Found Objects: Granola Bar

Doesn't this look delicious?
You probably answer, "No." (So would I)

I found this beauty as I was walking to class one morning. She was sitting along the side of the road near the terminator between asphalt and snowy grass. I tell ya, I nearly scooped her up and ate her as my mid-morning snack (Not true).

But this granola bar did get me thinking about my weight. When I began Weight Watchers in 2005 I was very successful. With the help of home cooked meals from mom, rigidly structured lunches and breakfasts, I kept myself in line for the most part. I relied heavily on fake sugars and chemicals from Diet Coke to Sweet & Low to the occasional Splenda in order to eat enough to maintain a "full" feeling. In reflection, I wonder if I relied on fake sugars too much and what it could have done to my body.

I was (am) very proud of my successes and I have granola bars like this one to thank. These three point beauties sustained me for many mornings until lunch could roll around. I'm also thankful that I didn't achieve my goal weight at that point. If I had, I would have lost out on some very big lessons I have learned over the last few years since I stopped counting points and we moved away from home.

First off, I realized (through numerous blood tests and doctors visits) that I have an under active thyroid. This contributes to my appetite and weight gain giving me a predisposition to overeating and gaining weight.

Second, as I mature as a adult, I appreciate the disciplines of self-control and sacrifice. I'm thankful for this body (even with the bum thyroid) and I want to care for it. That may mean sacrificing the comforts of excess food so that I can maintain a healthy weight.

Third, there is the very real lesson and reality that I need to trust God and do this as an act of worship. As I have come to reflect my perspectives on food, I have come to reject the idea that I can seek comfort from it. In fact, the Bible calls finding deep heart comfort in something other than God "Idolatry."

Since I don't want to be an idolater, I don't want to find my deepest comfort in food. Thus, I'm thankful for this Found Object: Granola Bar, in that it reminds me to take care of my body as an act of thankfulness towards God and to seek my deepest heart comfort from God alone.