One of my major problems for both healthy living and a healthy budget is the amount of fast food I was eating.  Part of that was fueled by the stress and busyness of tax season, and part of that is just my weakness for junk food and ice cream.

So, once tax season was over, I made the plan of not eating out unless:

1.) I’m with a friend.

or

2.) My schedule requires it (usually just on Wednesdays).

It’s not been easy.  And I’ve not been perfect, either.  If I was graded, I’d probably have just barely squeaked out a C that first week.

But I’m doing much better than I would have been if I hadn’t even tried.

As hard as it is to admit, food is an idol in my life.  I really wish it was something that you could quit cold turkey. Progress would be easily measured then.  Instead, I’ve been having to work on ways to not let my desire for food rule me.

One thing our pastor said Sunday in his sermon on lust and purity was this: Say “Sex is not my religion.  Jesus is my religion,” when temptation comes.

I’ve adapted that for my struggle and now when the temptation hits, I’m telling myself, “Food is not my god. Jesus is my God.”

I might have to say this a dozen times a day, but it’s a great reminder to put food in it’s proper place in my life. It’s a great blessing, but it is not my ultimate comfort.

I’m like a child…I can’t make myself eat something I don’t want to eat.  If I try, I seriously gag.  So, the key for me is to keep it something that I want to eat, but that is also cheap, easy and healthy.  Monday, I’ll post recipes that I currently have in my arsenal that I know make great leftovers and are tasty and decently healthy.

Photo by Tammy Green

Today I’m flying back in from Kansas, just in time to spend a few precious hours in the office as today is a big day for us. Hopefully I’ll be able to fix any kinks that happen to fall on my side of the court (umm, that totally makes sense right? there are kinks in sports, right?) as today’s the only day I’ll be in the office at all this week.

Tomorrow morning I’m taking a final (my professor graciously is letting me take it early, as it was originally scheduled for Friday), and then heading for the second half of the work training that I went to back in October. It’s a long commute (1 1/2 hours) from here, on which I’ll be enjoying the last of Sense and Sensibility and the first of Gone with the Wind.

Wednesday and Thursday I’ll have training all day, probably followed by studying either for work or for school.

Friday I’ll have the training test and then I hope to come back in time to spend the day writing a paper, or possibly playing catch-up for work.

Saturday I have a baby shower to attend and will need to clean the apartment because of what’s happening next week. I also have to write 2 Sunday school lessons and a paper. And root for my Sooners. Hmm. Maybe I need to rethink this…

Sunday will just be Sunday-busy.

Monday-Wednesday next week will be worky, as I’ll be in the office most of those days. I have plenty of due, including lots of paperwork. I don’t mean to come off so whiny, as I really enjoy my job.

That Tuesday, I’ll leave work extra early to give a presentation, turn in a bazillion papers, and take a final. Once I finish that final, I will have finished all my obligations to the seminary. Friday’s walking the stage is merely a formality!

That Thursday, I have graduation practice in the morning, and then I’ll rush off to pick up the ‘rents from the airport. I’m excited to have them here!

Friday morning is graduation, which will be followed by several graduation/birthday (Monday, December 15th…mark your calendars now!)/Christmas celebrations. There’s a lot going on!

As you can see, none of this leaves much room for blogging. Don’t worry though, I’ll still be posting! Eventually I’ll catch up with your posts, too.

I’m sure you all have schedules about like this one, too!

Sometimes I feel like Joe. I have lots of buttons to push. No problem, I can take this class. Of course, I can teach this lesson. Sure, I can write this letter. No problem, I can blog about that. Of course, I can clean this. You need me to babysit on that date? No problem. Sure, I can help you with that.

If I get too far behind in one area, I’ll stop everything to get caught up there. But then I’m behind somewhere else, so I drop everything for that, too. And then 2 more areas that I’m slacking in will come to my attention. All the makings of a comedic sketch.

It seems like there are always buttons that need pushing. It doesn’t seem like a matter of overcommiting, though sometimes that IS my problem. Though I generally don’t have a problem saying no if I need to.

Rather, I need to work on priorities. Some things are simply more important than others. I’ve been working on this by writing a list at the beginning of the day with everything I’d like to get done, plus a few that are merely wishful thinking. The list is written in priority order. That way I can just start at the top of my list and go down. This helps me not get so overwhelmed because I’m simply tackling one things at a time. At the end of the day, I may have only half of my list done, but at least it was the important things.

The lesson that I seem to be learning over and over again is that God gives me enough time to accomplish what He wants me to accomplish. I just need to take time to listen to His guidance as to what that is, and leave the unfinished business in His capable hands.

For all those concerned that I need this rest, know that I did rest yesterday. I came home from work and immediately popped in 27 Dresses. Probably not a help to the whole emotion thing, but it was a good break. I also arranged to get together with a couple different friends later this week which will be nice.

Anyway, in the past I haven’t always been so aware of my emotions. Not that I think that I’m all that aware now, but I’m better than I used to be. To me, it’s important to understand what I’m feeling and why I’m feeling in order to not let them take control of me. I had the tendency to keep the feelings inside and would lie to myself and to others saying I wasn’t emotional. But then it would get too much and I would explode. One infamous time (just ask my parents!) was when I bawled about not remembering my shoes when going home for Christmas. Umm, yeah, that’s worth crying over.

Breaks like this keep me from letting the emotion and stress get too much for me. Thanks for encouraging me and reminding me to enjoy the rest! Oh, and I can’t help but notice the irony in that my first class that starts tomorrow is “Counseling Individuals with Problematic Emotions.” Comes just in time, don’t you think?