Donna Partow

Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.       2 Corinthians 7:1

For the past year or so, a new college campus has been under construction within walking distance of my home. It’s been fascinating to watch the progress, so I often wandered around, peeking into windows to see what’s new. One day, while exploring the campus on one of my fact-finding missions, I noticed that they had filled a room with weight-lifting equipment. I’m not sure what came over me, but I decided right then and there to sign up for the weight-lifting class. And since I’ve always prided myself on being an A
student, I threw myself into the class with abandon.

Midway through the semester, my teacher made a comment to me that really got my attention. "Donna," he said. "You are one of the most dedicated students in this class. You’re in here every day. You’re putting in a lot of hours; you’re pushing your limits in terms of how much weight you can lift. I mean, I’ve gotta tell you, you’re really doing a great job."

I smiled.

He paused. Then he raised his eyebrows in a puzzled fashion, looked me over from head to toe, and continued, "But you know, it’s kinda strange. You don’t really look much better!"

I stopped smiling.

He paused again. "With the amount of effort you’ve been putting in, you should have seen more improvement by now. Tell me, what have you been eating?" Uh-oh. Suddenly I was whisked back in time to my days as a Catholic schoolgirl sitting in the confessional with the priest waiting patiently for me to spill my guts. I began with the good part. Well, I thought it was the good part. "The day starts out great. I  play this little game where I see how long I can go without a drop of food. I can usually make it until almost
noon."
He didn’t look happy. I thought maybe he wanted me to cut to the serious sins. "I honestly don’t eat that much," I insisted, trying to think of a way to hide my bulging thighs from his skinny little gaze. "I don’t eat practically anything all day. Okay, maybe I pig out before I go to bed, but I figure I’ve got lots of unused calories to use up."
"That’s your problem right there!" he declared triumphantly. "You’re not eating enough."

At first, I was shocked: "Not eating enough? I’ve been killing myself to avoid eating, and you’re telling me to eat more?" He proceeded to explain truths I had learned years earlier but had somehow lost sight of. If you want to be healthy, you’ve got to feed your body the right foods. And you have to feed it often.

I switched to a new program where I eat small meals every three hours all day long. And you know what? I’ve never felt better in
my life. As a bonus, I can handle the weight lifting with much greater ease and grace. All the weight lifting in the world is no substitute for the right food.

I think I’ve made the same mistake in my spiritual life. Maybe you have, too. I want to do the "heavy lifting."  The exciting, challenging stuff like evangelism, teaching, organizing women’s retreats, trying to change other people’s lives. While I worked myself to exhaustion, getting little results, God quietly looked on, posing the question, "Donna, what are you eating?"

Sadly, the answer is the same one I gave my weight- lifting instructor–not nearly enough.

Have you been playing a little game with the Christian life, seeing how long you can go without spiritual food? You’ll never make serious progress like that. You need to eat first thing in the morning and continue feeding your spirit throughout the day. How does every three hours sound?

Since I’ve found that planning out my meals in advance makes it easier for me to stick with the program (both physically and spiritually), let me encourage you to think about what you’re going to eat and to plan accordingly. Your small spiritual meals might include reading God’s Word, a lesson in this book, worshiping along with praise music, praying with a friend over the phone, writing out a prayer to God, tuning in to the daily broadcast of your favorite Bible teacher on Christian radio.

Ask God to show you the food that’s right for you … then dig in and start eating. You’ll find the heavy lifting isn’t so heavy when you’ve given your spirit the fuel it requires.

        Tens of thousands of women have learned to feed both spirit and body. (Read their testimonials.)
       Discover balance with Becoming the Woman I Want To Be: A 90-Day Journey to Renewing Spirit, Soul &
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