Wow, the Lord is showing me I have a LONG way to go! I can’t even handle the title for this Living Room Session. Page 87 in the HEAL book calls it “Body Beautiful.” I wonder what God wants to do with my disdain for that thought? Why is the thought of considering my body “beautiful” so repugnant to me? I want to know what is in my heart and mind that causes me to have such trouble. I think there is something HUGE here. I didn’t come online to post about this, but as I went to the Group Study and saw that “Body Beautiful” was the tagline, I came face to face with it. It felt dishonest NOT to tell you all–in case you have the same response. We can’t leave ourselves there. What do you think? 🙂

Lord, thank you that we can use technology for your glory. Thank you that, via the internet, we can “gather” in a “living room” to talk about our study of your Word and principles that have come to others from your Word and their experiences. I pray that, if any of us struggle with a godly view of our bodies–your temple– you will heal us. Help us to believe you–what you say, Lord. You have said that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. May that thought eclipse all ungodly thoughts that we have embraced over the years. May you make us new from the inside out and help us to believe the truth. I confess my own struggle with this and pray that you would give me a God-honoring, healthy, accurate view of my body. (It is even hard for me to pray this way, Lord!) Guide and direct our “Living Room Session” Lord. We dedicate this site, this page on the web, this entry, and all our comments to you. In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Someone that I was mentoring a couple of years ago made the mistake 😉 of saying I was a couch potato! She recognized that, because of my obsessive past, I *fear* routine exercise (which is something God and I are working on changing) and I think she assumed that if I don’t have a set exercise plan and routine that it must mean I don’t do anything but sit on my rear. 🙂 Now, admittedly, sometimes this can be true. But the truth is, much of the time, my life is active and I delight in that activity. This video illustrates that fact…er…sort of. 🙂

One of the things that resonated with me in this material this past week was the challenge to find something I can enjoy doing to move my body for the praise and glory of God. NOT to “lose weight,” but to honor Him — to take care of the body he has made and chosen to indwell!

I love hanging out with my horses–even doing horse chores isn’t a “chore” most of the time. When I ride (which is pretty rare these days), I enjoy getting off and walking or running with my horse some of the time. They like that part, too. 😉

What resonated with you this week? Did you consider a way that you might move your body in a joyful way? If so, what have you come up with? Did you add anything to what the authors call “The Body Beautiful Checklist?” Remember these are things that you can do that you know cause you to have a more accurate perspective of yourself and your body–they cause you to feel good! Like my day at the gym with the kids!

I think the next new thing I may try is geo-caching. Near as I can figure, geo-caching is like a real live treasure hunt. You get a GPS (global positioning system), are given coordinates for where a cache may be and then off you go to try to find it. For instance, I just typed in my zip code and found several in my area. When I click on the specific details, I get the coordinates and my kids and I could be off and away on a literal treasure hunt. My understanding is, these caches are often in remote areas, accessible by foot, horse, or bike, and sometimes they are more urban. There is fun and activity involved almost all the time! Sounds like a plan to me to get us out walking!

How about you? You may recall my raving about Dance Praise some years ago. It is still one of my favorite ways of moving my body and worshiping the Lord at the same time!

What are things you are thankful for about your body? For some of us, it may take more an act of our wills to be able to praise the Lord for these things specifically, but I challenge each of us to do this…we can ask the Lord to help us with this and he will. If you have the Thin Within book, you can turn to day 5 for an activity that is right up this alley.

For instance, on the Sundays when I am on the worship team, my arms, shoulders, back, and legs all help me to participate in worshiping the Lord and in leading others to worship the Lord. I can praise and thank God that I am able to do this–for the health in my physical body. I am also able to do a lot of chores around my home and bless my family. When I ride my horses, I have hips that work, legs, knees and ankles that enable me to enjoy God’s creation as I walk or ride. I can go back through my entire life and prayerfully evaluate how God has used my body to serve others and to exalt him and choose to praise him for this. I have to think that if we foster gratitude for our bodies we will defeat the lies that affect so many of us and keep us locked in places of shame. I see that I need to really work on this!

Do I really believe that my body can be used by the Lord as an instrument of righteousness? If so, what are ways I can stop offering the parts of my body to sin and start being more pro-active to offer, instead, my body to be an instrument of righteousness, given to God for His purposes?