Any good trainer will tell you how important nutrition is to your wellness and fitness plan.They will inform you on what nutrients you need to build muscle, burn fat and increase your wellness as a whole. In order to sustain your strength and endurance, what you consume will affect your outcome.

What we feed on is true with our mental, emotional and spiritual health, too. We have some heavy lifting to do in our next topic upcoming. And as a good Coach, let’s talk nutrition before training.

I don’t like to eat that!

As a kid in a private Christian School, I always hated the constant babble about “what goes in will come out….” blah blah blah. Partly, because I never liked anyone telling me what to do. I was a smidge on the rebellious side…just a hair. So the constant, “only do this, only do that” made me turn off and tune out.

It seemed to continue as I grew into adulthood. This focus on our behavior as “Christians” – this code of rules and regulations in order to wear the title. And again, it turned me off and I tuned out. You might be offended by that or you can relate. In fact, it was the “rules and regulations” part that kept me from even having a relationship with God.

Fortunately, He opened my eyes and I now know my performance or behavior isn’t what makes me His. Thanks to His Love and Grace, I’m perfect just the way I am. And, I’m no longer turned off by it!

I also learned that He speaks to us in our own unique ways. We are unique beings from our sense of humor to how we feel loved. So, this isn’t a far fetched concept to think about our Creator whispering to us in different ways. I’m asking you to be open to what you are sensing and feeling. Trust it even if it is a new thing for you to experience.

How are you being fed?

He speaks to me through music. I found the whole “sitting in the quiet and waiting” thing doesn’t work for me. My mind is wired to multitask and is on hyper drive 98% of the time. So to sit and be still while listening doesn’t work for me. But, music I hear. When music plays I fade to the background and become absorbed by the lyrics and notes.

There are many mornings that I wake up now and a song just pops into my head and starts playing. Usually just a phrase and it is always the phrase I need to hear. It no longer freaks me out but I am still amazed by it. Especially when the songs are from my early childhood, songs I haven’t heard played or sung in decades. Yet, He speaks to me. Other times it is through simple beauty around me – moonlight, sunset, smiles, random acts of kindness.

My best friend always whispering in my ear. How are you being fed?

What do you feed on?

You are what you eat and yes, what you put in does come out.

Let’s look at this a different way though. What you think about – what you feed on – you will attract and manifest. “Well, Jen, that’s a little nutty sounding.” Only if you are afraid. Look at this logically. When you are afraid and confronting a fear and you become consumed with it, does it not take over and become panic? When you are tired and cranky, do you not see the entire world as an irritant? When you are happy and full of joy in a moment, do you not feel butterflies in your stomach and the entire world seems to be glowing?

What we feed on we manifest. Feed on good things you start to see the good things. Feed on the negative and have not’s and you see more and more of what you don’t have. Feed on truth, you live truth.

Start to feed yourself daily with Truth. Truth of who you are, who you were designed to be, your value, your worth, your dreams. Feed on Love. Feed on Grace. Feed on relationship with your Creator.

Find your table. A quiet space. A walk. A playlist. A devotional. A service. A hobby. Laughter. Joy. Friends. Truth, love and grace can be fed upon in different settings every day. We just have to become open to it. Open to the experience. Open to letting go of our fear, disappointments, disillusionment, lies, guilt, shame, anger…in order to become who we are meant to be.

Drink It Up!

I love this set of verses out of Ephesians 3. His unlimited resources give us strength. Feed and let your roots grow strong. We cannot understand how wide, how long, how high or how deep His love is for us. He WILL do more than we can ask or imagine. This encourages me. This strengthens me. This is why I wake up every morning now knowing full well I will be okay!!