Tag Archives: health

Get Over Yourself!

If we are going to be used by God and effective for Kingdom work — or any work He has called us to — we must get over ourselves and gear up to follow His lead!

“Get Over Yourself!” is a message I shared at the Biblical Business Training (BBT) Community Connection, where a group of Christian business and ministry leaders gather. I shared some of the key “things I’ve learned” over the last eight years, especially as it relates to Christian leadership in business and ministry.

If you are interested in watching the recording, click here.
To view the presentation, click here.

How Is Your Soul?

“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit” (3 John 1:2).

Our physical health is so important. The Bible tells us our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to steward it with honor. And the Lord wants our bodies to be healthy. He wants us to live abundantly. He wants us to be free.

But some of us are neither healthy in body nor spirit. We have traded caring for our souls – what is inside, what is eternal – with a hyper fixation on our bodies, the temporal. And some of us have confused vanity for health. I know I have.

Vanity is not health. Believe me, I know from experience. In fact, this question I pose today is one I asked myself.

You see, in my 20s, I was super skinny but extremely unhealthy. I drank coffee to be skinny, counted every calorie, and judged myself by each half-pound. If I had eaten the amount of calories I had allotted for myself earlier in the day, I would isolate. I wouldn’t get together with my friends at dinner to avoid eating more calories and being asked questions. And then I called it self-discipline and self-control, when it was actually self-deprivation leading to health issues. I needed the Lord to do a supernatural healing work in my soul to find health again.

Some of us are eating but absorbed in our looks. If it’s not a pound, it’s a fine line or wrinkle. Or we lament not having the budget for the clothes we’d really like. Whether we feel good about or terrible about our looks at any moment, we are hyperfocused on our bodies in a way that takes all of our energy and focus.

But… how is your soul? How is your Spirit? What voice is guiding your actions? The critic — the enemy? A voice of criticism from your past that says “it’s not good enough,” “you’re not good enough,” or “prove yourself?” And, at the end of it, where does being rich, chiseled, or fashionable lead you if you have neglected your soul? Would you finally be full or still empty?

I hope you know I am in no way judging anyone. Frankly, I have had to ask the Lord to give me enough grace for myself over time. This is a struggle. It has been in my life. I have needed to really dig into my Bible and receive Godly counsel to learn to hear the voice of God louder than the accuser in my life.

I share vulnerably in an effort to expose what is hidden into the light so Christ can shine on us. Because, here’s the deal — God wants us free, so much that He sent Jesus to earth to save us from ourselves, our own confusion, depravity, and self-sabotage.

Whereas the Lord gives us a desire for healthy things, the enemy works hard to twist beautiful desires into something dark. He can twist our desire to be healthy into disorder. He can turn our enjoyment of fashion into obsession. He can tilt our desire for good things into fixation. He can take our enjoyment of fashion and make us obsessed and broke.

The enemy would love nothing more than to put us into poverty spiritually, physically, and financially. That is his goal. He fights to keep us away from the abundance that Jesus came and died for us to have.

Yet, all is not lost. Jesus meets us wherever we are. He meets us in our exhaustion, our fatigue, our sickness. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

What I have learned and continue to learn as I go is this:

Major in Jesus more than self-help, health, or any other thing. Keep your eyes on Jesus above all. Open your Bible. Read it more than any other book. Look to Jesus for your self-worth, not influencers. Tend to your soul more than you do for your body, because our souls are what will last.

Some practical things I have learned, as well, are:

Set the scale aside. Eat and enjoy healthy food. Get outside. Enjoy creation. Exercise. Strengthen yourself.

Talk to a friend if you’re struggling. Get a journal. Get a Christian counselor. Talk to Jesus most.

Thank God for His abundance. Enjoy your health. Enjoy the clothes you have. Quit isolating. Get with friends. Enjoy the goodness God has given you. And eat a cupcake every now and then. 😁

I love you guys. And thanks for loving me.🤍

Stella by Starlight: Junie-babe

I grew up in North/Northwest County. When I was born, we lived in Overland. My dad was in the hospital dying, but my Grandpa Jim swooped in and transported him from his hospital to mine last-minute so he could see my birth. The doctors almost didn’t let him in, because of how sick and emaciated he was.

My mom expected to raise my brother and me alone, but God did a miracle and healed my dad and eventually brought him home. But things were tight. My parents didn’t have income, but my grandparents and people from their church blessed them to help with childbirth and food until my dad was able to get back to work. My grandparents were there at my birth and with me nearly every day until they went to heaven.

My dad healed, got back to work, and my parents built a house in St. Charles on Towers. [Both of my parents are extremely hard-working people.] We lived there until I was five, when we moved to Virginia Beach for my mom to attend Regent University and work with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

We moved back after 2nd grade, and we lived with my grandparents – my best friends – until my parents found a house to rent in Maryland Heights just seven minutes away. My grandparents were over every day or we slept over there routinely. If I wanted McDonald’s, they made sure we went. They were always available for everything.

My parents then bought a house in Maryland Heights, where I grew up from 3rd grade through the beginning of my junior year of high school. My parents both worked, so my grandparents took us to school, picked us up from school, we stopped and got snacks afterwards, before going home.

Same with every sport. My grandparents were both avid athletes. They picked us up, attended, and took us home from baseball, soccer, and swim team. Same with our play and musical practices. I swam for Bridgeton for 10 years for the coach my mom and aunts had swam for. My grandparents were literally always on the sidelines cheering and yelling for us. I can hear Grandma yelling, “Go, go, go!” very loudly and vivaciously. lol

My grandpa, who was always at the house, finding something to fix – a way to be there for us – had the temperament of my husband — very calm, steady, hardworking, sharp as a tack, with each sentence he shared holding meaning and bringing peace. He was an angel to me. I needed him as we had some struggles, and he was always there for me.

He taught me “to stay in my own lane,” to “not look to the left or the right” — analogies that worked for competitive swimming, but also to life. He also taught me to “never love something that can’t love you back.” To this day, I could care less about my clothes or the inanimate objects that get donated or pitched.

My grandma celebrated literally everything. When I started puberty, I got an ironed $50 bill in a card, congratulating me for becoming a woman. And every single season and holiday… and even day… was a reason to celebrate. She was full of life and vibrancy.

My grandparents were huge community people. Living in the community of Carrolton Oaks in Bridgeton (since my mom was a baby), they both served in Bridgeton. They were at the Community Center every day, as avid athletes, and they served on boards and committees for Bridgeton.

My grandpa fought the City of St. Louis, with Bridgeton, on the runway that would run through their yard. He fought it for over a decade. [The airport would eventually tear down Carrolton Oaks and evacuate my grandparents and neighbors, but the runway would never be built.]

They helped the Senior Olympics here in St. Louis for at least a decade and took home nearly every single gold. [I saw the myriad and wealth of their metals yesterday.] We got to serve there, with cute outfits, free snacks, and fun mascots. My grandpa played football as a Razorback in college and then was on the squad as a kicker for the Detroit Lions after. My grandma swam a mile every, single day until her 80s.

My grandma was a support to every person in her life — her husband, her children, her grandchildren and her friends. Every Christmas, family from all over the country, would get a green or red calendar with the schedule of holiday events, and the same for Summer Vacation (here in St. Louis), which would include the Arch, the Zoo, Union Station, Grant’s Farm, the Muny, Cardinals games, the Adams’ Mark, Ted Drewes — everything St. Louis and everything American. [She grew up on Arsenal.] She loved musicals, so I do too.

If you said “shut up” or “hate,” you owed a dollar. Her belief was in edification… “let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” She didn’t drink, and she had hilarious alternatives for swear words, like “fooey!” She called the refrigerator “the ice box” and the trash can “the waste basket.” lol

My junior year of high school, my dad would take a job in Milwaukee. It was a no-brainer to my grandparents – I would live with them. I had my own room anyways, and I was always with them. It was settled, it was perfect, and it was one of the very best times of my entire life. I lived with them in Carrolton Oaks until college. [They had to move Freshman year of college because of the airport expansion. Now there are chains, vines, and “No Trespassing” signs off of Natural Bridge where our neighborhood used to be.]

They tutored me. They took me to my orthopedic appointments for my back (and always celebrated with ice cream or lunch after, regardless of the prognosis). They came to any performance, rehearsal, Parents’ Day or Parents’ Weekend at every school including college. My grandma helped plan my wedding. [I had no clue, and I knew she loved all of that stuff. She made it really classy, and most of my cousins were in it. She loved her family fiercely.] She was ALWAYS taking pictures, which is where I get my love for photography.

I’ve spent every holiday with my grandparents, with very rare exceptions as I’ve aged. They have been my second parents my entire life. At moments, my first. I had my grandpa until I was 30, and I had my grandma until now — 43. I am incredibly blessed.

I won’t lie; I have struggled to find joy in moments based on pain-points in my family of origin. I know all families have had problems, and mine has been no exception. But having the spunk and joy of my grandma, the support and devotion from my grandpa, and their solid faith to back me up, it has made all the difference in my life.

Today, I am just relieved and happy for my grandparents. They are with Jesus in heaven, which is designed the way God intended for us to live. Their bodies are whole and so is their joy. And I will be reunited with them too one day.

I have been laying low to prepare for my grandma’s celebration of life and to allow myself some feelings. I’ve determined this — I am the legacy of my grandma… she is the paradigm of the Godly, hard-working, family-oriented woman, and the epitome of a doting wife. She was strong and passionate but the most supportive woman I have ever encountered.

And so, I will bring the joy and the spunk to the world that she taught me to bring, to light this place up with Jesus and His love. Time to chip away at this shell and get to work!

Our Bodies Matter.

Our bodies matter to God. There is a reason He thoughtfully decided to create each one of us and put us on earth. In fact, it is absolutely amazing to think of the great lengths and stories God has done to place us here.

Our son was conceived after we had people lay hands on us and pray for my womb when I was infertile. My system did not get straightened out through doctors before I conceived. I conceived when it just plain didn’t work and hadn’t worked for some time. It was God’s supernatural power at work.

I think about amazingly powerful people in God who would not have been here through the hands of men — multiple abortions performed that never took. I think of the life and cycle of conception and gestation alone, in every, single woman. And it is a miracle. An absolute miracle. I ate brownies, ice cream, and hamburgers, and I got these beautiful children. Nothing I did created the beauty and uniqueness of these physical gifts. God wove them together as a masterpiece.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

There is a reason God created bodies and that He put us on earth together – That He Himself even gave up His divine freedoms as Jesus came to earth in a body, confined to time and aging as we all do. Bodies matter. And the Bible talks about what our bodies will one day look like when Jesus comes back. Bodies matter.

We know we are not citizens here on earth. Our permanent residency is in heaven. Yet, God chose to create us uniquely this way for a reason. There is nothing accidental about it. We were not some random result of science. God Himself created the earth and everything in and around it. So our bodies matter. They have purpose.

What we do with our bodies matters. How we treat our bodies matters. How we treat the bodies of the conceived matters. How we treat other people’s bodies matters.

We are actually called to worship God with our bodies. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬).‬ This is one of the reasons I love the arts, especially as they relate to worship unto God.

I am prone to cry when I watch my mom or my friend, Vesta, use their bodies as vessels of praise through dance to worship the Lord. I am prone to awe as I watch my precious friends, Clifton and Eva, use their voices as vessels of worship to God. I am prone to awe and wonder as I see my husband and the musicians of StikYard use their bodies and instruments to powerfully worship God through sound and movement.

And the same rings true of my friends, Debbie Morris and John Morris, who utilize the food and exercise God designed to strengthen and heal the body. And I am so grateful they use their knowledge to teach others to honor their bodies, to honor God’s creation and His call on lives. Bodies matter, and the way we treat them matters.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Our bodies matter. And they confound us. I admit that I have struggled with this over the years — having a crooked, turned spine that can cause me pain, debilitation (since 10), and changed my shape. I admit I have struggled with how to eat and played with my diet to manipulate my body in unhealthy ways. I admit I drank too much when I was in college so I no longer want to touch the stuff. My body has confounded me at times – many times, and frustrated, I have not used it for worship.

Yet, God created me. He created this body, and it matters. It matters enough to be around for almost a century to be a walking instrument of worship, so it needs to be respected, loved, and tended to. I am working more and more on that. And I do thank people like Debbie Morris who inspire me with the how.

Today, maybe you want to join me, in giving back your body – and all that goes with it – where our feet take us, where we take the time to be, what we choose to eat, and how we choose to treat it – for God’s glory, with honor and respect for His creation. (If so, feel free to pray this along with me.)

Prayer

God, I love you. Thank you for creating me. Thank you for creating this body in my mother’s womb. Thank you for choosing me to be here to be part of your big, beautiful story.

I pray Lord that I would honor you with my body. I pray that you would show me how to properly tend to your creation – this precious life – and that I would use my body as worship, a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you.

Thank you for caring about my body. Thank you for healing and restoring my body from damage and removing pain. I give you back my body and my time. It is yours. Help me use it as you have designed to live out your purposes for my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.