TW Summer Study - day 1

Day One ~ Free to Enjoy God's Lavish Love

LAVISH love. Gotta love that description! And so many amazing verses! Some of my favorites:

The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt...
you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.
Jeremiah 31:3-4

Aren't those beautiful verses of God's LAVISH love?! A few statements that popped out for me on the first page of the chapter were

"lover of your soul...His unfathomable love for you...this love is not based on your performance...God is crazy about you...God loves you exactly the way you are."

Wow! Those ones hit me strongly this time round! Thanks Lord for your love.

Next, on page 4, the other statement that stuck out for me was:

"Thin Within is not a diet plan. It is a way of life.... It is a process that requires time and commitment. However, it is also full of enriching self-discovery." TW pg4

I have been pondering this a lot more lately. I realize that it doesn't matter what plan you choose to follow (to lose weight) you have to be able to stick with the plan FOR THE REST OF YOU LIFE. And this is what I LOVE about TW! It is certainly a plan I can stick with for the rest of my life! Eat when I am hungry. Stop when I am satisfied. Ask for God's guidance in the whole process. Find satisfaction for the soul. Abide with the Lord. Learn to make gratitude the very fabric of my life. This is the kind of plan that I WANT to stick with for the rest of my life!!!

I filled out the questionaire on "My Current Relationship with Food" (pg6). It highlighted for me how I so easily fall into the rut of almost ignoring the food and shovelling it in without savouring and forgetting to have a thankful heart. It's not like this always. But I certainly find it harder to slow down, savor...and find the rhythm needed to connect with the family over dinner, connect with the Lord as I eat and also connect with my body's signals. Whew, that's quite a list!

Here is a run down of the keys to conscious eating that are presented on pg 8-10. In the past two months I was posting them one by one as a weekly challenge. I already went a bit more in-depth with each of the following posts if anyone cares to read my thoughts on each individual key.

#1. Eat only when my body is hungry
#2. Reduce the number of distractions in order to eat in a calm environment.
#3. Eat when sitting down.
#4. Eat when my body and mind are relaxed.
#5. Eat and drink the food and beverages my body enjoys.
#6. Pay attention to my food while eating.
#7. Eat slowly and savor each bite.
#8. Stop before my body is "full"

What sticks with me from this lesson is GOD'S LAVISH LOVE and LIVE (and eat) IN PRESENT-TIME.