Only God knows how truly miserable I was before I was introduced to Weigh Down. How lonely and depressed I was. Filling myself with large amounts of food and watching TV for hours. I was unhappy all the time and I remember thinking, where was the joy and peace everyone talked about but no one possessed? My marriage was "so, so" and I felt guilty for the way I ignored my daughter (my precious gift from God). I took care of her physical needs but was doing nothing for her spiritual and emotional needs except teaching her how to be depressed and angry all the time. We looked pretty good on the outside. We attended church, we had decent jobs, and we even worked in the church nursery and taught Sunday school. It never occurred to us that we should be imitators of God or that Jesus gave us an incredible example to follow. It wasn't until I started a Weigh Down class that my eyes opened and I could see I was creating my own misery with the choices I was making. I didn't just like to eat I loved it more than I loved God, and I didn't just watch TV, I consumed it, it was my escape from everyone and everything around me, it was my passion. God was on the list of things I loved but he was definitely not number one. Putting into practice the principles I learned in Weigh Down helped me fall in Love with the One True God. The God I had met when I was a child, but as a teenager and young adult had lost sight of. Gwen Shamblin showed me what it looked like to really love and serve God. Her life is a beautiful example of living for only Him. I can finally say I understand what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He continues to show me ways to put this new love into practice. I no longer have a "so, so" marriage. I have a beautiful loving husband who I don't deserve. We are growing closer to each other everyday as we grow closer to God. I have been given two sweet daughters that I get to show God's love to by my actions. When I laid down my love of food and learned to love God more, he blessed me with almost fifty pounds of weight loss. I don't spend hours in front of the TV anymore. I have an amazing life and don't feel the need to escape it. I don't deserve this life and I don't want to waste one more minute grabbing for more than he has given. I never want to go back to my old life, it was so empty. I praise God for allowing me to find such sweet fellowship, that He has given us the opportunity to be a part of a church body that doesn't stay the same week after week or even worse go backwards in their walk with God, and that we have leaders that love you enough to tell you the truth when your life is not lining up with the example Jesus set.
Topics: Depression