Father in heaven there is a lot going on in my life that needs cleansing and healing. First of all, allow me to accept those things which are new and embrace them with open arms. It is difficult to think about what lies ahead but I understand that there is no guarantee for any of us. Health is a blessing and I am always one heart attack, stroke or accident away from meeting you and so I am blessed to be where I am at right now. Protect my kids and give me the knowledge to train them in loving you not by word only but in a relationship that interacts with you. Father please be with the college students and help them to grow closer to you but allow them to do so in a way that is genuine. Many of them are meeting potential spouses or are looking for potential spouses and I ask that you give them the knowledge to choose wisely. Father the youth group needs your help as Satan is excellent at what he does. There is too much temptation out there and I am afraid much of our youth are succumbing to this so please help them with the power of your Son. Father help Main Street to have new life in 2011 and allow us to grow spiritually but even numerically. We do not need to settle for second best as too much is at stake for us to simply be content and ride off in the sunset. Father help us in this year to be ready for the deaths, the injuries, the accidents, the sins, the mistakes, the broken relationships and the foolish decisions we inevitably will make. Also, Father, through your Spirit, allow us/me to accept the new possibilities and fully embrace them regardless of the consequences. Deliver us O Lord, according to your ceaseless love. Amen.
Looking at the data it seems that most of the southeastern portion of the United States ranks high in obesity (see http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html). Tennessee continues to rank high in obesity as 30% of all adults could be classified as obese. ”Obese” means those who have a BMI of 30 or above (http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/glossary.htm) but very muscular people can have a high BMI but have no adverse physical problems. The United States is number one in the world in obesity with roughly 30% of the population being obese (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity) which is staggering because there are roughly 925 million people in the world who are undernourished (http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/al390e/al390e00.pdf).
So while people encourage me to eat two or three helpings and laugh there are people who go days without eating. I preface you with those statistics because I am tired of doing things in excess. Jesus said, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11) and that was all the disciples needed. Not me. I get hungry, I grab some potato chips. I get thirsty, I grab a soda. I get hungry again, I grab some cookies. Instead of food being a necessary nutrient to keep me healthy I find that it is an addiction to keep me satisfied. I can’t tell you the number of times I have tried diets, diet pills and working out all to lose weight. I have not been under 200 lbs since Heather and I moved to Springfield (the lowest was 207). I am not advocating I look like a man on the cover of GQ however I am tired of bending over to tie my shoes only to be out of breath by the time I am done. I am tired of looking at pictures of when I was in high-school (173 lbs!!!) and then looking at pictures now and being disgusted.
I think I have narrowed the problem to a lack of drive in me. I want a “magic pill” or a “magic diet” to solve all my issues so I don’t have to work hard at it. I work hard at the office, hard at the house and the last thing I want to do is to work hard on my body. Matter of fact, I eat a lot because I feel like I have at least earned the right to not work hard at eating. The problem that gaining weight does on a person’s soul is that it causes them to look at their bodies in disgust which means they (namely, me) are not satisfied with the body God has given them. So while this is part confession it is also part revelation. I loathe the self-help books that treat God’s Word as if it is a book about creating a better me and a better you. Look, God’s word is a book about how to have a relationship with him and how other people have done it. Having said that, the Scriptures do offer me strength for my journey which is what I aim to do for 2011. My focus for 2011 will be “Waste Not, Want Not.” That applies to food, money, entertainment and other material things. I plan on journaling more and wasting less time on food and other things and living a more simple life. I am tired of doing things in excess and want to learn to be simpler in my approach to life. Will you pray for me? Because the formula to lose weight is simple: eat less, exercise more. The formula for a better budget is simple: spend less, save more. The formula for a better relationship with God is simple: self less, God more.
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