What type of script are you writing for your life?

When I say “script” I’m not talking about career goals or college plans. I’m not talking about current class schedules or finding the unique purpose for your future. While all of those are important, there are other parts of our life we need to script, too, such as:

• Dealing with peer pressure from both guys and
friends.
• The search for popularity. How to find it. Or live without. Or be happy in between.
• Relationships with parents. No matter how out of touch with reality they seem to be.
• And living for God without turning your back on the world

When I was a teen I lived from day to day on every wave of emotion I experienced. On some days excitement and passion partnered up, pattering wildly within my heart. Other days, depression and anxiety were my silent friends. I lived each day as it came, with no plan for my future, for my relationships, or for my heart. I lived my life completely unscripted . . . and, well, it didn't go so well for me.

After my boyfriend found out I was pregnant (again) he dumped me for good, and I dropped out of my senior year of high school. (It was too hard going to school—seeing him with someone else, and dealing with my own issues/mistakes/emotions too.) I decided to have my baby, especially since I was dealing with the heartache and regret of a previous abortion. And as my stomach grew, I became more and more depressed. Unlike some mistakes, an unplanned pregnancy is not one you hide very easily. Each day I walked around with the evidence sticking out before me like a basketball under my shirt.

During that painful time, I decided to give God another chance. I’d grown up in church, but during my teen years, decided I wanted to do my own thing. And when “my own thing” left me sad and alone, my grandma’s Bible study group invited me to join them. These sweet old ladies also welcomed me to church and threw me a baby shower (while my teen friends dropped out of the picture). These women showed me what the love of God is all about.

And it was during one of my depressing days, when I was six-months pregnant and feeling abandoned by both my boyfriend and friends, I gave my heart to the Lord. I told Him, “God, I’ve completely screwed up my life this time. If You can do better, please do so.” It wasn’t a fancy prayer, but it worked.



© Tricia Goyer

How about you? What Script are you writing?

One thing at a Time

The other day a friend gave me a book on nutrition that she found extremely helpful. After a pretty intense battle with depression this past year, and a scary experience tying to wean myself off my prescribed medication without consulting my doctor first (not recommended AT ALL), which triggered a setback, I felt desperate for something that I could implement in everyday life that might help in addition to all the other things that I’d tried. I knew many people who found that improving their diet improved their mood overall so I eagerly cracked open the book.

The author had a whole section on brain chemistry and how our food choices affect it. At first I was horrified by her report on sugar, caffeine, and other foods that I gravitate toward. Apparently women with eating disorders (including those who battled them in the past as I did) had tweaked brain cells too. Another strike against me! As I read on I saw that I didn’t eat nearly enough protein or vegetables and had enough preservatives running through my bloodstream to keep a package of low-fat turkey eatable through the winter at least. My family ate fast food on occasion (apparently we don’t even want to know what’s in it), the French vanilla creamer that sweetened my coffee each morning was loaded with life-zapping chemicals, and I baked with white flour. I was lucky to be alive! Talk about depressing!

But hope awaited me in the next chapter. One could repair the damage done and feel better for life. At first I only felt more overwhelmed as I viewed lists of good fats, all the foods that contain hidden sugar, and what I should and should NEVER eat. Then I stopped. How could I possibly expect to make all these changes at once? For one, my family would be very unhappy with me if we suddenly went sugar, caffeine, and pleasure-food free. Secondly, I didn’t have half of the suggested foods in my cupboard, and finally, I didn’t really need to do everything suggested. So I started with a few things:

1) Eat more protein (my parents were very happy to hear this—they have been bugging me about it for years), veggies, and fruit
2) Eat less sugar
3) Cut back on coffee refills
4) Cut out foods that I absolutely know are garbage
5) Make a list of healthy foods to buy during our next grocery shopping trip

And you know what, even with these small changes I feel better. Now I am actually looking forward to trying one more tip from the book, then another.

My new health craze reminded me that, when God points us toward a path to change, He doesn’t always expect us to dive in head first immediately. True lasting change takes time. When we try to do it all at once we only become overwhelmed and discouraged. And what happens? We usually give up? However, when we take needed change a step at a time we have time to see that change work for our good. Then we are anxious to try even more.

Is there an area where you see a need to make some changes? What small steps can you take this week?