Good Christmas Eve from Coffeyville, Kansas where Dave and Sally and I have traveled to be with her relatives for several days. We've had a terrific time! Sally has an amazing family who always makes me feel at home. Over the years, and especially since the passing of our folks, I've spent some time each holiday season with Sally's siblings and their spouses and kids so it isn't a new experience for me. If you've read my blogs or followed me on Facebook, you know that Thanksgiving for me was anything but normal this year. I flew from Houston to Wichita, drove with my brother to see him feted in our Nebraska hometown, drove back to Kansas, drove to Arkansas for the funeral of our beloved Uncle Bill, drove back to Kansas where we celebrated Thanksgiving and learned of the passing of Mom's last sibling, Aunt Jerry. Two weekends ago, we made our way back to Nashville, Arkansas as our revered aunt was memorialized and laid to rest. Back to Houston to finish out the semester and now I'm here. It's been a tough stretch!
When I returned from Vietnam on August 4th, I made the conscious decision to get back into shape by adding treadmill workouts, lifting for longer periods, and being more careful in what I eat. I never set a weight loss goal but that has been the logical by-product. Research tends to confirm that people who weigh themselves every day lose more pounds than those who only step on the scales sporadically. So, I began weighing myself as soon as I got up every morning, following the identical routine each time. And the weight started coming off which was a motivator to keep making the same dietary choices and working out consistently. Holidays, I knew, would prove a challenge. I returned from ten days of Thanksgiving on Sunday night and weighed myself the next morning for the first time in a week and a half. I tipped the scales at 192.8, up several pounds over that period of overeating and lack of exercise. But three days later, I weighed in at 186.6, down 6.2 pounds in seventy-hours! Wow- do the math! In just thirty days at that rate, I would be down sixty-two pounds and either incredibly thin or on my deathbed. Of course, you know that hasn't happened. Last Friday, the last time I got on a scale, I weighed about 187. so I've simply maintained. I'm down twenty pounds or so since Vietnam which is fine with me. I'll update next week back in Houston on where I stand on the scale.
I deal with kids who overreact on a daily basis to incorrect or incomplete information. Life becomes a rollercoaster ride based on who talked to who or who might have smiled in another's direction. A course becomes easy or impossible based on a solitary quiz or test grade. Athletes become too excited or too depressed based on a single game or practice. But parents can also base their worth as child rearers based on one good report card or one bad behavior incident. Coaches gauge their aptitude based on whether a shot bounces in or bounces out. And Christians, even mature ones, can base their worth in God's sight based on a good deed or a sinful slipup. In our very human minds, we over analyze every bit of data we encounter just like the daily rising or falling of a pound or two of our weight. Let's resolve not to do that in our spiritual existence. Here's all the evidence we need to weigh when it comes to the Father's complete devotion to His children:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This Christmas season, that's all we need to remember.
Applicable quote of the day:
Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.
Jim Rohn
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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