Even though my girls were outside playing today in the warmer temps, just a few days ago the mercury dipped down to the 20s and we had a dusting of snow on the ground.  In the south, a “snow day” is a very big deal.  We don’t get them often and the snow rarely stays on the ground for longer than 24 hours, so we take the day off and play. It’s what we do.

One of the things I do on a snow day is keep a wood fire going in my fireplace.  I LOVE my fireplace.  Love it!  It makes me happy and soothes my mind. So I literally kept the fire burning from early in the morning until bed time. The thing about a wood fire is that it takes work.  You can’t build it then walk away and expect to stay warm all day.  If the fire is going to keep going then you have to feed it, and you have to add more wood while there is still a flame.  If I let the fire die down to embers instead of a flame and then throw a big log or two on it then I end up with a wood pile instead of a fire.  All day long I kept adding wood to the fire and all day long I had a roaring flame that kept everyone toasty as they came in and out from playing.

Several months ago I went on a journey to regain health and energy through nutrition and lifestyle change and was so grateful that the Lord did a fabulous work for me individually, as well as my family.  In God’s perfect timing, through a series of events, I now find myself in a job (after being out of the workforce for a decade) where I am helping others with nutrition and establishing a healthy lifestyle.  It is something I’m passionate about and I’m so thankful for this new season.  As I talk with clients about their health goals, I find that many want to lose unwanted pounds and every single person that I have talked to about losing weight has one thing in common.  Do you know what the common factor is?  They skip meals.  They go for long periods of time without eating.  They don’t eat breakfast.

The thing I tell them is that they have to eat to lose weight!  Then I give the the analogy of my fireplace.  So long as I feed the fire good, dry wood it keeps on burning.  If I put the right things into the fire then I always have a fire.  The same is true with our bodies.  They are designed to burn fat.  If we feed them the right things at a steady pace, then they keep burning.  If we go for long periods of time without feeding our body, then it’s like a big, damp log thrown on embers. That log sits there and so does our fat.

Despite all of the above, this blog really isn’t about snow days or losing weight.  It’s about the fire inside of us.  Has the fire you have for God grown cold?  A fire warms everyone who is near and if the fire in your heart, for God, hasn’t been fed lately, then you can’t warm anyone…not even yourself.  When is the last time you sat with God and spent time in His words…His love letter to mankind?  Spent time talking to Him?  Spent time sitting still, listening?  Stoke the fire.  Feed it often and you will be a warm light to YOUR world.

What about your dreams?  Has your passion died out?  Is there something you want to do?  Something that gets you excited about life?  BUT you got busy trying to pay bills and punch the clock and keep everyone happy…and you haven’t fed the dream in a long time.  Taking care of yourself….building into your dream….protecting your spiritual fire….guarding your physical health….these are the ways we feed the fire inside of us.  Feed your spirit friends, and you will grow and glow.  Watch your family and your friends draw close to the fire and be warmed.