Archive for the ‘Learning // Teaching’ Category

Sep

2009

Weight Loss and Gain…

This morning I stepped onto the scale after working out for an hour and I was 188lbs. This is 16lbs less than the 204lbs I saw about 45 days ago. I feel good. My clothes fit again. I have NOT reached my goal.

Originally, I set out to drop a solid 26lbs and get myself down to 178lbs. For whatever reason, this is the number that pops into my head whenever I think of my physical optimum. That is changing though.

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To be sure, I could starve myself…work out like crazy…count calories non-stop…develop a cocaine addiction…or any other variety of speed-loss rather than weight-loss. I remember the time in my life where I was most uncomfortable with myself. At 5’9″ tall and 209lbs, I was on my way to getting married and I was eating an entire bag of Soft Batch cookies every day. A life-insurance representative came out to my work and informed me that I needed to lose some weight or else I was going to be lumped into the high-risk category and lose my tri-line insurance discount, which was the only reason I was getting life-insurance in the first place. This sent me into the complete opposite direction of where I was heading and I started eating 1200 calories a day or less…a bit of a difference from the 5000+ I was consuming at the time. I felt like I was starving, I had no energy whatsoever, and I was totally unhealthy. I lost a lot of weight quickly, but it all came rushing back to me when I quit the process.

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This time around, I wanted to change my health. I’ve been working out 4-5 times a week, eating healthier portions and varieties of foods, as well as changing my overall approach to daily routines. I expected to lose more weight than I have, but I’m glad that I haven’t. Getting myself into a healthy routine of cardio exercises mixed with weight-lifting has given me a more balanced life. I’m not drained of energy…I don’t feel like I’m starving all the time…and I feel stronger than I’ve felt in years. I’ve not lost as much weight as I wanted to originally, but that’s because I’ve gained some muscle mass.

And so it is with Christ.

As we prepare to leave for vacation on Friday, I’m excited to gain some spiritual muscle mass. I have no plans whatsoever when it comes to exercising spiritually while we are away on vacation. No plans. And yet I know that God is going to deliver. I’m expecting it because this is why He devoted so much attention to the Sabbath. There is a rhythm that needs to take place in our lives for us to be healthy.

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God created the heavens and the earth…and then He took a day off. He modeled it for us Himself.

The Sabbath. It means “to cease”. This is where we get the word sabbatical. A time of ceasing.

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It plays directly into the observation of the Eucharist…which I need so badly right now.

In church settings, we “take Holy Communion” or “take part in the Eucharist” or “celebrate the Lord’s Supper” or “consume the Blessed Sacrament”. It might be called something different in varying circles, but it’s all surrounding Jesus’ words to us saying:

“This is my body” as He breaks the bread…
“This is my blood” as He pours the wine…
“Do this in remembrance of Me” He instructs us…

…but what exactly are we remembering?

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We are remembering that He was broken…for us.
We are remembering that His blood was poured out…for us.

By taking part in this Communion with Christ, we are remembering what He did for us as well as recognizing the brokenness and pouring out that’s taken place in our own lives. We too have been wounded and we too have been drained of our life source. We need to be mended and we need refilled.

My Sabbath week will be my Communion. This vacation will be my opportunity to be repaired and my invitation for Christ to fill me back up again. As we find ourselves lighter than we ought to be, it might be due to the fact that the living water we require to thrive has been worked completely out of us.

Jesus – come and fill me back up…I don’t care if it makes me heavier.

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Posted in Learning // Teaching | 23 Comments »

Jul

2009

A Time for Everything…

Photograph taken in 2001 @ Roaring Fork Trail // Smokey Mountains – Tennessee

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Photograph taken in 2001 @ a creek 10 minutes from my house in Cincinnati Ohio.

This isn’t just the Growing Pains theme song. This is the sovereignty of God. It’s the understanding that our human nature and our free will gets in the way of our own well-being at times, but that our God is on the move…working things out for our eventual good. “Eventual” is the part we struggle so much with. Having a belief in such sovereignty just might free us up to actually live and enjoy our lives.

What “time” is it for you right now?

Posted in Learning // Teaching, Photography | 44 Comments »

Jul

2009

Thanks for making me puke John Eldredge…

Caveat #1: My men’s small group is currently going through the book Wild At Heart by John Eldredge.

Caveat #2: It is challenging us to be more adventurous, spontaneous, and ridiculous.

So here’s today’s stupid snippet of my life:

* Walk into gas station to pay for my things.
* Cashier grabs a can of Grizzly fine cut, Wintergreen chewing tobacco and puts it in front me.
* I look at the cashier completely confused
* She says, “Isn’t this your normal can?”
* I look at the cashier completely confused
* She says, “Oh sorry, I must be thinking of someone else…I guess you wouldn’t want this, huh?”
* I say to her, “Ah, what the heck…I’ll take it.”

Now you have to realize…as I typed out that last sentence, even I can’t figure out what the heck I was thinking. In all seriousness, I don’t know why I said that. All I can think is…Wild At Heart.

* I pay for my gas, car air-freshener, and a can of Grizzly.
* I walk outside staring at what’s in my hand and I can’t figure out why I just bought chewing tobacco.
* I pump my gas and examine the can thinking this stuff is nasty, why did I buy this?
* I open the can and grab a big ole’ fat pinch of this black, mint-smelling dirt and stick it in my mouth.
* I realize I have no idea how to chew tobacco. All I know is that I better not swallow any.
* My gas stops pumping as I continue to fiddle with this wad of crud in my lip.
* It burns and for some reason this is completely unexpected to me.
* I replace the gas pump, and I hop in the car. That’s when I realized how dizzy I was.
* I suddenly notice that I can’t even drive. I pull the car forward and pull into an empty space.
* I break out into a sweat and I spit out the wad of tobacco…it’s approximately 3 or 4 minutes since I popped it into my mouth in the first place.
* I can feel a nicotine rush going through my face and neck, down into my arms. My hands are shaking.
* I open the car door and I begin throwing up my breakfast.
* After puking, I get back into the car and I sit in the drivers seat for 15 minutes trying to regain composure. My cold sweat turns into a hot flash and I start to fear that I am an incredible wuss.
* Finally, after feeling okay to drive, I throw the can of tobacco out the window of my car and yell…