Photo taken by Stephen Moldenhauer on a hiking trip in the Colorado Rockies.

“We are only one good choice away from being back on the path of perseverance.” Lysa TerKeurst, Made to Crave Devotional

Whew! That is so encouraging! This week was super stressful, and I found it hard to CARE much less take action. But the good news is that my God dearly loves me whether I’m having a successful weight loss day or not. His love never changes. It is not based on my performance, but in my position as His beloved child. I am part of His very family!

Do you ever equate food with love? Growing up my grandma cooked often for our family. She sometimes had fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, and stewed potatoes in the same meal just so everyone could have their favorite! Whew! Then of course she made homemade rolls, cornbread, AND biscuits for the same reason. And we did feel loved when we saw she went to extra measures to make our favorites. Of course as a skinny kid I never thought about all those carbs! And I didn’t consider how I connected food and love.

As a mom I’ve done it, too. My boys definitely look to my cooking as a way I say, “I love you.” Last night my oldest begged me to make pan cookies for the family to enjoy while we watched our weekly Psych episode. (This is the one TV show the whole family likes.) How could I resist those begging blues . . .

In balance, there’s nothing wrong with food and cooking being one way we love our family and even ourselves. We need food for sustenance, and I’m a firm believer it should be a good part of  times of celebration.

The trouble comes when we look to food for love. Food can’t give love. It can be an expression of love, but it will never fill the empty places inside that need love, not calories. It can minister to (or hurt) our bodies, but it cannot minister to our spirits.

Sometimes we get off the journey to health and weight loss because we look to food for what it cannot give.

But the good news is getting back on the right path is as easy as one good choice. In one decision we decide whether we’re walking the path to health or not. And while it can feel like an emotional choice, it’s really a choice of the mind and the body. A choice to eat well, not just eat. A choice to eat wise, not out of control. A choice to add movement into the day instead of staying sedentary.

Food has nothing to do with being part of the family. Our Heavenly Father chose us as His beloved children based on His never-ending love for us. It had nothing to do with how fat or thin we were. It had nothing to do with the choices we made at the family dinner table.

We belong because HE made a choice. A heart-felt choice to adopt us as His very own. And nothing can separate us from His love.

“We have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, ‘Papa! Father!’”        ~Galatians 4:5 The Message

How about you? How does your emotional food culture affect your healthy journey? Does it encourage you to remember that you are HIS precious daughter no matter your weight and no matter your performance? How does it affect you to think you’re part of God’s family (or could be if you chose to)? And how do you feel about being only one good choice away from perseverance?