I am currently sitting here with a batch of cookies baking in the oven so I am going to take the next 8 minutes till the timer dings to tell you why this is really a wonderful thing. 

You see, it’s July 5th.

It’s the day after a major holiday and I woke up with zero negative feelings regarding food from July 4th. Zero need to make up for terrible eating. And it’s not because I ate in some sort of super-strict way. I had cake and my Aunt Bella’s divine chocolate chip cookies. Moscow mules and mom’s incredibly delicious margaritas. Mama’s ham biscuits and Chicken Salad Chick Nina brought.

But the beauty of it was that food also didn’t rule my life yesterday. I ate till I was no longer hungry and drank in such a way that I wouldn’t feel miserable when my children woke at 6 am. Food certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the 4th, but it didn’t rule my 4th. And by God’s grace it won’t rule my 5th of July either.

Yes, food fuels me. Yes, food makes me incredibly happy. Yes, food matters. But it isn’t what’s most important and I have learned not to let it be the determining factor over whether or not something is fun. It’s just food. It isn’t Jesus in my life. It can’t give me the joy nor should I allow it to have that kind of power. 

That being said, because it’s just food, you can also give yourself a break if you overindulged and felt sick. If you let food and alcohol be the deciding factor about how your day was going to go, there’s bucket loads of grace. If you made some choices that left you feeling lousy, it’s ok. Move on. Don’t punish yourself about it. I have had my fair share and am sure I will in the future.

But yesterday, yesterday was about family and the beach and my book and all the amazing freedoms that come with living in America. The food was unbelievable, but it didn’t dictate my pleasure.

To close, I hope you don’t hear me saying this and it leads you to think I have my life all together and never have battles. I put one million things in the place that only God should hold in my life. I look to so many things for joy, comfort, security, peace, the list goes on. I daily need repentance and grace. But today I am thanking God that food no longer holds that power over me. There is freedom there. And just like we shot off fireworks and turned our eyes upward for it yesterday, freedom worth celebrating when you see it.

Happy July 5th, friends.  

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