Beautifully Broken: Eat, Drink, and be Merry??

Eat, Drink, and be Merry...

Ok BB's...get your press pause buttons out and SMACK them! What up BB's!? It’s your blonde BB here and I am going way off the path with a subject God literally smacked me with last night. Ever have those moments where you wake up thinking about something and cant get back to bed cause you just cant get it outta your head? Yeppers. That’s a God Bubble. Think Bit Strip Bubble Thoughts...that’s my God!

So here we go- many of you know that I am a fitness trainer. I work with people everyday on changing their bodies and working towards their goal. We sweat, we work, we giggle, and for a few moments we get to talk. And throughout those talks I am consistently reminded that we ALL have a story.

Something that makes us who we are.

Something that drives us to better ourselves.

Something that may cripple us.

Something that we may be coping with.

And that’s what I want to talk about today..coping. We have all heard that peppy little phrase "Eat, Drink, and be Merry", right? I want to share with you a little about my not so merriment. If I were a betting woman, I'd bet there are a lot of you out there who share in my story.

Short of the long of it, I have daddy issues. I grew up hearing, and eventually believing in my utter lack of self worth. I do not know the gentle hand of a Father, at least an earthly one. I know what a belt looks and feels like. I wont go into the details, but that nasty little whisper of "you aren’t good enough" and the scars on my body have derailed me my entire life and manipulated me into making some really bad choices. In my early twenties I completely blocked out my childhood. Because it was too difficult to deal with, I completely blocked out all that abuse and (Say this in your best super hero voice)… I took control! Well so I thought. Like all things we bury without actually allowing Christ to put an end to, they eventually rise up again in our thoughts and slowly draw us away from our Creator and his wonderful love.

I began to cope by attempting to take control...there were so many things I could NOT control in my life but the one thing I could was FOOD....hence, EAT…or for me, don’t! I began to limit what I consumed to a point where I became sick. On the other hand I also coped when the memories were just too hurtful by escaping and LOSING control, hence DRINK. On a Saturday night I would drown my sorrows to forget the hurt and just...fall...asleep.

Wanna know how MERRY that got me?

My hair started to fall out

My body started to revolt and I had to have my gallbladder removed

Nightmares

Divorce

Panic attacks

Fear

Sorrow

Depression

Well that’s a big ole list of pretty right?!! Here's the point bb's: We ALL have a story. And I am quite certain that we are ALL dealing with something that is not so pretty. Here's the joy and hope I want to share with you:

In Christ, and Christ alone,

can you find peace from whatever you are dealing with.

John 6:54 begins "Whoever feeds of my flesh and drinks of my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him".

Sounds a bit gross when you first ready it but hear what The Father is saying:

"Be full from my love. Drink in what I have done for you. I went to the cross for you. I took on all you have, are, and ever will be going through because I care for you. So much so that I give you an ABIDING, all encompassing, never ending, never failing, I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU LOVE."

BB's, give it over! He is big enough to take care of whatever your need is. You, quite simply, are not. We are weak and frail. He is strong and righteous. Eat of His flesh, DRINK IN HIS WORD, POUR it into your souls. Let the great physician fix those hurt places and give up your attempts at coping and controlling. And watch the JOY that springs from you. He has and still is freeing me from those chains...wanna know what Merry looks like to me NOW?!?