Brown Bananas

2 Timothy 2:22(ESV)

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

This morning I was up before my sweet babes and jumped into my SEED Pack 2 of our Thursday Morning group. I tore apart my verse using my 5 P's of Bible Study.- 2 Timothy 2:22-26. My paraphrase was ridiculously long; I pulled out more spiritual principles than ever before, and I just didn't know where to go with all this new light and application. My prayer and moment to listen for the Lord's whisper was cut short by a call for Momma coming over the baby monitor.

Throughout the day these verses kept coming to mind... I would meditate on specific parts which all come together so nicely in the verses yet have so many different challenges. The very first verse is the one I thought of mostly though. "Flee youthful passions..." What were those child and teenage desires I had? Was I now pursuing "righteousness, faith, love and peace" instead? One part I was confident of was that I wasn't doing this alone. I am so thankful I am surrounded by my Seacoast Sisters who are also calling on the Lord. Oh, and God - heart check... is it a "pure heart" in there? So much in such a short verse (never mind the other verses).

Late afternoon I noticed 3 extremely brown bananas on my speckled counter top. I love finding those because it gives me great reason to return to my first love in the kitchen - baking. I learned this art form as a preteen from my sweet Aunt Milissa. Trying to keep a healthy household doesn't allow me to do this as often as I would like to, but I sure do love it when the flour comes out. And so I began making some Banana Nut Muffins (recipe). You see, it's the super brown bananas that make the sweetest and best baked banana goods. However, these are the same banana's we avoid to snack on at first glance. That exterior seems so important, when in fact it is what is tossed away.

One of my youthful passions was my appearance. I consistently kept a compact at hand. I dressed in hopes someone would notice. Someone did and soon we were married. However, I soon discovered that someone had an addiction to porn. I'm not talking an occasional peek... I'm talking addiction. Appearance became an even bigger passion for me... I tried to keep up and he pressured me to as well. But I eventually realized that no matter how small my waist was or how big my chest was I could not compete with airbrushed models. Porn led to cheating and devoured my marriage, but God is good, all the time. My pursuit changed. I sought hard after God. That changed me! In fact, the day I met my sweet husband Mark I didn't have a drop of makeup on. After what I faced the first time around I knew this time I wanted someone who wanted me... all of me... outside and INSIDE!

Our First Official Date

So here I am, 30 something, 3 kids later, and I find myself suddenly heading back to that youthful passion. This weekend someone at church complimented me by saying that I looked great and lost my "baby weight." Instead of saying "thank you" I went off on how I may have lost Haley's weight, but I am still carrying around Daniel's baby weight. Heavens! Can I have a do over? Our body's are a temple and we must respect that; however, today the Lord reminded ME of where my pursuit needs to be - righteousness, faith, love, and peace. That's inside! When I abide in Him and ripen, my inside will be so sweet... much like that banana. That peel will one day be thrown away and what is inside is what will count.