Journey to Wholeness

Wholeness, "the state of forming a complete and harmonious whole; unity or the state of being unbroken or undamaged." This definition can only be attained first and foremost through a relationship with Jesus. Without acknowledging your need for a Savior, one cannot become healed from anything because all brokenness and damage is from sin (anything that doesn't please God). God's son is the only person who has overcome the ultimate penalty of sin, which is death. Without knowing Him personally, please do not expect lasting results of wholeness. Also, none can be completely whole until the day he or she is united with Jesus. However, recognizing and choosing to be on the path of wholeness is very rewarding and brings about freedom from life's everyday struggles. Another side note, if you choose to embark on the journey of wholeness for any other reason than for your good and God's glory you'll never succeed. Choosing to become whole so that others desire to be like you, so that you look good sitting on the beach, so that you get compliments, so that you can finally overcome anxiety, so that your depression will subside, so that you can non longer be stressed, so that you can change your pant size, so that you can impress a boy or girl, if ANY of these things become your main focus for the wholeness journey then you will fail time and time again. You will fail anyways because we are imperfect; however, why make it harder on yourself? Choose the journey of wholeness for YOUR good and GOD's glory.

In order to begin on the path of wholeness, you should probably know the different parts of what is broken/damaged. I have broken up wholeness into four categories: mindset, fitness, food, peace and rest. Finding out what these four words mean, how they relate to our everyday life, how they become unbalanced (broken/damaged), and lastly how to begin to find freedom from and within these subjects are key components to wholeness. Tips and experiences will also be sought out in order to practically dive into wholeness.

The scripture verses we are going to focus on and that have also assisted me within my journey to wholeness are 1 Corinthians 10:31 which states, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Romans 12:1-2 which says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Lastly, Colossians 3:1-2 which reads, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

Now that we know what this wholeness thing is all about, I would love to share snippets of my wholeness journey. One of my biggest life beliefs is that one cannot teach another how to do something unless they have gone through it themselves. Therefore, I want to let you all see that I have gone through the trenches of becoming whole and though I have not and will not arrive on this earth, I have traveled and will continue to travel upon this journey to wholeness. For me, it began my senior year of high school but did not become serious until God called me into my major, now degree. When I first heard the still small voice whisper exercise science to me in college I laughed out loud. Ummm what? You see I was the girl in PE that would always opt out of playing the game for that day as well as ranking last in every fitness test. My entire life I had danced which was awesome because that is about all the exercise I did. I would go through spurts my whole life of doing fitness activities with family members but for the most part I did it for the social aspect. It wasn't until I realized how important keeping active was that I decided I should probable take it more seriously. Therefore, when I realized dance would be ending soon, I needed a new way to get moving; therefore, I began lifting weights with my dad as well as discovered this thing called Zumba! As I ventured off into college I found group exercise classes and religiously attended weekly. I also attempted to lift weights but felt super uncomfortable doing it by myself. So at this point, God had begun to bring about love for exercise (fitness) but that was about it.

A positive mindset and enjoying the journey were always taught to me but I don't feel like I necessarily needed to work on those things until life starting hurting me and then I just avoided it all until God got a hold of me in college. (For those of you who don't know, my grandma got diagnosed with dementia when I was sixteen and my world has never been the same. She was my very best friend, mentor, and spiritual teacher). He set me in leadership positions where I had to be encouraging and positive to others which in turn began making me do that for myself. I still struggle with this one but you gotta take it hour by hour.

As for the last two, peace/rest and food, those are both newer subjects of freedom. I learned very fast how to choose to rest in college because if I didn't stay in balance life was really hard and test scores decreased tremendously. I didn't really struggle with peace until this past year or so. Many of you know my struggles of anxiety/fear but if you don't, I actually go to a counselor twice a month for these things. That last subject of food for me actually ties into my anxiety/fears. Since I have been receiving help from these struggles, I have seen tremendous results with choosing good things for my body, appeasing cravings in balance, and was just recently healed and freed from emotional eating. However, to give you a little back story...When my mom would encourage and take steps to eat healthy and in moderation as a kid, I would buy (have my aunt/grandma buy) and hide food in my room such as little debbie cakes and chips because I was not into the whole not eating chips and only eating sweets once a week thing. As I got older, I would buy icecream and vending machine snacks and eat them at friend's houses or before I got home. There was a point in my life where I actually began eating in moderation, lost weight, and gained all twenty pound back in three months due to emotional eating.

I share all of these back stories not to bring attention to my success but to give YOU HOPE of a whole and free future. I cannot wait to see God move within the journey of wholeness in YOUR life! Through it all, each tear, mess up, candy bar or three inhaled, every goal achieved, all chains broken... let's remember to ENJOY the journey.