Our Give-Away for Today!
31 Days to a Younger You
If 40 is the new 30, and 50 is the new 40, how is the average woman supposed to keep up? There has got to be an easier way to look younger than Botox treatments, yo-yo dieting or plastic surgery.
Author Arlene Pellicane reminds women that they’re never too old to trade their mundane life for a daily adventure, but they have to be willing to do something rather than to simply hope for it. 31 Days to a Younger You is filled with health and beauty tips, combined with spiritual encouragement. The best part? It only takes 5-10 minutes a day for busy women to get their daily RX (Rejuvenation/eXpression) for the heart (Days 1-9), the mind (Days 10-16), and the body (Days 17-31).
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New Life
The impossible happened: I enjoyed lunch.
I didn’t count calories.
I didn’t obsess over whether to order “just a salad” or an entre.
I didn’t play with my food and take it to go, nor did I scarf it all down.
For the first time in 5 years, I simply enjoyed lunch.
No old tapes played. No old behaviors cropped up. Even as I realized all this, three hours after the meal, no anxiety arose to choke my joy.
Free.
Finally free!
My old life of compulsive eating/starving, calorie charts and weight logs, self-centered obsessing, all gone.
A new life had begun!
Become a New Person
On Day 7, I shared my story of how Christ set me free from the eating disorder that was destroying me.
While I hoped for change the night I surrendered my life to Christ, I knew I'd changed the day I went out to lunch with my boss.
I hadn't been trying not to think about calories.
I hadn't been trying not to obsess over the menu.
I hadn't been trying to eat slowly without overstuffing myself
I simply enjoyed lunch.
I knew I was new!
What New People Do
The verse just before today’s says
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. ” (2 Cor 5:16a)
When we are new, we stop accusing and start accepting.
When we are new, we run from contempt and toward compassion.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.” (2 Cor 5:18a)
We didn’t do any of this on our own.
“And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19b)
Yet another gift: reconciliation
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” (2 Cor 5:20)
Do New People …?
Complaining doesn’t seem to fit under the heading “What New People Do.”
Neither does criticizing.
Or gossipping.
Or sarcasm.
Ambassadors don’t need self-defense strategies.
Especially when the victory is already won!
A New Way
Relating to others (especially people who get on my nerves!) without complaining+ is still very new to me.
You’ve heard that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill? Well, I’m a lot closer to 1,000 than 10,000 hours!
And yet, I’ve been blessed with such clear results already.
I have a student–we’ll call her Tracy–who has gotten on my nerves for several years. She’s so Choleric, with zero desire to please, and not an ounce of tact. Anything she doesn’t like, she verbalizes immediately, loudly, and very publicly.
Within the first week of school this year, she was pushing my buttons: “Mrs. Gregory, WHY DO WE HAVE TO… I DON’T THINK IT’S FAIR THAT…YOU’RE WRONG ABOUT…”
And I reacted poorly: I went on the defense, babbled like an idiot, and felt stupid afterward.
By the end of first quarter, I was sick and tired. Not just of Tracy, but of the relentless negativity ruling my heart, dominating my mind, and spewing from my mouth.
I decided to try something I hadn’t done since I was a child earning gold stars: memorize scripture.
Knowing how terrible I am at memorization, I printed and laminated cards that I could carry around. Any time I had to wait (which for a Choleric is torture!) I’d pull out my card for the day and keep rehearsing it.
Honestly, it felt like a chore. Like I was studying for school. My devotional time didn’t suddenly skyrocket. My sense of closeness to God didn’t dramatically improve.
The “only” thing that happened is that I started interrupting the complaining+ going through my mind and replacing it with a Bible verse.
And that, in itself, was a huge relief. I’d never before found any way to stop the negativity. Now, I could.
But then came the day when Tracy came up to me, right as I was starting class, and started chewing me out about her grade: “You never told us...you didn’t write it on the board...it’s not right for you to…”
As she blasted me, I felt everything shift into silent slow motion. I could see her mouth moving, but I no longer heard what she was saying. Remarkably, I didn’t feel defensive.
As I looked at her, Ephesians 2:10 came to mind:
"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
I thought, “Tracy, you don’t realize that you are God’s masterpiece, do you? You don’t see yourself as created anew in Christ Jesus.”
My heart broke for her.
And this has totally changed how I relate to her.
I now see how hard she tries, how much she struggles, how unhappy she is. I see the tremendous potential buried under a facade designed to keep people away.
No, we’re not BFFs. On a recent class trip, I snapped at her before we left campus and then realized I was in the wrong. As soon as we arrived, I sought her out to apologize.
Before I could open my mouth, she said, “I was telling my friends on the way here how bad I felt for what I said and how much I wanted to apologize to you.”
As two Cholerics, we almost got into an argument about who should apologize first and the most!
What a transformation from the old to the new!
Yes, in Tracy, but most importantly in me!
As new people, we have a new way to treat people: as new people.
Try this today: As you're dealing with a difficult person, imagine them as a new person. (Checking for strengths on your PURSE-onality "gift card" may help!) Ask yourself: "How can I treat this person as a new person in Christ?" Pray to see and treat her/him via God's eyes and heart.
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To enter today’s drawing, leave a comment
- responding to today’s blog, and/or
- sharing your Day #1-9 experience of replacing “baditude” with God’s word and gratitude, and/or
- about anything else on your heart!
Drawing winners 6-8 will be announced soon!
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(Catch up on any "Warm-Up Week" Blog Posts!)
