[Widget_Twitter id=”1″]
Today, is both a happy and a sad day.
Happy because, it’s finally my turn to share again. Today, is my second piece in the perseverance series I have been writing with my friends. But it is also a sad day because, it means we have come to the end of our 8 week series on Perseverance.
Today I will be sharing about persevering in my journey to get healthy. Check out my “Lessons from the Lake” video below on the topic, which goes along with what I share today on the blog.
*(Please note the video is not the same content as below, it just touches on a portion of the topic).
Together over the last 8 weeks we have shared insight, challenges, and our faith through our journeys of perseverance. THANK YOU for joining myself, Mary Geisen, Holly Barrett, and Patricia Krank we hope you have learned from each of us and been encouraged as we each have shared our own stories of perseverance.
If you missed any of the series so far, you can check them out here:
Part 1 in the Perseverance series (Bravely Overcoming Fear) can be found HERE, Part 2 (Persevering in Recovery) can be found HERE, Part 3 (When Prayers Remain Unanswered) can be found HERE … Part 4 (The Sting of Rejection) can be found HERE …. Part 5 (Wishing, Waiting, & Pursuing) can be found HERE … Part 6 (Turn and Face the Changes) can be found HERE … Part 7 (Persevering Through Pain to Freedom) can be found HERE
Perseverance to Health
Several years ago, as I was reading my Bible, I felt the Lord whisper a phrase to my heart …
“Debbie, I want you to get your house in order.”
I don’t know about you, but as I read Scripture, sometimes God will speak something to my heart that at the time seems to come out of left field. Yet, is often something so needed in the moment.
Huh God? What was that again?
“Get your house in order.”
Say what?
“Get your house in order.”
OK God, I know my house is less than organized. I have piles of dirty clothes that need washed and even bigger piles of clean laundry that needed folded, but really? Can’t you see, I am trying to spend time with You and You want to talk to me about cleaning my house? Seriously God, I didn’t know it meant so much to You. … But in case you haven’t noticed: I serve at church, I am trying to run a ministry, I have teenagers, we are never home, and you want to talk to me about getting my house cleaned? In order? What does that even mean?
I will admit I was rather frustrated with God, exasperated really. I know it is hard to get the emotion and tone in someone’s writing but let me just tell you I had an attitude that day. I had no idea what God was even trying to say to me, I was just trying to do my duty and check off the box that said: spend time with God. Why would He interrupt me to tell me to get busy cleaning my house?
I don’t always understand God, but I wrote those words in my journal that day. Probably a little darker and a little bolder than they needed to be out of frustration of not understanding and hurt that God would speak to me about cleaning my house and not something more spiritual.
I continued to ask Him to show me what “getting my house in order” had to do with spiritual things, and as I did, He continued to reveal His heart to me. Over the course of the next month or so, God revealed that He wasn’t talking about the house made of wood that I called home. Rather He was talking about my life, all areas of my body, soul, and spirit.
One day, when I was spending time with Him, He spoke to my heart and revealed His plans for me.
Debbie, I have things for you to do. Not just here and now, but in the future., I need you to be healthy and strong in all areas of your life. Your life, is a home for MY Spirit to reside, and I need you to take care of it. I need you to take care of your body – get healthy, get in shape so you can do ministry for the long haul. I need you to get your soul healthy. You have wounds and hurts from the past, and I need you to get some healing so you can walk in the freedom Jesus purchased for you on the cross, then you can be a bringer of freedom to others. I need you to build up your spiritual muscles, so you know who you are and know what MY Word says. I need you to be rooted and grounded in love. My love for you and My(God’s) love for others. It is key that you “get your house in order.”
After that little conversation with the Lord, I took a dry erase marker and wrote these words on my bathroom mirror:
Get Your House In Order
Body Lose Weight
Truthfully, I thought losing weight was what it was all about and it would be the easiest part. I would take care of the items He mentioned one at a time. However, over the course of time, I realized that they were all interconnected.
I actually had to start with getting my spirit and soul (mind, will, emotions) healthy. I needed to learn who I was in Christ. I needed to get healing from hurts in the past and walk in forgiveness. I found the more I got free from my past and healthy in my soul, the more I could believe the truths found in Scripture. When the enemy whispered lies, I could combat them with the truths I knew from the Word.
Getting my soul and spirit healthy was directly related to my relationship with food. I am an emotional eater; I celebrate with food when things are good, and when things are not, well, I drown my sorrows in food. The journey to get my body healthy is one that I MUST choose every day to persevere in and through.
About the time God spoke to “get my house in order” was about the time I started to travel outside the country to minister. I traveled to places that were hot and humid. Places where I didn’t have the creature comforts of home. Also, a few years into this journey to health I came home from a mission trip and got sick. It was an 18-month long journey to discover what was wrong, and get back on the road to health. For the last three years, it has been a journey to get my body strong, to lose weight, and to be all around healthy.
I have found, the more I feed my spirit, the more freedom I get in other areas of my life. The journey to get healthy is one that will continue for the rest of my life. “Getting Our House in Order,” is about completeness in who God made us to be: Spirit, Soul, and Body. We can’t have ‘order’ if we only work on one area, we must take care of the complete picture. God doesn’t want us to only have healthy bodies, or healthy spirits. He wants us ALL to be completely whole, in every area of our life.
[Widget_Twitter id=”1″]
Special Announcements:
- New Link up Party – Tune in Thursday’s is HERE – Join Me THIS Thursday, right here on debbiekitterman.com every Thursday! #TuneInThursday goes live each wek at 3 AM (PST) and runs through Sunday. Mark your calendars and prepare to join me Thursday for the NEXT Tune In Thursday linkup!
2. Do you wonder if God still speaks today? Do you wonder if He would ever speak to you personally? Do you long to hear the voice of God in your life?
Have your read other books on hearing from God, but long for hands on practical application? or are you looking for ways to move you forward hearing from God?
If you answered YES to any of those questions, then I have exactly what you need. I now have an online e-course designed to equip you in understanding that God still speaks today, and He longs to speak directly to you, through His word, and others. He longs to encourage you, strengthen you and comfort you. The training on this site, is fully based on Scripture, and taken from my training manual Releasing God’s heart through Hearing His Voice.
I have been teaching these classes internationally for the last 10+ years equipping and training believers in discerning the Ways God speaks. God is speaking, Can you Hear Him?
2. My new membership site, d2htrainging.com has official opened, the 50 % off membership – introductory pricing ends soon. If you missed the announcement post, you can click on the pictures below for more details.
Looking for other Great Inspirational Parties. Click Here to see where I Link-Up weekly.
Here are Several Submissions where I have been featured:
Blessed Transgressions, an Online Magazine:
Balancing the Warrior & the Princess We’re Called to Be
Trusting God When it Seems Illogical
Will You Sit with Me? (Jesus is Calling.)
My Post “Climb Every Mountain” was featured in the August monthly link-up at : Life on Intention Link-up Party
My Post: The Power of your Story was featured here:
My Post: “The Journey through Change” was featured here:
Again, I have been know to link to the following Inspirational Parties:
Thanks for this encouragement today, Debbie. Visiting you from Holly’s place. This is timely for me since it’s time to get back in step with God’s best for my health too. I’ve been AWOL since Easter and need to get back to more exercise and healthier eating.
You are most welcome Betsy. I am so glad that you are encouraged, I too understand being AWOL and stepping back in to health with God’s guidance and help. Blessings upon your journey back to healthier eating and exercise.
As always, God is right on time! I am getting my house in order (read: basement????)-hubby’s Father’s Day gift. I am getting my “spirit-house” (read: body) in order with new beginning of Omni drops saying program this week for another 40 pound weight loss! another Father’s Day gift…for Abba!*joining you in the journey to health. …thanks for sharing yours! Xoxo from Jersey,❤
Deborah – God’s timing is amazing isn’t it! I am so glad we aren’t alone on this journey to health. I am cheering you on from the west coast, all the way to Jersey. You can do it! Blessings
It has been a pleasure to be a part of this link up with you Debbie Kitterman and I love this final post. Getting healthy does indeed begin in our heads, a decision to commit, followed by a plan, followed by action and accountability. It is hard but so worth it in the long haul. “Be strong and courageous.” That’s YOU!
Love you much my friend,
Patti
Patti – thank you, it has been a joy to journey with you as we have each talked about persevering through different areas of our life. You are so right, it may be hard, but it is so worth it in the and … I’m in it for the long haul, so I can have many more years of serving the Lord. Love you my friend, thank you for always being on my side and helping me in this writing journey. Thank you for sharing life together. <3
It is definitely a journey to get healthy and stay healthy. I have good days/bad days with eating right. Being disciplined with food seems to be one of the hardest areas for me. I don’t necessarily eat a lot, but I don’t always eat well. Thanks for sharing this encouragement to persevere, Debbie!
Lisa – you are most welcome, and I completely agree it is a hard area, at least for me anyway. I have the same issues in choosing to eat well, I don’t often over eat anymore, but I don’t always choose the healthy when given the choice of sweets. Thanks for stopping in today.
Debbie, you’re so right. God wants us healthy in every aspect of who we are. It’s a humbling process as God reveals those unhealthy areas of our lives (for me, the biggest struggle has been my thoughts and words I speak to myself). Often they seem to come from one (or more) wounds that He wants to bring healing to. I loved reading your story and how God is helping you to put your house in order.
Jeanne, I am so glad you enjoyed reading my story. I hope that is has encouraged you in someway. It is a humbling process to be sure when God reveals unhealthy things in our life that He wants to touch and heal. I pray that God would continue to touch you and show you the powerful truths of His word and how He views you! Blessings to you and thank you for taking the time to share your story with me today. 🙂
Visiting you from Pat’s website! Thanks so much for sharing this personal story of perseverance. The title especially resonated with me because there was a time earlier in my life when I heard words about getting my house in order as well. They initially created fear that perhaps I was to die soon, but I discovered it was about ordering my thoughts, my entire internal world to line up with God’s Word, and also His call on my life. I felt He also wanted me to declutter my life in every area since the clutter distracted me from the important things and also used precious time and space. Your words today were a reminder that His words to me then are no less true today and even though there was growth back then, more growth is needed and especially in areas where I have slacked off a bit. Thanks, Debbie! This has been a great series!
Hi Pam! So glad to have you stop by. Oh, yes, I can see why you might have fear upon hearing those words too, it is often a phrase used for someone nearing the end of life isn’t it? Thanks for sharing your story with me and how God meant them for you then and even now. I am so glad you have enjoyed the series and thank you for joining us all for the duration! Your comment is a inspiration to me as well.
Choosing to persevere everyday in health, spirit, etc. is something I need to be reminded of. Thank you for sharing. I’m praying over y’all’s journey! I’m your neighbor at #TeaAndWord
Carolina – I am so glad that my post was available for a gentle reminder. Thank you for stopping by from Meg’s linkup.
I, too, need to get my “house in order” so that I can be a better servant of God. I am working to lose weight, get back to regular meals and nutritious snacks and exercise, but also a regular prayer and Bible reading time. I know that a healthier me means that I will feel better and be better able to help others.
Thanks for your encouraging words, Debbie. Blessings to you!
Gayl – you are so very welcome for the encouragement! Yes, all those things will make a healthier you and position you to help others, they all go hand in hand don’t they? Keep doing the good work, and eating well as well as being in the Word. You can do it!
Debbie,
I am a “recovering” emotional eater too. Going through a long, drawn out divorce, the weight piled on. Sweets and carbs soothe but only for a short time. God had a sit down with me as well that I needed to lose the weight – not for the accolades of the world, but for Him. I couldn’t serve Him well if I was plagued with health issues and that’s what extra weight brings, especially as we get older. I didn’t need a “diet”, I needed major lifestyle changes. I want these joints to take me well into my senior years and I want to honor the temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Thanks for the encouragement to keep on keepin’ on. I’ve enjoyed the series…thanks so much for sharing, all of you, from the heart!!
Blessings,
Bev
Bev, thank you for sharing your story with me and your journey to health as well. It really is more about serving God for the long haul isn’t it? When He began to speak to me about that, I got it, and was more motivated. I am going on 3 years of CrossFit and I hate exercise, but I found something I could do and enjoy, then came the eating and making better choices with food. I find that it is so much harder to get my body healthy now that I am getting older and I too want my joints to take me a long while more. I am so glad you have enjoyed this series and I appreciate you joining us as we each shared our stories the past 8 weeks.
Thanks for sharing your story, Debbie. It is important to remember that our physical health matters to God too, that we need to look after ourselves to be able to serve him well, and that definitely takes perseverance. Thank you for this series. I’m visiting from Mary’s and I have really enjoyed all the different contributions.
Lesley – yes, you are so right, it is important to remember God cares about it all, especially our health for the long haul. I am so very glad to have you visiting from Mary’s place and I am very happy to hear you have enjoyed the series we have been doing. Blessings to you and I hope you will visit again.
Debbie- Thank you for this reminder! Having a healthy body is important to our faith life. Keeping the clutter down in our body and in our physical environment is a way to keep stress at bay!
Julie – you are very welcome and yes, I have found what you said to be so very true … I have enough stress from other things in my job and ministry, I don’t need my environment to add to it as well. Thanks for commenting
Awesome post! You listened to God’s voice and when you were confused, you continued to seek Him for clarification. You were being a woman after God’s own heart! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Patricia! I do long to be a woman after God’s own heart, and I have learned to not ‘assume’ I know what He is actually saying but ask questions. It saves me a lot of trouble later on down the road.
We often try to separate things into nice little compartments (physical, spiritual, emotional, etc.). However, there are connections between these areas. If we don’t have self-control in one area, we’ll struggle to have it in other areas. Likewise, if we don’t have one area “in order,” we’ll struggle with this in other areas, too.
Thanks for the reminder!
Shannon – You are so welcome for the reminder and you are so right – we do tend to separate and box things up in nice compartments, but it isn’t the way God designed it is it? He was so good about interconnecting and intertwining everything together perfectly. It all works and flows together nicely. So glad to have you stop by and comment