Sunday August 7th,2022
Father may the words that I write glorify you because your teaching have been life to me. As you speak give me and your children the revelation and insight needed to be mentally and physically fit to continue steadfast on this road of grief.
Since the death of Joshua, I have made some major changes to my life under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Reasoning being the strain that has been placed on my body and mental compacity due to grief has been very overwhelming at times to deal with. Losing a child has been an extremely hard thing to live with and wish that is was just a nightmare that I could wake up from, but it is not and so therefore I draw near to God to help me.
Psalm 63:6 -Whenever I remember you on my bed and think about you during the nighttime hours
When a loved one dies your whole life can flip upside down within a couple of minutes causing a chain reaction of changes that one might not even notice. When Joshua passed my eating habits became extremely poor; have you ate was a question that was frequently asked. When I did eat it wasn’t anything healthy and the outcome of those choices left me feeling sick at times very sluggish. But God kept me even when I didn’t want to want to be kept.
Lamentations 3:22-23
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness
One day while reading I heard the Lord whisper to me “you have to take care of yourself and then he follow that up with saying a quote I now live by “Health is Wealth.” One might wonder does God really care about what we eat, and the answer is yes. If you were to search the scripture diligently you would see that health and food are topics that are not left off the table. So much so that I believe after this week’s post that you will continue to get a better understanding of who he really is and why all thing pertaining to our lives matter to him no matter how small we may think it is.
I thought that I would share some good eating habits that the Lord showed me over the last few months. And also, minor changes to my daily routine that have helped me stay get health but also look for at positives in this tough season.
When grief hits, I really did not want to do anything except lay down. I started noticed that I was ordering a lot of take out, which let me say really help me and the children’s lives but now that I look back, I could have made better choices when it came to some of the dishes we ate. We ordered a lot of fried food. In Leviticus 11 God gave Moses very clear instructions on what meat where good and what they should stay far from.
Leviticus 11:1-3, the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron and sets out which animals can be eaten, and which cannot: “You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.
So, I started cutting back on our meat intake and substituted by adding more fruits and vegetables to my meals. I would go to my local grocery store and get a fruit platter with many options in it and just place it on the table because not only was my health important but so was the health of my children. We started taking our family walks again, sometimes as little as 30 minutes a day sometimes 2-3 times a week which not only help with the physical but mental side of things.
Even now at times when I feel overwhelmed, I just put on my shoes and go for a walk. There is something about being outside that just puts my emotions and mind at ease.
And with Baby steps we learned Healthy aspects
I stopped buying Juice and made water our main choice of beverage. We also cut down on fried foods but if I were making something that texture required it to be crispy, I would use my favorite new appliance which is the Air fryer. But all of those little changes would not have begun unless God had not spoken to me about eating healthy. God also brought to me a verse that made me see that there was a bigger reason he was asking me to take care of myself.
In The 1 Book of King Verse 19:7 It Say “To Get Up and Eat, Or Else You Will Tire to Travel (CEV).
This road of grief will be never end because Joshua absence will always be our truth. Now this does not mean that it will not get easier, but the harsh reality of this situation is that it will not go away. But what God has been teaching me that I can do this journey mentally and physically stronger. Step by step being led by the Lord, I will continue to pursue justice and not only for my children that are grieving the death of their brother but for Joshua because I know this is what he would want me to do.
“Mom you’re the strongest person I know” is what he would always say to me
He would not want me to give up on myself but also on his case. So, I will eat but eat well so that when the day comes that I have to face his killers I can stand strong to get the justice he deserves.
I have to do my part and the Lord promises to do his
Isaiah 46:3-4 listen to me! You who are left from the family of Israel, listen! I have carried you since you left your mother’s womb. I carried you when you were born, 4 and I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn gray, and I will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety.
God has been carrying us since birth and will continue to do so, but we must take heed when he speaks because not only does he know and want what is best for us, but he knows the future and what will happen if we do not. Our wellbeing is his number one concern and that is why he made sure that there was a written manual left back for us so that we would know how to live. And while I am still her, I will be obedient to write what he tells me and write it well.
Your Health is Important
Here are some more things that I have personally done and snacks tip that I have found help keep my energy levels up.
1) Sleep even when you do not feel like it, rest is very important and so much so that even God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
2) Up your water intake, it is very easy to be come dehydrated without even realizing it especially when tears start to flow.
3) Add fruit and vegetables which are a great source for vitamins if you are not taking any. I have also tried these little snacks that I have seen at my kid’s daycare it consist of rice cakes smeared with peanut butter and if you do not like rice cakes then you can try it with tortilla wraps.
4) Go for a walk even if its just 30 minutes
And lastly, this has been the most important part on this road to healing is Talk to God. Because unless you have someone in your circle that has experienced what you are dealing with you can sometimes feel like you have no where to turn to. But God understands because and knows exactly what we are feeling. I usually just type in whatever emotion I am feeling, and a verse quickly comes up. There is something about reading it aloud that helps and then I pray to God to help me understand what it that I just took in and also to continue to strengthen me while traveling this road of grief while learning to manage.
Lord thank you for reminding me that “Health is Wealth. I pray 3 John 1:2 over your children let them prosper in all things and be in good health even as their souls prosper. Some may not even know where to start but give them wisdom even now as they read this to make the right choices. And if we have made any wrong choices that can to led to self harm in the future, I ask for define reversal in the Mighty name of Jesus and use the keys that you have give me in Matthew 16:19 to the Kingdom of heaven where your word says that whatever is bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever is loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I bind the spirit of destruction and lose the spirit of life. Bless and comfort us Lord because only you know what we are feeling keep, I also pray that you will continue to keep us safe from the wicked one in the mighty name of Jesus.
Song of the week- I do not own the rights to this song -He Understands by Chandler Moore
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