Royal Wedding

I just love wedding's.  Young love is just so sweet.  I recently attended a large wedding that was just simply beautiful.  The two young people were so in love. This was a fairy tell wedding. I had never been to a wedding like this or as beautiful as this.

Well tomorrow there will be a royal wedding.  A fairy tell wedding. The prince has taken a bride wedding. Don't we all love those cinderella stories, the happy ever after's? I know I will be watching. All the planning and everything that has gone into the preparation for this wedding just amazes me!

But there is another royal wedding that is scheduled. This will be the wedding of all ages. So much preparation and planning have gone into this wedding.  This groom is away preparing the mansion and getting everything ready. He is coming soon!


I am the bride of Christ!

"Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (Rev. 19:6-8)

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.... One of the seven angels... said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God. (Rev. 21:2,9-11)

Princess Lee

Another weigh in day

Ok, so today is another weigh in day.  I will admit it has been hard to not let the scales dictate how I feel.  I have had to renew my mind in this area so much lately.

Today's weight is the same as last week, 240. No big loss to report. I have been exercising daily and not having to take a nap just to prepare myself for the afternoon.  I have had so much energy and really feel good about myself.

This journey has been really hard. But I did not expect it to be easy.  I have had a trying week.  I would love to get on here and say that it has been a piece of cake (topped with a cherry). I have struggled in the evenings with wanting to over indulge. I have resisted but I have had days where I gave in.  But God is faithful, He is a God of second, third, fourth and etc. chances.  This is not the end of the world.  I am still in right standing in His eyes. I am still Holy.

So here goes.  I am going to pull up my big (no pun intended) pants and start fresh and new.  Pray for me. Lift me up in much prayer. I love each and everyone of you that have told me you are following my blog.  I have no faith or confidence in myself but I do have faith and confidence in the One who started a work in me will see it to completion.

Princess Lee

POWER!

Awesome service at church this morning! Thanks Pastor Tracy for always feeding us steak and baked potatoes!

This morning when I woke up all I could think were the words IT IS FINISHED and HE'S ALIVE! The most important words at this time of the year. Jesus finished everything that concerns me and pastor Tracy really expounded on that today.

His top 10 list today was:

10 things we have power over.
1. Fear, 2Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 2:14-15
2. Sin, Mark 2:10
3. sickness, Mark 3:15; Luke 9:1
4. satan, Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1
5. My past, Phil. 3:9-14
6. instability, Romans 16:25; Acts 1:8
7. Over my mind, flesh and will, 1Cor 7:37; John 17:2
8. everything that hinder me, 1Cor 6:12
9. to receive all things I need, 2 Peter 1:3-4
10. I have power to become________________, John 1:12

the same power Christ lived by is the same power we can live by. According to Matthew 28, Jesus gave us power of attorney!

Bloom where you are planted

I have some beautiful knock out rose bushes.  I have them planted on one side of my house. I just love to look at them and smell them.  They give me so much pleasure. They have so many blooms this year. But they did not start out that way. I remember when I bought them they were just small branches without anything on them.

I planted them, watered, and fertilized them. They got pleanty of sun and one day there was a small bud.  A few days later they had flowers all over them. These bushes could not nourish themselves.  They depended completely on me (the gardner) for their nourishment. They were so beautiful.

The instructions said that you had to cut them back after a year.  I waited and really hated to cut them back, they were so pretty. But in order for them to have more blooms and flowers and to grow bigger and stronger the instructions said this must take place. So I pruned them.  This year they are so beautiful. They are bigger and have even more flowers on them!

John 15 (paraphrased) says that Jesus is the True Vine and God is the vine-dresser.  If we remain in Him then we will bear much fruit.  Apart from Him we can do NOTHING! When we bear much fruit then our Heavenly Father is honorred and glorified.

Just like the rose bush can do nothing on its own, neither can we.  I cannot live a healthy life style without God's help.  But I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength. So today if you feel defeated, just look to Him and let Him lift y ou up and prune y ou so you can bring much glory and honor to Him.

John 15:11 says "I have told you these things, that My joy and My delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing."

Bloom where you are planted!

Princess Lee

Weigh Day

Well this is the weigh day. As I said yesterday I wish I had a way of measuring all that God has brought me thru and to! He truly is an awesome God. No this journey is not easy, but no journey is. The enemy has tried in every way to get my mind off of this journey. I am keeping my eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith!

Well I am down 1 pound this week. I know to some that seems so insignificant. I am not letting the scales be my god. I will not let them dictate how I should feel. I do know that if I am faithful He is faithful. All I have to do is obey Him and lean on Him and He will take care of the rest. There is so much peace in knowing and experiencing that.

If you are going on this journey with me let me know how you are doing. Continue to pray for me and lift me up. I love each and everyone of you and have so enjoyed reading your comments. Until tomorrow,

Princess Lee

Stopped counting days!

As some of you know I was out of town this weekend in Dallas and then Monday morning early I went to Shreveport to visit my mother and father.  We had an awesome visit.  I got to spend good quality time with them. Some of you know my mother has been gravely ill, but thanks be to God she is healed. This is a story that I hope she writes about soon!

Well as you all know when you go out of town the first thing you think about (or I always thought about) is where are we going to eat? I told my accountability partner that I was going out of town and she told me to let the Holy Spirit guide me in what I was to eat. I just want to say I did that and God is the Victor!!

Several places we went I had the oppertunity to realy splurge on food that wasn't acceptable for me at this time. God was very faithful in providing me a way out of EVERY TEMPTATION! One of my biggest problems was always going to mom's and well you know we all have mom's that can cook. Nothing taste like mom's! But God made a way.

I even kept my exercise up. No I did not run any marathon's but I did walk and had some time with God. The verses that I have learned during this journey keep coming back to me. They are found in Romans 12:1-2. "I beseech you therefore brothers to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can prove that acceptable, perfect and pleasing will of God."

It all starts with the renewing of your mind (on a daily, sometimes minute by minute basis). When you speak what God says about you instead of believing what the enemy says about you then everything changes!!

I thank my Father God for going before me, beside me, and behind me on this wonderful journey! I am learning so much about Him! He really is AWESOME!

Tomorrow is my weigh in day. I wish I had a way of weighing what I have learned and what I have lost. In just a little over a week I feel transformed!

Princess Lee

Day 11 & 12 Sanctuary

So I went to Dallas this weekend (actually Allen Texas) to visit my daughter, son-in-law and wonderful grand children.  I really enjoyed my time I got to spend with my daughter. We had so much fun shopping, shopping and shopping.

They have a terrific place to eat there called Souper Salads. Best place to eat if you are wanting fresh vegetables and able to build your own salad. Anyway we had so much fun.

This morning we got up and went to church. They attend First Baptist Dallas. This was a very impressive church. They actually have a Lifeway store in the church which was opened today. They have a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee. It was unbeliveable! As we are taking the baby to the nursery I was overwhelmed at all the people coming and going. I felt like I was in a very busy mall at Christmas time. The baby area was out of this world. The workers were all so friendly and smiling. They actually acted like they wanted to be there.

After leaving the nursery area we took the escalator down to the first floor and headed to the sanctuary. As we came close I noticed that the doors were very old and there was stain-glassed windows. I made a comment to my daughter that they kept the original doors. She said no we are actually entering into the original building.

I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of this old sanctuary. I even looked up the history and this is what it said: Dallas is the mid-1800's was one wild and reckless burg. Several Baptist churches were run out of town before eight women and three men formed this little determined congregation and put down roots in 1868. The sanctuary that they are in today was actually built in 1890. The campus now covers six city blocks.

As I looked around at all the people dressed in modern attire from pants to really nice dresses I couldn't help wonder at everything this sanctuary had seen. Of course I knew it had to have some renovations and up keep to keep it looking this beautiful.  I thought about the journey God was taking me on in renovating my sanctuary. I knew then that I was prepared for something awesome.

They had a great choir and orchestra that just sounded awesome. They had an old pipe organ that sounded through the sanctuary like none I had ever heard. The worship time was such that I was led to the very throne room of God. Then they had a guest speaker Lee Strobel who authored the bood The Cause for Faith. I was just deeply blessed by everything. But the one thing that spoke to me, that really blest my heart, that brought a tear to my eyes was during offering my little grandaughter Allie opened her purse and took out her money (money she has earned by rubbing people's feet) and placed that money lovingly into the offering plate.  The love she had for God was just evident all over her sweet little face. This was the most beautiful site that I saw in the sanctuary today.

Thank You Father for my family and all they mean to me. What a lovely and precious time.

Princess Lee

Day 10 Chicken Express

Express, Webster says it is a rapid transport of goods. I say that because my husband and child wanted Chicken Express for dinner last night. Oh how I pleaded with them, "please do not bring that into this house, I don't know if I can resist. I am too new at all this." But these two wanted Chicken Express!

While they were gone I went ahead and fixed my dinner. I had grilled chicken, green beans, and peach yogurt. Very good and very satisifying. I kept thinking how am I going to resist this. I know from past experience that I have always caved in and ate half of their meals.  (They always order more than they are going to eat because they know I am going to ask for some ha ha).

Anyway they come in, sit down and start eating. The strangest thing happened.  It was like they were eating liver and onions to me (I hate liver and onions). The urge to eat did not come upon me. I thank God for going on this journey with me.

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can prove that good, accepted and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

Feeding the spiritual man on a daily basis is the key to success.  Not just in weight loss but in every aspect of my life.  I cannot believe how much things have changed since I have put Him first place.  Food has taken back seat in my life.  Exercise has become fun, but has not overtaken my life.  I have to be very careful not to let the numbers on the scale, exercise or worry if i am eating to much/little.  I know those things can become gods in my life.  I have to keep God first.

I am in Dallas this weekend so I will probably not be posting on a daily basis.  Keep praying for me! Thank you everyone for your continued support.  Thanks Teena for the advice!  Love you guys. Love serving in ministry with all my sisters.

Princess Lee

Day 9 Exercise : (

Oh yeah, I hate exercise. Or at least that is what I had been telling myself for years. But as you know with this life style change God has called me to renovate His temple and seems exercise is one of the ways.

I remember as a child running and playing outside and my mom had to threaten me to come inside.  I loved being out running, jumping rope, hula hooping (of which couldn't get a hula hoop big enough to be lose around my waist right now) and playing on the monkey bars.  Yes I loved exercise as a child. As a teen in high school I was on the track team. YES, me, I was on the Varsity team. I ran cross country. I loved running and feeling the breeze in my hair and the way I felt when I got through with a race. But I have not done that kind of stuff in years.

Recently though God has brought to my mind those feelings of running and feeliong free. I have even sat on my couch with a bag of chips and thought how nice it would be to be able to run.  So when I started exercising a week ago the longing in my heart was to be able to run.

Well I am on my way. I am so happy to say that I have worked up to a little jog. I know, not much for most but a mountain for me! God let me have a taste of what it felt like to feel the wind in my hair as I jogged for 1 minute. I felt so good afterwards. I felt like I did when I ran a race and came in second. I always came in second at every meet because I had a friend who always came in first!

Yesterday I grabbed a small bag of chips (just felt like having something salty), sat down to eat them and after 2 chips felt the Lord say, come walk with me. So I got up tossed the chips and went walking with the Lord. So so good. Reminds me of Adam and Eve when God walked with them in the cool of the day.
It wasn't even exercise! And NO I did not come back for the chips.  I actually had forgotten about them until now!

Proverbs 31:17 says "She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm." Wow there is a sermon in just that verse.

So get up and go walk with the Lord!

Princess Lee

Day 8 DRUM ROLL

Ok, so today is the BIG WEIGH IN!! Well I will let you know I weighed and the number was 241. Yes that is a 6 pound weight loss. But I lost sooooooo much more.

You see this journey started November 2009.  God had given me the verse out of Jeremiah 30:17 which says "For I will restore health to you and I will heal your wounds, says the Lord..." I claimed that verse that God was going to heal me from obesity.  I thought that I would start a diet and lose weight fast.  What I did not know was all the wounds that I had, most self afflicting wounds, that He wanted to heal. Some of these wounds needed surgery, some stitches, some small bandages. But one by one he started to heal me from the inside out.

I know now that I am ready for this life style change that He has called me too! So even though the number was a good number for a week I wasn't living for that number.  I have been LIVING all week with GOD and walking with Him.  So my life did not hang onto that number.

Thank You Father for all You do!

Day 5 Adultery

Ok, so I bet that title grabed you. Yes I am talking about adultery today.  As I was eating my lunch today I got to thinking how since it was Sunday this would be my "cheat" day on past fad diets. You see I always started a diet and used Sunday as my cheat day to eat whatever I had deprived myself of during the week.  I could go all week knowing Sunday was coming. Today though was very different.

You see several days ago I made a covenant with God to help Him restore my temple and to honor and glorify Him with it. I looked up the meaning in the dictionary of adultery and this is what the dictionary says: extramarital sex that willifully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations.  Ok I thought what has that got to do with over eating on Sunday?  Well I looked up the defination according to the Bible and it comprises a whole different meaning.

Jeremiah 3:9 says, And through the infamy and unseemly frivolity of Israel's whoredom [because her immorality mattered little to her], she polluted and defiled the land, [by her idolatry] committing adultery with [idols of] stones and trees.  Amplified

A covenant was made between the nation of Israel and God. Israel agreed to abide by the terms of the covenant and God promised to bless them.  The stones and trees were the objects to which God's wife (Israel) gave its affections.  The foreign object that adulterated the relationship served to replace God.  God divorced Israel and the relationship He had with them ceased to exist.  No sex involved yet adultery was committed!

You see even in the past I would commit to treating this temple as a Holy dwelling place of the Almighty God and then one day a week I would open it to gods and idols.  This grieved me in my spirit today.  That I could treat God like He didn't even matter. 

Then I read in Hosea 2:14-15 and it says, Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation.  And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Thank You, Lord, for speaking tenderly to my heart and for turning the place of my trouble into a door of hope and expectation!

Isn't our God awesome?  Isn't He wonderful? Isn't He lovely? Oh how He loves us! He always wants what is best for us!  In verse 16 of Hosea 2 He says that we will call Him Ishi [meaning my Husband].

So you ask me do I have a cheat day? No! Now I will not be perfect but I will not set aside a time to flirt, love and adore nothing but my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!!!!!

Princess Lee

PS: The big weigh in day is this Wednesday!

Day 4 Supersize Me!

Okay, you will not believe this! I almost can't believe it myself!  The kids wanted McDonalds for dinner last night, so what the heck, I can do that and won't have to fix dinner. One of the ladies I work with had made this awesome salad and I got to bring some home.  So we load up.  We are just going to the drive thru and then bring it home. I place my order (which is large since I have 9 boys). I am so happy that I will be able to resist this junk food (although i have been wanting a Big Mac for several months).

Since our order is so large they have us move up and wait for our order. Well the young man brings out part of our order and says he will be back with the rest. Well he comes out with a huge sack and from what I can deduct looks like extra Big Macs (approx. 2).  Well I drive home the whole time not believing this.  Two extra Big Macs! Well satan give me your best shot because I refuse to partake of this!

Well I get home and start passing out the meals, boy you should have seen the look on my face when I saw that not only did they give us 2 extra Big Macs but FOUR! Did you hear me FOUR! FOOOUUURRR! For a minute I almost threw 2 down my throat. But that passed and something rose up in me (my spiritual man since I have been feeding him lately) and I told satan "Is this your best?" Well satan you will have to do alot better than that.  I have ate prime rib today from the KJV branch and it was better than anything you can offer!

Behold! I have given you authoriy and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, (YES EVEN Big Macs) and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses] and nothing shall in any way harm you. Luke 10:19

WORD of God speak! YES SUPERSIZE IT!!!

Love in Christ
Princess Lee

Day 3 I was made for more!

Have you ever got up in the morning and the enemy has already planned your day? Got up with the thoughts that why am I even trying to do this? This is sooooooo hard.  My flesh has ruled me for so long. But thanks be to GOD!!! He had a Word for me today!

Romans 3:24 [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with  God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus!

I am in right standing with God! The Ruler of the universe, The Creator, The Great I AM! He loves me just as I am! I don't have to do one thing to win His approval today!  Satan is against me! The question I have to ask is: Am I going to agree with God or with the devil? I need to stop opposing myself and mentally beating myself up just because satan is against me!

Hebrews 13:6 says "So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldy say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified].  What can man (or the enemy) do to me?

Okay satan, you can throw a molton hot brownie with chocolate syrup and blue bell vanilla ice cream at me.  Is that your best? My Father has a grilled chicken salad with tomatoes, olives, carrots, cucumbers, radishes and bell pepper.  This salad is multi-colored and your concoction is brown and white. He has called me His princess and wants me to feast with Him, at the Kings table!

God accepts me with my imperfections. He continues to work in me to make me more Christlike.  I do not have to struggle to win His approval or the approval of others.

I have a right relationship with God!

Love in Christ
Princess Lee

Day 2 Rocky Road (not ice cream)

Well this is a rocky road. I knew that it would not be the inerstate highway but I did not think about this road with deep crevices and canyons.  This is hard.  It is not easy.

God has a desire for us to share in His holiness.  Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.  We have to persue holiness.  Holiness means to be of one mind with God.  Whatever God says is right, is right.  If God says it is wrong then it is wrong.  We have to line our mind up with the Word of God.

What does the Word say about taking care of your body? In 1Corinthians 6:19-20 says "Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

WOW!! That kept me from wanting to tear into some pizza last night. I want to honor God and bring glory to Him and Him alone. Too many years my body has glorified this false god (food) and it has brought shame. But God wants to lift me up and glorify Himself through me! I serve an awesome God.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who have read and made comments on my blog. I feel as if I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Thank you for your prayers. This journey is going to be long and hard but I wouldn't miss it for the world. My Father will go before me, beside me and behind me! Thank you Father.

Love in Christ
Lee Foreback

Day 1

Well here goes! This is the journey I really didn't think I wanted or could take.  I just thought that since I woke up one day FAT, then I could just as well wake up one day THIN!!  Well as you know it dosen't quite work that way.

You will have to bear with me because I am not computer literate.  I just want to journel my journey and maybe help someone along the way.

A little bit about me.  I am the oldest of 3 children.  My father was in the Navy so we traveled all my young life.  I never had a weight problem. Mine was just the opposite.  Everyone always told me I needed to put meat on these bones.  Well mission accomplished.  I am a grandmother of 7 wonderful children (one more on the way) and mother to 4 beautiful children.  I am 52 years old and I weigh 247 pounds.  Ok there I put it out there  and exposed myself.

God spoke to me and told me thru His Word that my temple was in shambles and it was time to do some restoration. If this artifact was going to be around another 50 years then we had some work to do.  So to obey Him, here we go.  (We being me and Him). 

Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them (food), for it is the lord your God who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you.  Deut. 31;6

Day one was so hard.  Here is the plan that He set before me:
 1. Eat lean meats, vegetables and fruit.  Write everything down that goes into my mouth.  Portion control, portion control, portion control, portion control.
2. limit breads, pastas, rice and potatoes to only once or twice a week.  Then eat only whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta.
3. Small handful of nuts daily.  I like pecans and almonds.
4. At least 1 serving of yogurt daily.
5. DO NOT REWARD MYSELF WITH FOOD!!
6. At least 30 min. of exercise daily.
7. (The most important).  Study and meditate on the Word of God.
8. Read the Word before each meal and bless each meal.
9. When i feel the urge to eat when i should not I will go to the Word and pray.
10. Do ALL with joy.
11. Lean on God and His understanding and not my own every step of the way.
12. Weigh one time a week.

Be strong-strength or power greater than average.
Be courageous-able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching.
Be firm-not shakable, steadfast resolve.

Fear not, God goes before me.  He will not fail me or forsake me.

Love in Christ
Lee Foreback