Life is Short

I learned today of the death of an old friend. I have not seen her in many years and I have to admit, I haven't even really thought about her except in the passing way we do of old friends. She was one of my closest friends in junior high and high school. We even started college together. She taught me to drive a stick shift and I nearly lost her transmission in the middle of an intersection of the small town where I grew up. I have some very dear memories of the time we spent together.

Many would say that I am risking going off-topic of the purpose of my blog which is supposed to be about my journey to improved health and losing weight. But here's the thing, I was told that my old friend died from complications of diabetes. My passion these days is to try and convince at least one person that God is interested in our health and wants us to be mindful of how we treat the body He gave us. I am reminded once again of how important this is through the loss of my friend.

For anyone who may be paying attention, I hope that you can understand this, life is short. And while I hope that you all love strong and laugh hard. I hope you learn the importance of being a good steward to that which God provided you including your body. In the end, I think we have to give it back and we have to answer for what we did with it while we were here.

I guess this post is a little morbid, but this evening I feel the need to try and help at least one person to understand this. Sometimes I think it takes a little harsh reality to help us do that.

I wish anyone who is listening good health and happiness. Life is indeed very short - make the most of it.

Manna

My Sunday School class has been going through a Beth Moore Bible study - A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. The study is all about the tabernacle and the significance of the various aspects of the tabernacle. I really like it, but there was a particular aspect studied one day that I continue to marvel at - manna.

Manna was provided by God each day for the Israelites to eat. This food was from heaven and provided all of the energy and nutrients that the Israelites needed to survive as they were traveling through the desert. You know what the Israelites did, they complained. They complained because they got tired of manna. They got tired of God's perfect food. They wanted meat.

In studying this lesson, I realize that I do this each and every day. God has given us this good and perfect food - namely all of the fruits and vegetables you can find at your local grocery store. Have you every really looked at the produce section? It's really beautiful. And not only is this food lovely to look at, it provides all of the nutrients that we need to survive our own desert. But what do I do about it? I complain. Because I don't want these wonderful fruits and vegetables, I want the processed food that we have distorted into something completely different and added all sorts of weird chemicals too. These manufactured foods which have some of the nutrients, but not in the proportions that I need or in a manner that is good for my body to recover them.

I continue to be amazed at God's grace and goodness that He continues to put up with my complaining about what I want. I am grateful that He is showing me the beauty of His plan for how to have a healthy body and how that healthy body contributes to the health of my very soul. He is an amazing God.