORK!!!) No, maybe you would be writing the stories down for future generations to read! And I would be coordinating the meals for all the workers, with cute lunchboxes and special notes inside. No, you'd have to write the notes too.