The Holy Spirit dropped these two words into my heart for another chapter in my book: DeFlating Pride.

In 1973 I began having horrendous headaches. Nothing would take them away. I went to a specialist who gave me a glucose tolerance test. Yes, I was having severe low blood sugar symptoms.

He put me on a special diet. No more sugar! I thought I would come unglued. Sugar was a staple in my life—I thought.

This doctor taught me to look for preservatives in the food I was buying. Fillers and additives that would keep the food from spoiling were abundant. He also taught me to look for supplements that had no fillers. Looking at every ingredient before I bought something slowed down my shopping experience.

What he didn’t teach me was to look for emotional fillers. What was going on emotionally at that time? As I think back to those years, I filled my life with as much busyness as I could. I connected my radio to the front door switch. The moment I entered my house I’d flip the switch on to produce instant noise.

I gave gifts of things I desired myself. I became what I wished others would do for me. I filled my void with anything I could find. Yet I remained unfulfilled.

The bottom line—I was emotionally empty. Pride had taught me to bury my emotional pain.