The Bariatric Rollercoaster

So last week was a good week. I lost 11 lbs. Which puts me down 36 since surgery and 56 since my first appointment and 66 since the beginning of the year. All in all that is not a bad start, but I have about another hundred to lose, hopefully by summer 2014.

The previous week I lost 4. And the week prior to that I gained 2 pounds. The thing is, I think I did better with my diet and exercise on the weeks that I lost less than last week. Go figure.

This sleeve journey really is a roller coaster ride. One week you are up, another you are down. Either way, you just need to keep charging ahead, trusting that if you are doing the right things than this whole deal will work.

Things that I am doing that I think are working:
Loading up with protein in the morning: 30g drink, 10g yogurt....this gives me more freedom through the rest of the day as far as when and what I eat...I think it is important to get in the protein first

Taking blood pressure meds--when I do not, I think I retain water weight.

Walking when I can--I am not where I need to be yet, but I seem to be making the right choices

Getting well rested--helps me feel much better

Things that I need to improve on
More exercise
Eating less crackers
Planning meals better

I have 5 more pounds until I get my first reward. Why five pounds? Five more pounds puts me down below what I was at my low weight with weight watchers. Also, my lowest weight in at least 10 years. I am a little nervous, because I am approaching a "plateau" weight for me, where my body likes to hover for a while. Hope I break through....

DON'T BE IN A HURRY: Article for last week's Hot Springs Star

Don’t Be In Such A Hurry….

My daughters turned one and three in the last month. They are so beautiful. And I adore them. They are often, in many ways, eager to grow up as quickly as they can. Our oldest is excited for preschool and Vacation Bible School. Our youngest daughter is trying to climb up and over everything in sight, and wants to do everything her big sister does. These days, I try to help my oldest with something I usually assist her with, and she insists she can do it. Maturation is a healthy thing, but sometimes I want to say, “Hey little girls, you don’t have to be in such a hurry to grow up!”

The truth is, all of us hurry just a little bit too much. We are anxious to get the toys we need, and so we spend money we don’t have to get them now. We schedule and our families so we don’t have a spare minute, and then brag and pat ourselves on the back about how busy we are. We get in a rush to make everyone happy and do everything everyone wants us to, and then drain our energy and our souls in the process. We get way too anxious about too many things. We get trapped in what author Gordon McDonald calls “the tyranny of the urgent.”

It is interesting to note that although Jesus was clear about what his mission was, he was never in a hurry. He was not lazy. Neither, though, was he frantically flitting from one thing to the next. Some time people tried to hurry him up to get to the item on their agenda. He still went at his own pace, loving, serving, and caring for people as the Spirit led him to. He stopped to help a woman while he was on a way to heal a sick girl. He takes time to teach his disciples while they are journeying to see a dying friend. Jesus rose on the third day…not the third hour. Even in resurrection, he kept a consistent even pace.

I think we all need to slow down a little bit. St. Vincent de Paul says, “One who hurries delays the things of God.” The rushed anxiety that hurry creates makes us less effective in accomplishing the goals we want to accomplish. It also makes us more irratible, less grateful, and more difficult to live with. We need to remember that love is patient, and that one of the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our life is growth in patience. God brings about good things in his good time.

So, let us take a minute to take a deep breath. Let us work hard. But let us take times for rest, for preparation, for thought, and for truly savoring our lives. Let us live with the love, joy, patience, and peace that the Scripture promises for those who walk in the way of Jesus.

THE BLESSING OF BELONGING: Article for Hot Springs Star published today

THE BLESSING OF BELONGING

When I was growing up, my mother dated a gentleman for eleven years. She was waiting until he could overcome his issues with alcohol addiction before she married him. He died of exposure after a night of drinking in the middle of winter, passing out inebriated behind a school playground. He was 39 at the time. The same age I am right now.

One of my biggest struggles in grieving this man was that, even though he had been around more than my father, I had no claim to him. I did not belong to him by marriage or blood, nor did he belong to I. And yet, even today, I wish that those bonds were there. I feel it that having some sort of belonging with him would validate my sense of loss.

I think we all need to belong to others, and have others belong to us. That is part of what we experience in families. It is part of what we experience in the practice of community. For this reason, among others, I think we underestimate what it means to be a part of a church family.

Churches are not buildings. Churches are not institutions. Churches are first and foremost communities of people covenanting together to love and worship God and each other. And they are, in my opinion, one of the greatest blessings God gave humanity.

You do not have to do life alone. You don’t have to try and figure out everything by yourself. You don’t have to feel lost, like you are wandering in the wilderness. You can find a group of people that know God, and know that God is love. You can discover a community of people who admit they don’t have it all together, and are not perfect, but are striving to live in obedience to one who is, namely Jesus Christ.

Being a part of a church family is not always easy, but it is almost always a gift of God’s grace. It teaches us patience and longsuffering. It teaches us love. The church teaches us accountability and forgiveness. Even more, it teaches us that despite our faults and our struggles, and how the world feels about us, if we are disciples of Christ we belong to God and to one another. And, that is truly a blessing.

So go out this week and find a church. A church that is filled with the Spirit’s love, the Father’s love, and is committed to following the way of Jesus as it revealed in the Bible. You won’t regret it.