|
|
07/05/17
Day 112 Extreme Accountability Challenge Starting weight 304 pounds Destination weight 175 pounds Total weight loss to date 69.4 pounds 59.6 pounds to go For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. In 2012, I was searching, as I still am today, trying to make some sense of the different situations that I was in. It was a ” Marker Year” the year before, I believe my friend Alan Jackson, not the singer, told me. I had turned 50 in October if 2011 my father passed from a brain tumor that April, and I was traveling mercilessly, 1500 miles per week for work, I missed my family and was just trying to get my bearings. I ended up at a men’s calling retreat at Barry College, in Rome, Georgia. It was put on by Gary Barkalow, author of ” It’s Your Call”. Without going into every detail, a lot came from that retreat for me. A lot. My favorite question comes to mind, ” So what does this have to do with weight loss?” Everything. I probably will butcher this, but Gary shared a perspective on the verse above that I had never considered. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. You have a desire, I know that you do because you are still breathing (the still breathing part is from me) For God is working in you, Ouch! Working looks like a lot of different things. Some of them are painful. I picture an Arnold Schwarzenegger or a Sylvester Stallone going through rigorous workouts, painful workouts, to get stronger. The workouts that you may have gone through or are currently going through in your life could be a lot more painful. Losing a spouse, a child, a financial crisis, a divorce, trying to overcome an addiction, or even fighting obesity, these are all painful. But you know what? Wherever your pain is, that’s where you tend to develop strength, you have to, to survive. Oh, so God is working in me giving me power? Yes. Power for what? To do what pleases him. Guess what else. He gave you your desire. Think about it. Pretty cool, whenever you get what your heart is desiring, it makes the Creator of the Universe pleased, happy. Search your heart for the desire placed there. It may be the center of your greatest battle and in the future your greatest strength. I think waking up every morning trying to figure out a way to lose my ever increasing girth would count as a desire. Like many of you, I tried everything, the everything was never the problem, it was always me. The idea for the Extreme Accountability Challenge, publicly facing my biggest challenge, weight, every day has changed everything for me. Is it still hard? You bet. I wanted to eat everything in the house yesterday, but I knew that I had to post my scales this morning. So I fought the beast within me and for the 111th day I won. No cheating. Now as much as I want this victory for me, my “desire” is for you to lose your weight and get healthy too. I don’t believe God intended for me or you to carry all this extra weight. There are so many more desires, so much work, and yes tremendous power ahead for you and me. Change is rarely comfortable or rarely feels safe. But… Remember comfort and safety are overrated. 175 pounds here I come!!! |
