2012: New Beginnings for The Princess Warrior

With God as Your Guide!

A new year a new day...a day where we can put the past in the past and start fresh. I'm sure all across the nation people have resolved to start or stop something that will greatly impact their lives. Today, I want to share one of mine.

This is undoubtedly the number one resolution that is made every year - to LOSE WEIGHT. I have made this resolution many, many times in the past and each time failed after a couple of weeks. On top of that, in March 2008, I became mostly bedridden and house bound. Now, 60 lbs. overweight and with numerous health problems, I MUST lose weight if I am to have any quality of life.

To lose weight for real this time, I have, in my mind, revisited the resolutions made previously to see why I failed. I think the #1 reason is - I didn't hold myself accountable to anyone or anything. I made the resolution to myself and, unfortunately, I am very lenient with self. If I fail myself, it's no big deal. Yes, I feel guilty, but not enough to stop me in my tracks. Sooooo, this year, I am going to hold myself accountable. I am going to use tools and strengths that I have not used before. Here is a list of the ones I will be using:

1. I am going to ask God to help me to make my vessel a presentable vessel for Him. To help me lose weight so I can "be more" and "do more" for Him, my family, my church, my friends, and my future friends...(you maybe?) =) As a Christian, I know our days are limited. First, the Lord could come back this year to get His children and I want to be found living for Him in my greatest capacity. Also, this could be the year that I die and again I want to leave this life knowing that I have made the greatest impact on others for Christ...to my family first and then everyone else.
   
   
2. I am going to use an online tool that has been successful for a lot of Christians. It can be found at Setting Captives Free. Click on "Online Courses" and choose "Lord's Table" (this is a free course). Here is an excerpt from the course: Phase I: 60 lessons to help you gain control of your eating habits while learning to look to God for spiritual sustenance. FYI - they also have courses for other addictions as well.
   
   
3. I have joined TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and will start going to local meetings on Tuesday evenings. There is a fee involved with this program, but it is less expensive than other similar programs out there. If you are interested in getting more info on this group please go to TOPS. The main reason I joined is: Friendly Environment – New members are welcomed to join the journey to better health and supported by other members sharing similar journeys. Accountability – Weekly, confidential weigh-ins provide personal accountability and a progress record.
   
   
4. I'm going to get the word out to all my friends on Facebook (and other social networks I subscribe to) about my weight loss journey in hopes of getting their encouragement and prayers. Purdy pleeeeease! =)
   
   
5. I am going to join other support groups which are tied into my reason for being overweight in the first place. I have fibromyalgia (FMS), chronic fatigue (CFS), severe arthritis, back and neck problems (some issues came from a car accident), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), and possibly Bipolar Disorder, etc. just to name a few (hope I didn't leave anything out...Lol). Some of my family and friends are going to say, "I had no idea" and others will say "Well, that explains it". Lol! Anyway, although I will try to post on a regular basis it may take me all day (sometimes) to put my thoughts together and some days I may be doing this from bed or the couch, but it is what it is. In addition to my normal posts, I will include how I cope with these disorders and will also report to you about the support groups I visit, but at the same time giving God all the glory because I would not even think about taking this journey without Him.
   
   
6. And, this is the worst one - sometime, in the future, I will post a picture of me at my lowest point in life and also a picture of me on the first day of my weight loss journey. Yes, these will be very embarrassing photos, but if I can help someone else it will be worth it to me. I would love to show someone else there is hope and help. 
   
   
7. And last, but not least, through blogging...putting myself out there before the world. I want to get encouragement from you, the reader, and I want to be an encouragement to others who may be looking for a way to "keep" a resolution to lose weight for the first time.

On Monday, January 9th, 2012, I will start my weight loss journey and will let you know how it goes. Why Monday? Well, to me, Monday is the start of the week and since I have ODC I have to do things in order. That's just the way I roll! Lol! I hope you'll go with me on the journey...I need you! =)

May God bless you today over and above what you are able to receive!

Much Love,

Wanda (AKA: The Princess Warrior, Mom, Mama Wanda, Madre, Jim's wife, Wanda Woman, Wunder Woman, Babe, Hey You, Wicked Wanda - though saved by the grace of God, Suzy or Suzy Q, Weenie Wanda, Buttons - thanks Danielle, Wa Wa - thanks Hudson)

P.S. Sure, I am only human and I know I will stumble along the way, but this time I won't stay down...I WILL, by the grace of God, get back up! Oh, and I will also share some of my other resolutions in the next few days.

P.P.S. There is one other important thing I want to mention: I don't want to call this a diet.  I want to start a new way of life! ;-D

The Princess Warrior

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Copyright © 2009 The Princess Warrior Ministries. All articles are copyrighted on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright and web address. Other uses require written permission. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.

The Purpose of The Princess Warrior Ministries

Women Helping Women! This is the purpose of The Princess Warrior Ministries. After all, we as Christians, are His princess warriors! Daughters of the king; warriors in His great army.

In this day and age Christian women need other Christian women. We need to stand together and love and pray for one another. And here is why: Time is closing in on us -- that time in history when Christians will be persecuted in America.

It is all too real -- God and Christianity are being pushed aside. They are considered archaic, old fashioned, out-of-date, intolerant, and narrow-minded. That which is good is considered evil and evil considered good. Morality is being thrown out the window. The more I see the more it weighs heavily on my heart.  

None of this should catch us (Christians) by surprise though. God, through His Holy Word, has warned us about the end times. Now, more than ever before, Christians have to make a stand in what they believe and in Whom they believe. I'm afraid that the soft cushion of the church pew is a symbol of the condition of our walk with Christ. We have become comfortable and complacent. 

Right now, we need to be digging deep into the Word of God, we should be found in our prayer closets daily -- crying out to God to give us wisdom, strength, a supernatural love for our husbands, children, and family, compassion for the lost, and a resolve like steel for what we believe.

Family life today has become too busy. We go from ballgame to ballgame, dance recitals, music lessons, meetings, and on and on and try to squeeze God in there somewhere and, oftentimes, having to leave Him off the schedule completely because there was just no time to spend with Him. Meanwhile, our children are being indoctrinated by the world and we think just because we have them in church every time the doors are open or even a Christian school that that is enough. Hear me please! It is NOT! I know!

Our children need to see in "us" that God is number one in our lives. That we make time for Him first and ALL else is second. We need to not only teach them about God, but to teach them about their enemy, Satan. We need to warn them about who he is, what he is, and what he is capable of. When we are in a war, and yes, we are in one, we don't just get orders from the Commanding Officer and carry them out -- we also study our enemy. We have to know what his tactics are so we don't fall into his trap. Once we are in his trap he will do his best to torture and kill us! Why? Because he hates God. He cannot destroy God so he does the next best thing -- he goes after His children.

Discouragement, depression, anxiety, isolation, loneliness, fear, anger, jealousy, etc. are his weapons and he knows how to use them. God has given us the armor to protect and defend ourselves from his attack and He has given us the best state-of-the-art weapon to fight back -- His Word -- but, they are useless if we leave them laying aside only to be used in times of fatal attacks. If we wait to use them only in dire situations we will have two problems: 1) We will not know how to use them because they haven't been practiced over and over. 2) We will be so weakened from the every day attacks that we will have little strength to even use the armor and Sword.

To disarm Satan we MUST stay close to the only One who can defeat him. We MUST make Him our priority. We must DAILY (and better, hourly) put into practice God's commands. We must talk to Him and most importantly...LISTEN. We must serve Him out of love and not for duty's sake. We must love people --- all people -- and love to tell others about Him. We must lock arm in arm with fellow Christians because we are so much stronger in numbers. And for our children to have hope they must see all these things in us. We ARE their role models of how life is to be lived for Jesus. To have a life that pleases Him. To have a life that is protected against the Devil and his antics.

While writing this God reminded me of a verse that contained the command to tell our children about Him, but after reading the chapter I was reminded that it contains so much more. So to draw this to a close I leave you with a prescription from the Great Physician Himself. A prescription that will bring about great spiritual health for us and our families. A "shot in the arm" so to speak of a potent substance that will keep us well during the most violent outbreaks of spiritual disease.

Here is the prescription for 1) Long life, 2) Our well-being, 3) Our increase, 4) God's provision, 5) God's protection from our enemies, 6) Our good, 7) Our preservation, 8) Our righteousness:

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 -- Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers. To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

We all need to examine our own hearts to see if we are doing our part as a Christian in this country, in our state, but most importantly, in our realm of existence. The place that God inserted us to live out our lives. As this world waxes worse and worse I don't want it to be said of me that I didn't go out fighting for what and Whom I believed in!

I pray that God will bless you over and above what you are able to receive!

In His Service,

The Princess Warrior 

Copyright Information 

All blog entries are copyright by The Princess Warrior Ministries on the date they are posted, unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the King James Bible.