Why Wholly?

Wholly was my clever play on the words Holy and Whole (as in the WHOLE30).

But what’s so “HOLY” about doing a Whole30?

Well, for most people, nothing.

For me, almost everything.

I am a Christian. A follower of Christ. A Disciple of Jesus. My journey and everywhere it takes me has something, if not everything to do with that identity. And this particular journey (my Whole30 journey) has more to do with it than I thought.

I have a scripture posted in my kids’ bathroom, 1 Corinthians 6:20 - "you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." I put it there in hopes that they would be motivated to stay clean and have good hygiene (or at least more motivated than they would be if they were simply doing so because I told them to). But during the course of reading the Whole30 book, that scripture cut deep.

And the more I read the book and prayed about if the Whole30 was something I should do – the deeper that cut became. I started thinking about my food choices (and the choices I was making for my kids). I started feel ashamed that my kid recognizes the Golden Arches and yells with glee “Fries!” every time she spots one (or when we even get in the vicinity of where she knows one is) (I told you it was bad.).

But I am a parent who has tried my best to not be a “do as I say and not as I do” parent. I want to be a good example. And ultimately my kids and I are working toward the same goal: to Honor God with our lives. Our individual walks and specific details of those will be different (obviously) but some things will be the same, despite our age difference, family role, etc. God says our bodies are temples. Mine and my kids’. When we decided that our daughter wouldn’t be permitted to wear bikinis, I threw away all of mine too. When we discipline our daughter, it’s not so that she will do right by us, it’s so she will learn to honor God with EVERY thing she does, which makes us have to be constantly aware of all that WE do – because we should be setting examples of how to live a life that honors God,  from the smallest of choices to the biggest of actions.

And I knew and applied the 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20 verses. I know my daugter’s body is a temple, that it is a gift from God that she is to take care of so that she can use it to glorify Him. So I try to make her eat healthy. I give her 100% juice or water while I sip on a Pepsi, I give her raisins or apple slices while I scarf down some peanut butter cups (while I hide in the kitchen pretending to do the dishes or cook so that she won’t know I am eating something and ask for “some”.)

But you can’t keep it up forever. I let her have McDonald’s fries eventually – and now she eats them about once a week. It’s fun to give her chocolate and cupcakes. And it’s easier to give her a handful of Gold Fish crackers instead of slicing an apple. But I still TRY when it comes to her. When it comes to me… I guess I just kind of figured it was too late. This temple is already engulfed in flames, and I didn’t think I had the time or will-power, or even the knowledge of how to first put out the flames and then rebuild.

But the more I read the book… the more convicted I got. About my choices, about my choices for my family, about what that meant as far as quality and quantity of life and I also thought about it in terms of honoring God. What if God has something for me to do but I can’t because I am sick or not physically fit enough, and the reason I am sick and not fit is because of my eating habits and not something outside of my control?

Is eating a Big Mac sinful? Probably not for most people, but in my case, it might be… at least right now. It might not be, I might get through this Whole30 only to discover that my body, in fact, DOES operate at its’ optimum level of health while eating junk including but not limited to Big Macs, gummy candy and Pepsi (I say not limited to, but those are 3 main food groups in my world). But I think that the Whole30 will show me that my body and my life will be far more useful when I make healthier choices both psychologically and physiologically. (If I am addicted to the Big Mac, whether an occasional Big Mac will harm me physically or not, I shouldn’t eat it again – same concept as an alcoholic who shouldn’t touch alcohol again once he has gone through rehab).

The point is that scripture tells us to be like Christ – to aspire to holiness and righteousness. Not that we will ever get there in this world, but we are to work toward it. And so – what started for me as a way to lose some weight and get in better shape has become something different – hence the name of this blog: Wholly Journey!

Here. we. go.