This is the banner I created to represent our journey of Craving Peace and I wanted to explain it to you.
The tassel at the beginning of the line represents the cord or rope in the story of Rahab and how God delivered her and her family from the destruction of Jericho:
Josh 2:12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them,
"Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.
19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
Josh 6:20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho-and she lives among the Israelites to this day. NIV
The word cord is translated from the Hebrew word= “Tikvah”
Tikvah means hope!
It represents the hope that as we dive into a deeper walk with God, He will help us on this journey to a healthier lifestyle, freedom from addictions, and unhealthy habits.
The line with spikes and dips represents the ups & downs of a few things:
1. The dieting rollercoaster. I’m tired of it, how about you? Dieting rarely (if ever) leads to a healthy lifestyle. I quit dieting last year and decided to focus on getting my mind, body, and spirit healthier.
2. The wavy line also represents blood sugar spikes and dips. When we are eating foods that spike our blood sugar, which releases floods of insulin, (then resulting in huge dips as the insulin brings down our blood sugar), not only do we feel good-then-bad then great-then-awful and fatigued, but we are also telling our body to “hold onto fat.” Uh, no thank you. I’d rather burn fat than save it and when we eat a diet of low glycemic foods, we can straighten that line. Lots more on that to come.
3. Now let’s talk emotions, anxiety, and depression. Yup, the wavy line represents these too. We’re up, we’re down, going from fun loving to hangry in the time it takes to see two people find true love on Hallmark Christmas movie.
Again, this is often a blood sugar situation because when our blood sugar is wonky, our hormones are all over the place. We’ve got dopamine in our brain giving us short little hits of pleasure and then dropping below comfortable levels. We will unpack all this in the coming months on this website and in our studies (online & in person).
The heart represents:
1. The heart decision we make to change, to grow, and to be healthier spirit, soul, & body.
2. The love God has for us that gives us the courage, strength, and hope for this journey.
The straight line represents
1. The balance that God wants for all of us in our walk with Him. Matthew 7 gives us excellent teaching on how to build on a balanced and solid foundation:
7:24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” NIV
2. Also, our physical bodies were created to constantly work towards homeostasis.
Homeostasis is:
From the Greek words for "same" and "steady," refers to any process that living things use to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival. It is the ability or tendency to maintain internal stability in an organism to compensate for environmental changes.
For example: body temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, also brain chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
Basically, it means BALANCE.
There will always be fluctuations in our bodies, in our emotions, and in our spiritual life, but we strive to find that healthy balance that keeps us steady and strong in all areas.
The arrow represents a continual movement forward. Growing, learning, and making effort to move forward in our walk with God and a healthy lifestyle. No matter how many times we fail or fall, we get back up and keep moving forward, supporting one another as we do.
I hope this description alone has been encouraging and inspires you to start thinking about your new healthier lifestyle.
What does it look like for you?
What needs to change?
What needs to be strengthened?
What are your goals?
I'm Craving Peace, and looking for peace from cravings, how about you?
I'd love to hear, contact me through the contact page!
Sue
Check out our Twitter to see the doctors and great accounts we follow:
