Book Review - 7

Jen Hatmaker is currently ruining my life. 

I read 7 during the Christmas holidays.  In retrospect, probably not a great idea.  Yep, I read this book in a room with so many presents they wouldn't even fit under the tree.  Did I mention the book is about excess?

I feel confident that, if we ever met, Jen and I could be good friends.  But I also think we would probably roll our eyes behind each other's back every now and again. 

7 is about a series of experiments that Jen and her family particpated in.  Each month, they (or sometimes just she) gave up excessive something or other.  The first month was food.  Jen picked seven foods and ate them exclusively.  One  month required her to wear only 7 items of clothing.  (This one would have been easy for me)  Other months included media, shopping and possession fasts. 

I don't actally disagree with much of anything she has written in this book.  It's just that much of it makes me feel guilty about the way I am living my life and honestly? that gets on my nerves.

Also, in addition to wanting to sell the house and move the family to a camper, reading this book made me think we should also adopt a couple of Ethiopian kids.  Which means I am gonna need a bigger car...

Bible Tuesday - Revelation

A revealing of Jesus, the Messiah.
Revelation 1:1

Since it's January, every good Christian is starting their "Read the Bible in One Year" deal.  That means that most of Christendom is reading Genesis right now.  And really, who doesn't love Genesis?  Every great Bible story you ever learned as kid came mostly from Genesis.  It's easy to read, easy to interpret, and easy to talk about with others. 

Revelation is NONE of those things. 

For a long time I have wanted to do a study on this book.  I envisioned something like "Revelation for Normal People".  Because here's the problem.  Some people just ignore this book.  Some people skim it and move on.  And some people like it FAR too much.  You know the ones I'm talking about?  These goofs that diagram all the sentences and assure you that a pattern emerges confirming that Obama is the antichrist.  They stockpile canned goods to make it through the tribulation.  They speak with total confidence regarding their interpretations no matter how shaky their biblical foundation may be.

I am none of these people. 

You see, the first time I read this book, I was a brand new Christian who knew jack diddly about bible prophecy.   And I really enjoyed it.  But every time I heard someone talk about it, it was if we hadn't read the same book.  I was confused and annoyed. 

One of the core tenets of my beliefs is that God intended for ME to be able to read and interpret scripture for myself.  I do not believe God would inspire something to purposefully confuse me.  So when we encounter something that is, shall we say...odd, I am just going to say "I have no idea what that means" and move on.

So my hope is that by the time we get done, you and I can be the type of people who love Revelation for what it actually says.  That we can read this book with hope, not fear.  And that we will see Jesus revealed because ya'll...that's the whole point

Glutton - Part 22

I feel better than I have in a very long time. 

This is the hard part.  I feel like I am doing everything I need to do to reclaim my body.  I have more energy.  I am sleeping better.  But the pull to jump on a scale is overwhelming.

And isn't that completely goofy?  Because no matter what number flashes off that thing, it won't really change anything.  Oh, it may make me temporarily happy or depressed, but as far as really telling me what kind of progress I am making?  Nope.

But I am not going down that road again. 

Here are a few things that I have been consistently doing this time around. 

- I am eating three meals a day and no snacks.  Look, I am not going to argue with you about this.  I don't actually care if you eat 24 small meals every day.  But, for me, not having to think about what snack is appropriate has been very helpful.  I can't be trusted (yet) to make healthy choices.  So limiting the amount of choices I make is nice. 

- Along those lines, I am streamlining my menu.  For example, I eat the same breakfast every day. Breakfast is just hard for me.  I DO NOT want to eat in the mornings.  I just want coffee and peace.  The very idea of food is nauseating to me at 5AM.  But the thing is...everything I have read about diet and nutrition for the past 25 years has stressed the importance of breakfast. If I want the body I never had, I have to start eating like I never have.  And if that means choking down breakfast every day...so be it.

- Dinner is my last meal of the day.  Period.  I don't have a specific time I must be finished.  But when I am done, I am done.  This eliminates the 9PM kitchen search.  Nobody makes good choices after 9PM.  That rule applies to pretty much anything...not just food.

And here's the biggest change I have made so far.

Every morning before I get out of bed, I pray.  It goes something like this.  "God, without you I am going to screw this up. Let's keep that from happening today."

Every night before I go to sleep, I pray.  "Thank you God for getting me through today.  Also I really appreciate how you helped me not eat those Totinos Pizza Rolls.  I know I should not have even had those in the house much less cooked a giant pan of them.  Thank you for being bigger than all my stupid."

Funday

Resolved 2013

So it looks like another week without one good idea for Bible Tuesday. 

This is gettin on my nerves.

But it's a good time to tell you about my New Year's  resolution.  You ready?

I am going to read one non-fiction book per month.  (Said book cannot be Christian living or weight loss related.)  I'm thinking history, biography, etc.  This is a big deal for me.  I'm not a fan of real life. 

It's January 22 and I have not read or even picked out what book I am reading first. 

Welcome to my world.

Glutton - Part 21

I don't think more is the answer.

For instance, I have a really nice smartphone.  It has amazing capabilities.   Know what I use it for?  I make calls. I check my email, Facebook and Twitter.  Occasionally,  I play solitaire while waiting on the kids.  That's it.  That is probably ten percent of what my phone is capable of doing.

We subscribe to  cable on demand, Netflix, Hulu plus, and a Roku. That probably equals thousands of programs I could watch at any hour of the day or night.  In reality though, we rarely watch more than one or two programs a day.  We are not TV snobs.  We love TV.  But by the time we collapse on the couch for the night, its 9pm and we are too exhausted to search out the vast entertainment possibilities available to us.

For the glutton, more is the enemy of enough.  

I don't need a complicated plan.  Because clearly when things get overwhelming and complex, I revert to my default...which is doughnuts.

So what does enough look like?

For me it looks like this.

1. Reasonable exercise expectations.  
I am not going to do P90x.  I am not going to the gym 9 times a week.  Why set myself up for failure?  I am going to move.  Perhaps it will be a walk?  Or carrying forty loads of laundry up the stairs?  Maybe I will ride one of the kids' bikes (when no one is home and my neighbors aren't watching).  But regardless, I am.gonna stop.beating myself up.  That's one exercise I am totally over.

2. Reasonable supplements. 
I

3. Reasonable amounts of water.  
I am not going to start carrying a gallon jug around with me.   Also I still hate water but I also hate PTO meetings but I still go every once in a while so clearly I CAN do stuff I hate.

4.  The Scale
I'm done with the scale...for now.  For one, I don't think it's an accurate measurement of anything.  And let's face it.  I let that machine define me.  I let it decide whether I am having a good or bad day.  No more.

4.  Food. 
Obviously this is the big one.  I am going to start easy here.  I am going to eat...food.  As in things that are recognizable as food.  Not things that comes in a box.  Does this cover every bad food I struggle with? Nope.  But it does simplify my food  philosophy.  Yes I will tweak this as I go but, for now, this is the simplest way for me to fix a good 85% of my pitfalls.

So there it is. 

Funday

Quoted

"Tolerance is not the rule for the Christian, LOVE is the rule for the Christian"

   - Jerry Gillis

I need to remember this when I am tempted to strangle Pat Robertson which happens like every day.

Bible Tuesday - Writer's Block

66 books in the bible and I can't think of one thing to write about.

I may be having post-David depression.  Maybe next week...

Glutton - Part 20

Like any archaeological dig, the deeper you go, the more you uncover.  My journey is not so different.  I began with the supposition that my sin was gluttony.  And it definitely was.  But then I began to see that another sin was my inability to be satisfied with the things God provided for me. That one is still true also.

But ya'll... I just stumbled onto the King Tut's tomb of sin in my life.  Here's what I found when I went to clean out my kitchen cabinets.

 

I am a straight up idolater and you are looking at the altar where I worship. Because all these vitamins, supplements and whatever prove one thing:

 

I don't really trust God to get me out of this mess that I have made. 

The shame of that is so big.  Because I never thought that would be true.  I talk a really good game.  Most of the time, I actually believe what I say.  But as I look back on my actions it's clear that every day of my life, I have been saying "God, I don't think you can handle this."


And this stuff is from just ONE cabinet in my home. This is where I have placed my trust.  In Dr Oz (God help me!), and GNC and any other entity that will sell me hope in a bottle. (And please understand that I am not saying there is anything wrong with supplements.  I am a big believer in complementary medicine.) But, you see, I am looking for redemption in a magic fiber pill.  That's not just sinful.   It's downright stupid. 

And yeah, throwing this stuff away is certainly a step in the right direction.  But ya'll, the Israelites tore down their altars and cut down their Asherah poles every time they got a King who changed his mind.  And it wasn't long until they would just build them back up.  I can throw away a dumpster load of pills every week and it won't make a bit of difference until I change my heart.

Even as I was planning this purge, I got an email advertising a 'cleanse".  (In my defense, it was from a meal planning site...not a diet one.  It should have been a 'safe zone")  Like any addict,  I started justifying it immediately.  "It's just a cleanse!  It's for my health, not weight loss!  The world is so toxic!  Wouldn't it be great just to get a fresh start?" 

You see, even after I come to a place of trusting God to deliver, I'm still holding back.

When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”
Luke 5:12-13

It's not enough any more for me to believe that God can heal me.  I have always believed that.  I have to accept that he is willing to fix what I have broken.

Funday

 

 

Bible Tuesday - Where was God?

It's a question that has been asked repeatedly since the school shooting in Newtown, CT. 

Where was God?

The answer is simple but it won't satisfy you.

Where was God?

God was in that classroom.  God was present as those bullets flew through the air.  He was with each and every one of those children as they were murdered. God was not absent.  He was not busy elsewhere.  He never is.

What we really mean when we ask 'Where was God?" is "Why didn't God stop this?"  And that's an answer I don't have.

But don't suppose that God abandons those who suffer.  God was there as the Jews were incinerated.  God was there as believers were thrown to the lions.  God was there as those with passion for His word were burned at the stake.  God was there on the beach at Normandy.  God was there in the twin towers on 9/11.  He was there in the library at Columbine.

And God was there.  On a cross at Cavalry. After being beaten beyond recognition.  And He was there on that cross to bear the punishment for Hitler, Stalin, school shooters, mass murderers, and me...and you.

And just a small rant here for my Christian brethren.  Please, please, please stop going on television and saying that God allows these atrocities because we 'kicked him out' of schools, government, etc.
We live in a world dying without Jesus. And we can't lead them to Christ because Christians are too busy being worried that they might not be able to "Pray at the Pole". How 'bout this. Get your own dang pole and pray whenever you want. In fact, you might want to do it a little more often than once a month. Stop whining to me that 'they kicked God out'. Just how small is this God you serve? Because I gotta tell you. My God is BIG. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob doesn't need defending by the likes of you. And if you think for one second that the school board or the state of Tennessee or the Federal government can kick my God out of anywhere, then you are sorely mistaken. Can the government take school sponsored prayer out of public schools? Sure. But they can't make a child stop praying. I send Jesus into the public school system every day. He lives in the heart of my children and he cannot be removed by any power. 

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38

Think what a difference Christians could make in this world if we just took Jesus wherever we went. If we would just live out his love through forgiveness, charity and service. Let's quit whining that the 10 commandments were removed from an Alabama courthouse and start living those commandments in our own stinkin lives. 

It's time for followers of Christ to remind people that we are not alone. 

We live in a fallen world that is marred by sin and it's consequence.  We endure sickness, pain and all kinds of evil.  But we do not suffer in vain.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”
Revelation 21:1-5

Glutton - Part 19

Wanna know one of the worst things about being fat?

Nobody believes I know anything about food and nutrition. 

And guess what. 

I know an awful lot about food and nutrition.

But when I hear you (not YOU, that other person) say something ridiculously stupid regarding diet and exercise, I can't even argue.  Because clearly I am a nutritional moron.

Except that I'm not. 

And look, I get it.  Taking diet advice from a chubby housewife makes as much sense as taking financial advice from somebody who went bankrupt.

Except that many, many people do take advice on money from a guy who went bankrupt. Dave Ramsey.  Ever heard of him? 

But here's the hard part.  Nobody took advice from Dave Ramsey until he was 'un-broke'.  So I am guessing that in order to illuminate my friends and family I am going to have to get un-fat.

2013...the year of the un-fattening.

I friggin hate it already.