Starting next week, Future.Flying.Saucers and I will be going through the Made To Crave Bible study. We invite you to join us on this journey. I am very excited to go through this study with her and any of you that choose to join us. On the other hand, I am frightened. After going through the introduction and crying for an hour afterward I can tell this will be hard for me. This will be one of those heartfelt, soul-searching studies that will lead me closer to Jesus. But it will hurt and I am afraid to start. So I will strengthen myself with faith and let Him kick my fears to the curb and begin.

In the introduction Lysa refers to Matthew 19:21. I have a history with this verse. Many years ago it drove me to the monastery. Fourteen years ago my God broke my heart with this verse. I did not want to go to the monastery. Ever since I was a little girl all I have ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. Not a very fashionable dream to have these days but it was my dream. I could have walked away from Jesus like the rich young man. I really wanted to but I chose to be obedient. I sacrificed my dreams and followed after Him. Obedience hurts sometimes, it can break your heart in two. When I left the world for the monastery it was forever. I left everything, walked away and never looked back.

Today, I possess my dreams… living my happily ever after. I absolutely believe that I am so abundantly blessed because I made my sacrifice for Him. Now, I have encountered this verse again and I wonder where it will take me. Lysa tells us Matthew 19:21 teaches that we are to give from out of our abundance. The rich young man could not follow Jesus because he could not let go of his wealth. He loved his wealth more than he loved God. Ouch! This thought stopped me short and I shook with tears and fear to think that I could love anything more than Jesus. I am made to crave a relationship with my God. Created to belong to Him alone. Yet, I too would rather eat a bag of chips than deal with life sometimes. I picked up this book to help me deal with emotional eating and to get healthier. But I did not expect to see that I was replacing Jesus with food. So, I am getting up, (with Lysa’s book to help me and Jesus beside me) and going to war with my issues to the glory of God.

For the record, I do not love BBQ Grippos more than Jesus.