I AM NOT WITHOUT MY FAULTS, JUNK FOOD ADDICTIONS and BEING A DRAGON SLAYER AT 69 YEARS OF AGE

THE STORES WERE ALL A BUZZ WITH SHOPPERS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE HEAT WAVE of the temps being in the 30s soon to deep into the 20s with another round of snowfall.

I know I wanted to get out of the house for a couple of hours before more snow came.

Needed to go to the Post Office and Pharmacy as well as pick up some veggies for menus.  I had wrapped a couple of packages that I needed to get in the mail, but will have to wait to mail them as the Post Office was closed due to honoring President Carter's Funeral.

I listened to part of the funeral and will tune in later to hear the rest.  What President Biden said about JIMMY was very honorable and heart warming.  Of all the Presidents I know of, Jimmy Carter was one that walked out his FAITH in GOD.  I tear up when I hear about his LOVE for his beloved wife.

I haven't been to the Post Office all week, so I knew the box would be full.

THEN I thought we would go to pay the phone bill, pick up some meds and go to the grocery store to get some toilet paper.  I greatly dislike running out of toilet paper especially before a snow storm.  I pride myself in being stocked up in the basic essentials, but cut it close running out of TP having to use Kleenix.  grins.

With the weather being satisfactory for traveling, we left in the afternoon in the heat of the day with temps dipping below freezing.  I had hoped to get HOME before dark, but didn't manage this as the snow started to fall as we traveled nearing sunset.  

I enjoyed shopping even with so many shoppers rushing to get stocked up before this additional snow falls.  The parking lots were a mess with piles of snow mountains and half cleared trails to navigate through.  Sloppy mush was walked through to get to the front doors.  Overall it seemed that the drivers were considerate toward one another in the parking lots.  

TP was picked up, paper towels, veggies, fruit and especially some chips that are not made of grain. 

No eggs were available, but I wasn't in need of any as I bought some a couple of weeks ago.  Christmas decor was all gone except storage boxes like nobody's business.   

Beautiful vegetables filled our carts.  Different types of squash, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, lettuces, grapefruit juice, pomegranate arils, and ketch-up without sugar.  I do better at concentrating about shopping when the stores aren't so busy as my mind tends to get side tracked as I people watch. 

BEFORE RETURNING HOME, we needed to make a quick trip to Menards for water and dowel rods. I picked up a couple of stocking hats that were under $2 each.  A purple one for me and one that was a nice shade of blue for hubby.  Before we headed out the door, I strolled through their Christmas Clearance aisle and decided to get some shatter-proof ornaments for the outside of our house for next CHRISTMAS.  SILVER.

Already I am decorating the front porch for Christmas 2025.  When decor is a discounted price then marked down 50% with an additional 15% off because it fits in a brown shopping bag...it becomes a decent price for someone like me that is bargain shopping.

When the storms are brewing, there seems to be PANIC SHOPPING in the Midwest for MILK, TOILET PAPER and BREAD.  I managed to buy only TP amongst the trinity of necessities.  We aren't eating much BREAD these days and had MILK, but toilet paper was a must.  Seriously a must.  I cannot even imagine using newspaper or pages from a catalog as a toilet wipe.  

Toilet paper prices have climbed, but I'll take my leave in complaining about it today.  The best prices I have found for it is at the DOLLAR STORE verses Walmart or Grocery stores.  

We are one day closer to SPRING.  One day!  We are having a true WINTER with all this snow and bitter cold temperatures.  I have to talk myself out of binge eating as I am now on day 10 of the Daniel Diet.  Walking through WALMART seeing all the junk foods was overkill on exercising self control because I wanted so badly to eat just about everything I saw.  This lets me know how addicted I can be on JUNK FOOD and SUGAR HIGHS.  

The cookies and donuts and ooey gooey junk foods were screaming at me as I walked right on past them.  SO many packaged products are loaded with SUGAR, FLOUR, SALT, ADDITIVES. When it comes to eating this stuff, I could easily eat it over nutritious foods from nature without a second thought.  I am definitely an ADDICT TO JUNK FOOD.  I have to remind myself that this stuff will not be good for me if I were to consume it.  It has gotten me in trouble through the years.  Truly in trouble which has led me to poor health and being obese.  

There must be respect toward myself that means more than a temporary fix when it comes to eating JUNK FOOD.  This is something that I really recognized when being so strict on the Daniel Diet/Fast.  Whenever I take a strong stand to diet, the demons within me come to the surface to tempt me on stuffing myself with junk food.  An overall focus on wanting to pig out on foods that I don't usually even eat shows it's ugly head. 

AS I went through the aisles, I got to thinking how I could just stuff myself full in one day. Brownies, donuts, chocolate cake, cookies and the likes.  How awful I would feel if I did this.  I know full well that I have a weakness toward unhealthy foods.  This must be how some feel with other types of addictions such as alcohol, drugs, sex, overspending, stealing, etc.  To get in a healthy place, self control HAS TO BE USED.  MISS HIGH AND MIGHTY strutting about believing I am more important than others is a crime.  I am not without my faults.  

This struggle I have when dieting, makes a true statement about wanting what I want when I want it.  I survived not falling off the wagon yesterday.  I managed to stay strong and not eat all the junk that I could have.  That one little chocolate bar that won't hurt me, would hurt me.  That one donut would turn into a whole box of Little Debbie's dunking sticks.  

When I got into the car after shopping, freed me up to start looking at all the fast food restaurants surrounding WALMART.  Oh no, now I was wanting a burrito from the Taco Shop. This outing was running me over the coals.  I know that if I am told I shouldn't do something... that I want to.  This is another avenue of disaster that I do not need to travel.  Life goes on and I must as well.  Life is full of choices.  I must choose cautiously and be careful about what I am doing and eating.  AMEN.

I know that through this trial I am very HUMAN. If you want to do a spiritual exercise in your religious walk, following the DANIEL DIET/FAST can be an excellent spiritual exercise to see within yourself what rebellious devil you might have that needs dealt with.  The rebellion can be a dragon of difficulty.  I am a DRAGON SLAYER swinging my sword about called resistance. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!

JUNK FOOD HAS BEEN AND IS A DEVIL TO ME THAT WANTS TO KILL ME.  He wants to kill, steal and destroy me.  A new concept that I have been awakened to is that FOOD can kill me, steal from me and destroy me.  I have to put on the full armor of GOD when it comes to food. Next time I go to WALMART, I will need to be prayed up wearing my armor and be prepared to slay the dragons out there.

Amen,

~d