Weights And Measures

 Weights And Measures

Mission trips have their own issues for me in terms of packing, a skill I have never acquired. Weight limits are also an issue for me as you can see in this post from June 27, 2010.

In less than thirty-six hours, I will be headed to China and I have quite a ways to go to be ready. Yesterday, I bought something that I have never purchased in my life; bathroom scales. On previous trips, I've borrowed the scales from our school nurse's office but our nurse is not around this summer. Continental Airlines limits its passengers to two fifty pound suitcases and the only way to be sure is to weigh them beforehand. It's not accurate to just put the bags on the scale. You have to weigh yourself and then re-weigh yourself holding the suitcase. This morning, after breakfast, I weighed myself. I weighed myself again this evening after worship. Guess what? I lost almost six pounds in twelve hours! At this rate, I will lose all my body weight in thirty days or so! On the other hand, if I weighed myself for the first time tonight and then again tomorrow after breakfast, I would have gained six pounds so from that perspective, my weight would double in a month! What's a guy to do?

Do you over evaluate yourself at times? I'm not weight conscious but I've coached girls long enough to know that many females are. I could see where it would drive you crazy weighing yourself at different times in the course of a day and observe the fluctuations. Last week, I drove to Oklahoma for the wedding of my nephew, Ben. It was the first time I had driven my Honda Fit out of town and it still had less than 1000 miles when I began. I reset the MPG feature when I left my apartment. Thirty miles down I45, I was getting 49.1 miles per gallon! I was incredulous! Nobody gets that kind of mileage and intellectually, I knew it could not stay at that level. Still, I was elated each time it went up by .1 and frantic each time it declined by .1. I even turned the air conditioner off to milk it for every tenth possible but it never went higher than 49.1. By the time I reached Henryetta, Oklahoma, it had settled to only 42.1. When I say only, I am being facetious- that is phenomenal mileage! I just wish I could have sustained the 49 mpg. It was the best of times!

It doesn't always take much to affect our mood...or our spiritual self esteem. One comment or frown or you fill-in-the-blank can knock us off stride. I admit that I sometimes run my life the way I check the mileage reader on my car. The Scriptures teach us to test ourselves and evaluate ourselves but I doubt it means every five seconds. When we do, we become focused on readouts instead of the enjoyment of the journey. We'll go up and down in life but the Lord understands, When we are headed in the right direction, we can still have a flat tire or run out of gas. We tend to beat ourselves up so much at times that the devil doesn't have to land many blows himself. It's like coaching- some kids shy away from shooting if they miss a shot in a basketball game but the next one might go in! I know this; when I get back from China, I plan on putting the scale away until the next plane ride. But, I don't know about the mileage reader in my Honda; I was so close to 50! We all have an obsession.

Applicable quote of the day:

"The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day, you're always off of it.''

Jackie Gleason

God bless,

Steve
Luke 18:1