Within Reach

I've become more disciplined in quiet time with my Lord and Savior again.  I never fall out of love with the King of my life, but I am guilty of letting the day to day routine of life push out this precious time. The first couple of days I sat down again with prayer journal and bible open, I noticed that I just felt like my prayer was disjointed.  I was distracted by sounds, thoughts, itches, bruises, to-do lists, EVERYTHING.  I tried and tried to concentrate on the A.C.T.S. prayer.  A=Adoration, C=Confession, T=Thanksgiving, S=Supplication.  I found myself mentally checking off each letter. I talked to Troy about how I felt God was very distant in my prayer time.  He asked how I was praying and I confessed that I was unfocused and just going through the motions.  I emphasised that I had tried and tried to focus but to no avail.  My very wise and nonjudgmental husband reminded me of the verse we had recently studied from Zechariah:  "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty.  The next day, I started my prayer time with this verse.  I didn't try to focus, I just thought about this verse.  Then thoughts and reminders came to me:  thoughts of adoration of my God, ways I had disappointed Him with my thoughts and actions, all the blessings He pours upon me, friends and family who needed prayer, my needs that could only be filled by my Lord.  The Spirit had placed me within reach of the King of Kings.  I could feel His presence with every fiber of my being. 

One of the countless number of things I thank God for is His power and protection as I travel on this weight loss journey.  I do find, again, that I try to be in control.  Just when I should be praising God for empowering me to be healthier, I start obsessing about how I can work harder to get healthier sooner and better! Does that seem crazy to anyone but me? "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty. This partial verse in Zechariah has become my personal mantra in so many areas of my life because I tend to forget who is in charge.  And it's not me!  Last week's weigh in was more important to me than any thus far.  I had lost 55 pounds total.  I'm on the downhill side to the first 100.  It's a mental thing, I know.  But thinking I have 45 pounds to lose until I hit the huge 100 mark is much easier to comprehend.  I mean, I've already lost more than 45 pounds.  What's 45 more?  I've never questioned that this is the LAST time I travel this road, but now loosing 100 pounds isn't out of the question.  It's within reach.