A dose of self love…

As I was driving home from the hairdresser a few days ago, I felt a post brewing inside of me. There is something about being in the car with God. He says all kinds of things 😉 Anyway, I felt inspired by the journey of someone who works for my department named Freda. She had posted a picture of perseverance and weight loss a few weeks ago and it was on my mind.

this is the picture she posted

As I mulled it over and shaped it in my mind, God said “the fact that she lost weight is not the reason I want you to write this. I want you to write this because of her attitude”. I was not clear on what He meant. He said “do you remember the race you worked back in September?” I did. And then it all made sense.

I was working the Hit the Brixx 10K & 5K back in September of 2013. I was blocking the street by the finish line. All the runners for the 5K had made it in and then all the runners for the 10K made it in. They announced that there was still one female on the course; she was still doing the 5K.

The cones had already been picked up and all the officers on the route had been relieved because she was so far behind. Traffic had resumed its normal pattern and she was told to move to the sidewalk. Freda drove back, with some bananas, to check on her. She came back and said the lady was probably still an hour away, but she didn’t want to be picked up by the paddy wagon. She just wanted to finish. She was easily close to 300lbs, but she wanted to finish.

We waited another 15 minutes or so and then Freda told me to go (I was ready); she would stay. She would stay so that they could keep the finish line up for the woman to walk under; 2hrs 20 minutes and 19 seconds later. Freda said “because I remember what it felt like to start.”

That’s the attitude.

I quickly contacted Freda to get her permission to write this and do a mini interview. Her journey wasn’t easy. She is not one to complain, but in secret, dealt with all the insecurities and self disapproval that we deal with when we don’t like the way we look. When our health is affected by our weight and when our clothes seem to be getting tighter and tighter. When the solution seems so ginormous and unattainable.

Her inspiration came from her doctor telling her that if she got to a certain weight, she wouldn’t have to take any more blood pressure medicine; she couldn’t remember not taking it. Her motivation came from five friends. They began meeting every Monday and Wednesday morning. This was her energy source. They kept her motivated and accountable.

She started with the paleo eating challenge and still implements that today. She has completed a total of eight races and is currently training for the Spartan Race. As I was  talking with her she said I have a new lease on life, I have never felt better, this is a whole new level of self love (hence the name of the post). Even though my brain has to catch up to the new me in the mirror.

a new lease on life 🙂

After taking blood pressure medicine for about 20 years, she was taken off of it! 🙂

I am inspired by her achievement, but I was blessed by her heart. The heart to wait almost 1hr and 20 minutes extra for one woman to be able to pass under the finish line, because she personally remembered what it felt like 🙂

Blessings always

JC

 

Overcomer of the week ~Yvonne’s story ~ part 2

my grandson and I…

The priest gave me the book and this message – God said you are special to Him.

I was special to God. Wow. I felt like I was garbage and did not deserve to be wanted by such a loving God. But, God wanted me. God saw value in me when I could not. He loved me when I would not love myself. In that moment my heart surrendered.

I believed that saying yes to God would ease things, but things became more difficult. The more I loved and surrendered to God the more that love changed me. My volatile disposition, desire to smoke, get high and fight, had become a thing of my past. I was not only living with God, I was living for God.

Then my husband decided that my life with a God he did not want was more important than my life with him so he left me and moved in with his girlfriend across the street. I felt betrayed, embarrassed and broken. I almost fell apart the first time I saw her sitting on his lap; or his underwear, pants and shirts on her clothesline. I could hear them from my bedroom window, laughing and living while I seemed to be dying.

The walk home from the bus stop was a constant race to make it to my door before the tears rolled down my face. His betrayal and my pain were center stage for the world to see. My kids would watch them from our living room window wondering why daddy was across the street with her and not home with us. All I could do was muster up enough strength to keep moving.

There were times when he would come home on Friday with all of his clothes, we thought it was over but by Sunday he would be back with her again and I would have to pack up his belongings and get my dear friend to take them to him across the street. I was the wife who became the other woman.

I could not breathe.

 

Overcomer of the week ~Yvonne’s story~ part 1

My name is Yvonne and this is a portion of my story. Before I was born I shared the womb with my sister and although they knew about her I would surprise everyone. As my mom gave birth on the floor of my grandmother’s apartment in Brooklyn, fear gripped everyone when I came 20 minutes after my sister because I was unexpected and not breathing. My first breath would come from the mouth of a police officer who decided to take a different route home that day.

my twin sister and I

 

It was hard growing up as me because my complexion was so much darker than most and the kids would pick on me calling me horrible names. I felt like something was wrong with me. To hide my pain I became angry and a very good fighter. I fought so much that I got kicked out of elementary school. By the age of eight I had major surgery on both of my feet which caused me to have to learn how to walk all over again. The special shoes and child size walker did not do anything for my self-esteem. The kids were cruel and I felt like an outcast.

I hated everyone and vowed never to let them see me cry. Going to school for me felt like holding my breath and eagerly waiting for the chance to breathe. As a teenager I was very volatile. I had a bad attitude and would always respond to difficulty with abrasive language and violence. I rarely lost a fight but when I did that person had to fight me every day until I was satisfied. I had so much anger inside that my mom was the only person who would deal with me. She was able to calm me down in my many moments of rage.

 

Overcomer of the week ~Renita’s Story~

loving God, loving llife and loving me 😉

I’m an overcomer today. Overcoming obstacles daily. There are many things that I am free from and never thought that I would be walking freely in. Truly who God sets free is free indeed. I am an overcomer of needing people’s love, approval and acceptance. I used to look to people for something that only God could give. There was a deep root inside of me that wanted to be loved and accepted.

I wanted people to give things to me unconditionally. I didn’t realize I had to love myself first. I didn’t like or love myself as I should have. My self esteem was very low. To know what love was, I had to allow God to show me. He showed me how much He loved me and how to love myself through His salvation, His word and very patient people.

My relationship with people struggled because before I could love another, I had to love me. I wanted love but I didn’t know what that looked like. When I went after what I thought it looked like, I repeatedly got hurt, disappointed and often felt rejected. That happened a lot, but each time drew me closer to God.

I am also an overcomer from food addiction. This started early in my childhood. My mother, a single parent, loved me the best way she knew how. She never let me go hungry. I could have food anytime and in any amount. That lead me to be dependent on food and I had an unhealthy relationship with it. I abused it and I didn’t know how to eat. I ate when I was happy, sad, mad, lonely, or bored.

food was my comfort…

Food was my comfort, happiness, and emotional stabilizer. It made everything alright. It was always there when no one else was and I fell in love with it. Food to me was like drugs to the drug addict, alcohol to the alcoholic.

My weight ballooned to almost 300lbs. Many times over the years I was able to lose weight. But it always came back. It was never about losing weight, it was always about dealing with the issues that caused me to seek food for comfort.

But through it all, wanting me to surrender, was a gracious loving God who was ready to deliver me from something I didn’t want to give up. I was challenged to give up the love of my life…FOOD!

My path to overcoming was down the road of SURRENDER. I opened up and got to the root of my addiction. It required making different choices, being honest and transparent, and allowing God to make the changes in me. I had to do it God’s Way.

making better choices…

Long story short, God has taken almost 100lbs off of my physical body. Weights of disappointment, rejection, hurt, anger and unforgiveness. He replaced it with HIM!

Today I am not only an overcomer, I am a victorious overcomer and striving to show others how to do it God’s Way.

Blessings

~Renita~