Merry Christma(s)

Savior

Luke 2:11

On this day, we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born for an entirely singular purpose. That was, to be the Savior of the world. Jesus did not come only to show us the way to God. Jesus came to BE the way to God. He is our Savior.

The very term 'savior' identifies Jesus as more than a mere instrument of God. God said, through the prophet Isaiah (43:11), 'I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.' To declare that Jesus is Savior is to, in no uncertain terms, declare that Jesus is God Himself. This should come as no surprise, given that Isaiah also prophesied that Jesus was to be known as 'Emmanuel' or 'God with us.'

The Creator of the universe was willing to humble Himself as but a creation in order to bring about the salvation of the world. But even more than that, the God of all became a man to give YOU the gift of salvation.

Merry Christm(a)s

Announce

Luke 1, 2

When God was about to send His only begotten Son into the world, He used angels to announce it to the 'involved' parties (Zechariah, Mary, Joseph). These were, essentially, private meetings and/or dreams that were given to these people as a way to prepare them for what God was about to do through them.

When the Father saw the birth of His Son on that very first Christmas day, He was so overjoyed that He sent angels to announce it to some shepherds in a field. Heaven could apparently not hold the joy that flowed, and it spilled over into the earthly realms, as witnessed by these incredibly blessed shepherds.

God was overjoyed, not merely as a proud Father, but because He knew that the perfect plan of Salvation for the entire world was set in motion that very night. The prospect of the redemption of a people that God loved so very much filled all of heaven with such joy that it could not be contained. And that joy still flows over the new birth of but one of His children. Even YOU!

Merry Christ(m)as

Manger

Luke 2:7

What does the word 'manger' bring to your mind at Christmas? A nice, quaint stable with a cozy bed of hay for a baby to sleep in? A warm picture of tranquility? Not quite what I would imagine would have been the real story.

The mention of the manger is what leads most to believe that Jesus was born in a stable. In those days, stables were often caves dug out of earth, with the feeding trough (or manger) dug into the rock wall. It would have been a dark and dirty setting for the Son of God to make His entrance into this world.

This, however, is somewhat fitting, considering the rest of Jesus' life. Where there was filth, dirt and darkness, Jesus came to bring holiness, purity and light.

When I first met Jesus, my heart may have rivaled the manger, as far as cleanliness goes, but Jesus came to me just the same, and brought His life.

Merry Chris(t)mas

Tree

I know that the Christmas Tree is certainly not mentioned in scripture, and I know of the probable pagan beginnings of this Christmas tradition. Yet I also know that God can redeem and use anything for His glory, and I believe that He has done so for those who look at the Christmas Tree in the right way.

To me, the evergreen tree is a reminder of God's gift of everlasting life in His Son.

The lights on the tree remind me to always allow my light to shine before men.

The tinsel is reminiscent of the fact that we are only glorious when we reflect the true Glory of God.

And the star on top is a reminder of that wonderful night when God gave the true Light to this darkened world.

May the traditions you cherish at Christmas point you to Christ at every turn!

Merry Chri(s)tmas

Sign

Luke 2:12

The Angels had just told the shepherds the best bit of news ever told. A Savior has been born in Bethlehem. But they didn't stop there.

They went on to give the shepherds a sign to look for. They prepared the shepherds to know what to look for when they went to Bethlehem to meet the Lord. Bethlehem was a big city and it was very busy and crowded at the time. Without that sign, the shepherds would not have known what they were looking for. There may have been dozens of babies born at the same time, yet only one was wrapped in strips of cloth and was lying in a manger. They knew exactly which baby was the one they heard about.

God made sure that those shepherds were prepared to see the Lord, and in the same way, He wants to prepare us, and even the world, to see His glory yet again!

Merry Chr(i)stmas

Indescribable

2 Corinthians 9:15

Ever get that perfect Christmas gift that just left you speechless? Ever have that one special loved one give you something that was so right, so perfect, that there were just no words to describe it?

That is EXACTLY what God did almost 2000 years ago. He knew exactly what it was that we needed. He knew that we needed a savior. And He gave us that one perfect gift. He gave His one and only Son to the world, because He loved us that much.

Think back over your walk with Jesus. Can you describe, with words, what the gift of Jesus Christ has meant in your life? Can you really express all of what Jesus Christ has done for you?

I can think of only one word that captures it. INDESCRIBABLE!

Merry Ch(r)istmas

Receive

Romans 5:11

We have all heard the phrase, 'It is better to give than to receive.' It is a good axiom to live by. A noble thought indeed. I do not dispute that one bit.

But think about this. God knew that we could not GIVE Him what He desired, which is a people with whom He could have fellowship. He knew that we could not GIVE Him that because we were with sin, and He was perfectly Holy.

God didn't leave it like that. He GAVE His own Son so that we could RECEIVE the gift of reconciliation and righteousness. It is His earnest desire that we RECEIVE this gift, because it is only through RECEIVING this gift that we are truly able to GIVE from our hearts.

This is one case where it truly better to RECEIVE than to GIVE, because the gift we RECEIVE we can never repay! RECEIVE God's gift today!

Merry C(h)ristmas

Herod

Matthew 2

King Herod was an Isrealite. While he was not the rightful heir to the throne, he had taken power anyway. He was a ruthless, hard ruler who had personally benefited from the power of Rome in Isreal. But he was an Isrealite; one of God's 'chosen people.' He was seeking Jesus out of fear of losing his power.

The Magi were not Isrealites, but simply wise men and kings from far off lands who together somehow knew that God was doing something special in that time. They were seeking Jesus because they wanted to worship this child for whom they believed God had placed a new star in the night sky.

The Magi obeyed the revealed message of God in their hearts, revealed to them through a means they could relate to. Herod, on the other hand, was rebelling against God, although he had the written word of God at his disposal.

May we ever be like the Magi, seeking God merely to worship Him!

Merry (C)hristmas

Christ

Luke 2:11

The word 'Christ' comes from the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word for 'Messiah', or 'Annointed One.' Looking back over the Old Testament, we can see many scriptures that speak of the Messiah, especially in the book of Isaiah, where the Messiah is depicted in duality as both Sovereign Lord and Suffering Servant. The Messiah, or the Christ, was to be a man unlike any other man before or since.

This depiction is not missing from the story of the birth of Christ. We see the suffering in the humble, lowly accommodations given to this newborn child. We also see the worship of the wise men that followed the star to Bethlehem. Even as early as His birth, Jesus Christ filled the description that Isaiah, indeed that the whole of the Old Testament, gave in prophesy for the Christ, who is the Savior of the World.

Merr(y) Christmas

Yeshua

Luke 1:31

When we read that the Angel told Mary that her child was to be named 'Jesus,' we actually see a Greek word that has Hebrew origins. The Greek word is 'Iesous' which comes from the Hebrew word 'Yhowshuwa' from which we get the anglicized words 'Yeshua' and 'Joshua.' This was the name of Jesus.

The meaning of this Hebrew name is 'Jehovah is salvation.' I had always considered that Jesus 'brought' salvation to the world. But His name suggests a stronger correlation between Himself and our Salvation. He IS salvation. He did not merely bring salvation to us. He became salvation for us, in the incarnation and in His perfect sacrifice for sin.

This Yeshua, Jesus, still is salvation. He still is God's perfect plan to redeem a world destined for eternal separation from Him. He still is God's best gift ever to this world.

Mer(r)y Christmas

Room

Luke 2:7

There was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. The entire city was overcrowded, to the point that the only accommodations that could be found for them was in a stable. So often we have criticized the people of that time for not having room for Jesus in their city. But you can be sure that there were other pregnant women and other people in just as much need as Mary and Joseph at the time. And you can also be sure that they were not aware of who it was they were turning away or sending to a dirty stable. All things considered, they actually had a pretty good excuse.

Most of us have no such excuse. When we refuse to make space in our lives for Jesus every day, we know exactly who it is that we are shunning. When we relegate Him to a few short moments each day, we know exactly who it is that we are sending away.

At this time of year, and all year round, make sure you have room for Jesus in your life.

Me(r)ry Christmas

Rejoice

Luke 2:8-12, 20

The angels came to the shepherds bearing 'good news of great joy.' But those shepherds, after hearing the news, were probably somewhat confused, and perhaps still a bit scared and shaken by what they had seen and heard. Even still, they decided that they had better go see if what the angels said was true, so they headed for Bethlehem.

When they got there, they saw everything exactly as the angels had said it would be, with the baby Jesus lying in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

These shepherds apparently went away from that place different than when they arrived. They came in perhaps confused, but the left rejoicing in the things they had seen and heard. They allowed the gospel of God to produce joy in their hearts and they allowed that joy to overflow into praise and worship for God. What does the Good News of Jesus Christ do in your own heart?

M(e)rry Christmas

Emmanuel

Matthew 1:23

'God with us.' That is what 'Emmanuel' means. God with us. Just think about that. A holy, just and righteous God dwelling among a sinful and rebellious people. Looking back through the Old Testament, that is exactly what God had always wanted. In Genesis, we read that God used to walk in the Garden and would apparently fellowship with Adam and Eve somewhat regularly. But sin separated man and God.

To bridge the gap, God Himself had to come to earth as a man, in the form of Jesus Christ. During this time of year, and all year round, for that matter, we must realize what love is demonstrated in the fact that God cared enough about man that He would leave Heaven and come down and dwell among us, even become one of us, to make a way that we could dwell with Him for eternity.

(M)erry Christmas

Mary

Luke 1:26-35

In a time that God had been silent to His people for over 400 years, God sent the angel Gabriel to a young woman in Nazareth to deliver what could be considered the most unbelievable message in all of recorded history. This young virgin was told that she would bear the Son of God. Did she scoff at the news? Did she send this heavenly messenger away in disbelief? No. She put her trust in the God who said that she was the one He wanted to use to bring His Son into the world. She didn't understand it all, but she didn't have to. She merely understood that God wanted to use her to bring salvation to the world, and she was willing to be God's servant.

Are we willing to be servants of the Most High God and to bring the good news of God's Salvation through Jesus Christ to the world? If we are, the same God who kept His promise to bring life through Mary will also bring life to the world through us.

Merry Christmas Acrostic

Anyone who has known me for some time may already have seen this, but over the next 12 days, I will be posting a "daily devotional" thought in the format of an acrostic of the phrase "Merry Christmas." It is something that I originally did in 2001 and it can still be seen on my Bible Nuggets website, but I will be posting the entries one day at a time, starting tomorrow.

My hope is that it will be one more reminder to us that Jesus is the reason for the Season and that it will be a blessing to you.

Christmas Decorations 2009

We're not done yet, but here are some photos and a video of our Christmas 2009 decorations so far. I've done some of the outside decorations and we did our tree. The tree is a bit different this year - we took Faith's collection of over 75 Webkinz and nestled them each on a branch in the tree. It's quite cute, actually, and it took about 1/4 of the time that decorating our tree normally takes. Sometimes my wife has the BEST ideas! (BTW...the video is available in HD when viewed from youtube.)

Here is a photo of the outside decorations so far.

I have finished the race!

Yes, that is a Biblical reference. More on that later...

I had the opportunity to run in a half-marathon race on Saturday, which was my 2nd ever organized race of that distance. I did quite well for myself the first time, in 2007, and expected to do quite well again, especially given my recent training results. I even had a glimmer of hope to beat my previous time of 1:49:33, though I knew that would be a long-shot.

Much to my surprise, however, this Saturday would not go quite as planned. The weather was not great, with a strong rain/thunder shower lasting literally right up until the very start of the race. The temperature was a bit warmer than I had hoped, in the mid-60's. The air was humid and the course was strewn with puddles, both large and small.

At the start of the race, I felt good and my pace was pretty normal, compared to recent runs. But after only about 4 miles of the 13.1 mile course, I began to feel fatigue setting in, which was far too early and gave me cause for concern.

By about the 7 mile point, I was badly out of breath and I had to break stride and walk for a few minutes. From that point on, it was a series of run-walk-run-walk spurts, extremely unusual for me. I can count on one hand the number of times, in training, that I had to walk-out or cut short a planned training run, so this was very a-typical.

What this did was to present me with a very new challenge. The question of whether or not I could finish the race had not even entered my mind before the start, but by the 10th mile marker, I had serious doubts that I could actually complete the remaining 3.1 miles, walking or otherwise. But something rose up within me each time the doubt appeared and I was able to silence it by saying, even out loud several times, "I will finish what I started."

And I persevered. 11 Miles. Then 12. Then past where we started, with the finish line still nowhere in sight. Yes, still doing some walking and some running, but all the while continuing to my goal. Finally, the finish line came into view and somehow, I found that last little reserve to finish under somewhat of a sprint, though I am sure I wasn't moving that fast.

I had done it. What, at the outset, was supposed to be a test of speed and pace turned out, in the end, to be a test of endurance, perseverance and determination. My final time, officially, was 2:25:15.

Back to that Biblical Reference. 2 Timothy 4:7 records Paul's words, saying, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." I gained a bit of a new understanding of those words this past weekend.

You see, for the past 25+ years as a Christian, hearing those words, I always thought of those words as "I have WON the race." But that's not what Paul said. He said, I have FINISHED the race. You see, the race God sets out for each of us to run is a personal race. It is not a competition. We are not trying to beat someone else to the finish line. God merely asks us to endure all the way. Endure the heat of trials. Persevere through the storms of tribulation. Navigate the obstacles along the way. Be determined to finish strong.

And while Paul was speaking about the totality of his life-long race, I believe there is a bit of truth to be found for the race set before each of us daily. Some days, the race will seem effortless and the finish line will come quickly. Other days it will seem as if you're about to drop along the way. But God asks us to persevere. To FINISH the race. And in finishing the race He sets out for us, we will find the ultimate victory!

Back in Onederland

Nope. I didn't misspell that. I did mean ONEderland. What in the world is onederland, you ask? Onederland is something that is very important to someone who has ever been significantly overweight, enough to be over 200 lbs and then been blessed enough to lose enough of that weight to weigh less than 200. One-derland, as in, my weight begins with a ONE. Again!

I started my weight-loss journey at a whopping 295.6 lbs in September of 2005 (likely NOT my all-time highest weight, but big enough, to be sure). I reached my goal weight, safely in onederland, of 180 lbs a year later and firmly believed that I would never again have a weight that started with a TWO.

I maintained that weight loss for almost exactly one year, which is an accomplishment in itself. But then, I got sloppy, bad habits crept back in and by the start of 2009, I was firmly in the low 200's. About 1 month ago, I weighed in at my post-WW highest weight of 212.4 lbs. I was mortified by that weight.

Around the same time, I was considering to begin training for what would be my 2nd 1/2 marathon at the beginning of October and I knew that there was no way that I would be able to carry an extra 32 lbs for 13.1 miles, so something had to give.

Well, I buckled down on the WW program. I decided that what worked before would work again. I set a firm goal in front of me that was only indirectly related to my weight...I was going to run that race and I needed to lose significant weight before I did.

4 weeks later, I weighed in today at 199.2. 13.2 lbs gone, and I'd love to drop another 8-10 before race day (10/3). I have been training well and my pace is returning to what it was back then, though the 8:22 pace I set in 2007 will be difficult to match, let alone beat. But that doesn't mean that I won't try!

So, where does that leave me? Pleased. Happy, but definitely not satisfied. I will return to my goal weight.

Happy 40th Birthday To Me!

What a day that was! My wife sure knows how to celebrate!

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. My wife and daughter, for 2 years, had been planning something for my birthday and they surprised me with it. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, so let me back up.

I woke up early and went for a run first. What a blessing to be able to say that, as a formerly-300lb person! It certainly underscores the fact that, while I've regained SOME of the weight I lost, I'm not who I once was. It was a beautiful morning and I had a great run.

I came home and showered while Christine and Faith were waking up. Then I came downstairs and they gave me my gifts - (2) leather jackets (brown and black - long story; great shopping deal) and a "money tree" filled with 40 "Happy Birthday" instant lottery tickets. Then they sprang their surprise on me...

With video running, they told me that I would be jumping out of an airplane at 11:00AM! I could not believe it! I mean, I had always expressed a desire to do it, but my wife being somewhat of a worrying person, I had written that one off. And here, SHE signed me up for a tandem sky dive!

So, we went out for breakfast (sorry, Weight Watchers...this was not a good day for eating) and then headed for the airfield. Sky Dive Long Island is where we went. I was not scared in the least bit, even after the video explaining all the risks and such. I was most definitely excited.

I met my instructor, Ben, and got suited up. I waved goodbye and boarded the small plane. The ride up was about 20 minutes and was absolutely beautiful with a shore-to-shore view of eastern Long Island. Then we reached 13,700 feet (that's a bit more than 2.5 miles!) and the door opened. I was the first out from the plane, so I didn't have time to be scared at all. We just started falling! About 1 minute of free fall that was absolutely exhilarating! We did some flat spins and just kept falling. I believe that we fell about 9000 feet before Ben pulled the chute open.

After that, it was an amazing 4+ minute gentle ride home, with some controlled turns and dives mixed in. Roller coasters simply may not cut it for me any more! The views again were just amazing. And with Ben's skill, we landed about 30 feet from where we took off - literally! Wow! What a rush!

We came home and relaxed a bit, with Christine preparing dinner. My parents were stopping by for dinner and dessert. I surprised them by showing them the video of what I did that day and my Mom said, "Thank God I did not know about this before you went!" They were shocked.

Dinner was incredible - BBQ ribs, baked potato, corn on the cob, biscuits. Unfortunately, I ate a bit too much, but hey...it's my birthday! I had made my own cake, something I love to do. It was a 4-layer chocolate cake with crunchy peanut butter, raspberry jelly and creamy peanut butter filling and chocolate icing. Oh, my gosh, was that good!

Then, while recovering from my overindulgence, I decided to start scratching my instant tickets. They were NY State "Lucky Birthday" $1 games. The 2nd one I scratched, I won the maximum prize of $500! Would you believe it!?!? (BTW...for those who know me, they know that this is the 2nd largest prize I've won from a scratch-off...the $100,000 from Christmas of 2003 was the biggest, but that's a whole other story!). All tolled, I won $534 from the 40 tickets! Amazing way to cap off the day!

As I said, what a day that was!

The Big Four-Oh!

So, this weekend I will begin my 41st year on earth. In other words, I will turn 40 on Sunday! It's a big number, but I've never been one to really care about how old I really am. And really, at this point in my life, I am healthier and feel younger than I did at 35, when I was about 90 lbs heavier than I am right now.

Sure, I'm not exactly where I want to be with my weight. I've been struggling, but then, that's just it. I have not given up. I HAVE been struggling at the very least, which is a good thing. I am quite determined to get back to my goal weight and quite certain that I will do it in this calendar year. There...I've put it out there for the world to see it - now I've got to make it happen.

I am going to a Met's game this weekend - my first at the Met's new Citi Field ballpark. And then, on Sunday, my wonderful wife and darling daughter have something unknown planned for me. I really have no idea what it is - they are good at keeping secrets - and I have not really tried much to guess, though I do have a few wild guesses that are probably way off base. But I'd rather be surprised and enjoy it all the way, I guess.

Turning 40. Well, for right now, I'm not afraid of it. I'll let you know once I am there, though.

;-)

Winter Vacation 2009

For the first time, I believe, since we are married, and definitely, since Faith was born, my family and I decided to take a winter vacation. We headed north, at first to Lake George to spend some time at Christine's brother's house. We did some sledding there, which was a lot of fun. We also skied on West Mountain. Not the biggest of mountains in NY, to be sure, but I had not skied since 1987 and Faith had never been on skis in her life, so it was just about right for us.

At first, Faith did quite well on skis, but a scary trip down the highest part of the bunny hill, ending in a fairly spectacular wipe-out, did her in. She couldn't quite get the hang of controlling her speed with the "pizza" (when I learned, it was called the "wedge"). I think she might try it again with some coaxing. Hopefully next year.

As for me, it was just like riding a bicycle. Not that I was ever an expert at it, but the basics came back to me quickly. After about 5-6 runs on the bunny hill, I headed off to the rest of the mountain for some fun with my niece, Jessica, who, as it turns out, is far and away the best skier I have ever skied with. We did quite a few runs down the more challenging parts of the mountain and I only fell 3 times, one of which was in the last 50 yards of our last run of the night. Overall, I think I did well and I KNOW I had a lot of fun. Sorry...no pictures on skis - I had the digital camera in my own pocket. :(

It was then off further north to Lake Placid. What a beautiful area. We saw all the "Olympic" stuff: the torch, the ski jumps, the outdoor skating oval, the hockey area(s), the bob sled track and Whiteface mountain.

Christine even went on a gondola ride to the top of Whiteface (well, the smaller peak), which, if you know Christine, you would respect what kind of feat that is for her! Faith loved skating on the oval, and so did I. We rode a dogsled around the frozen Mirror Lake and tobogganed down a chute onto the lake as well.

We really had a great time.

As for eating, I have to say that I surprised myself. I was able to make some great choices while still enjoying myself. I ate at the breakfast buffet 3 times, one of which allowing myself to use my 35 weekly points. I ate at McDonalds as well as Quiznos and did not have to "go over" on any day. And according to my unofficial scale at home, I lost almost 3 pounds while on vacation! I am quite proud of that.

Contract, Week 2

Week two of my contract for weight-loss has come and gone. Weigh-in was tonight at my local Weight Watchers center. But before I get to the weigh-in results, let me describe the progress made.

Eating was spot-on. Made good choices, didn't feel deprived due to some small, judicious treats. Stayed within my points and avoided late-night eating altogether. Also avoided at-work eating except for what I brought each day.

The weigh-in results? 2.2 lb loss. I am yet again nearing ONE-derland (for those not in the know, that would mean that my weight begins with a ONE). I am currently at 203.8. 199.8 is within reach, though a stretch, for this week, but certainly the following week, assuming I remain consistent.

Frank Tibolt is credited with saying,

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action."

To me, these are very true words. I cannot say that I was "inspired" to lose weight a few weeks ago. My actions at the time (inactivity, over-eating) proved that. But still, I had to make a choice. I took a bold step. That step that I took has resulted in an amazing level of inspiration and motivation in me and it has begun to snowball. I am as gung-ho right now as I was week 3 of my original weight-watchers start. Each day I view as another opportunity to make healthy choices, live right and drop some additional weight!

Here we go...WEEK 3! Let's ROCK IT!

NSV

For those "not-in-the-know" and NSV is, in weight-loss terms, a Non-Scale Victory. I had one this morning. My belt is one belt-hole in further than it has been in recent weeks. I am finally moving in the right direction!

Weigh-in tomorrow - hoping for another good result.

Change has come

So, we have a new President today. The first-ever african-american President. That's obviously not news to anyone in this country.

I did not vote for Barack Obama to be President. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which are the views he has with respect to the moral issues facing our nation such as abortion and marriage rights. I firmly believe that the direction that a nation takes morally will predict the direction that a nation will eventually take in every other aspect. As we emerge from under the covering of God's grace by walking away from the moral center of God's will, we endanger ourselves more and more. But that's not what this blog entry is about.

Barack Obama is my President. He is the leader of my country and as such, I am ready to get behind him and support him. I will support him in prayer, praying that God will lead and guide his every step. Praying that God will bring him wise counsel and strong courage to do what is right for this nation. Praying that he will bend his own knee in prayer as well, knowing the task that is set in front of him is far too large for the shoulders of one man.

I will support him by giving him a chance to enact the change he speaks of and giving that change a chance to work (although I cannot and will not support some of the moral aspects of his platform).

Yes, as Barack said, "Change has come." Let's hope that it is indeed a change in the right direction.

Contract - Week 1

So, 1 week ago, I signed a contract to get back on track with my weight-loss efforts. Here are the results:

I kept to the contract ENTIRELY, holding to all of the aspects of it. I stayed within my points. I wrote down everything I ate. I exercised (6) days for a minimum of 30 minutes (mostly walking). I ate nothing that I did not bring with me to work, which included saying no to several offered bagels and a YUMMY-looking office birthday cake. I ate nothing after 8:30.

The results? I feel MUCH better. I feel like I'm in control of myself. I have more energy. And I lost 5 lbs!

So, today begins week #2. I'm hoping that at the end of these 4 weeks, I will have built enough new habits to avoid the need for further contracts, but if necessary, I will certainly renew that contract when it expires.

Looking forward to further results in the near future. I can do this!

Very loose change

Do you ever get out of your car at the grocery store and see a penny or two on the ground? Have you ever seen a nickle next to the gas pump? Or a dime in the street? Well, we do; in spades!

A few years ago, my family decided that, for a full year, we would collect all of the coins/cash (yes, CASH, too!) that we find all over the place, just to see how much it would add up to. We figured perhaps $20. We were right, in 2006, having found $21. But, as it turns out, we were just amateurs at that time. 2007 brought $141! A few larger bills added to that total, but the vast majority was still quarters here, pennies there.

2008 was fun, since we had a "winner-takes-all" contest, keeping each person's money separate. I was in last place with $24. My daughter in second with $26. My wife won the pot with a whopping $48. Total was $98, down a bit from the prior year, but still not too shabby.

This year, we are still separate, but it's keep-your-own. Believe it or not, we have already found about $6 this year, and it's only 11 days old!

So, where do we find this money? All over the place, really, but a few places are typically more "fruitful" than others. Gas station vacuum machine areas are usually quite rich in pennies and such. Shopping store "coinstar" machines usually yield some "reject-pile" goodies, including a lot of foreign coins (not that we count them). Ride parks, especially WATER parks, are amazingly good for finding all kinds of change.

I'm CERTAIN that we get laughed at for caring to bend down for pennies and such on the ground, but if those people saw the amounts of money this adds up to, they'd be bending down to get them, too!

Hi. My name is...

Hi. My name is Jim and I am addicted to food. There, I said it. Yes, I was able to lose 115 lbs 2 years ago and keep it off for about 1 year. But in the 17 months since then, I have now officially added 31 lbs back on. At that pace, it would not take all that long to add the other 85 and then some more, so at this point, I need to make a life-or-death decision. At least, that's the way that I see it.

So, how did I put on 31 lbs in 17 months? Well, it's somewhat the same answer I used to give when people asked how did I lose 115 lbs. It's all about controlling what I put IN to my body. Sure, exercise is important, but I've proven that I can out-eat just about any workout I can dream up. I even gained 2 lbs the week after running a 1/2 marathon! I've always attributed the vast majority of my weight-loss to controlling intake, with a minimal contribution from my exercise.

For that reason, I cannot allow the several injuries I have suffered in the past year, limiting my exercise for long stretches of time, to be the excuse I use for my gain. It's ALL about how much I put in.

One of the things that I have noticed about myself is that, unlike MANY who go on Weight Watchers, my stomach, or more appropriately, my capacity to eat volumes of food, as in no way shrunk. Not even a little bit. Unfortunately, I can still pack away vast quantities of food, as I have proved all-too-often. What can I do about this? Well, I have to be FAR MORE DILIGENT with respect to both portion-control as well as recognizing my satisfaction levels.

Eating at night, after the family has gone to sleep, has been probably the single greatest contributor to my weight gain. Somehow I have gotten into the habit of what I call "grazing" through the kitchen. I go through the snack drawers and take one of these, one of those, a small handful of these and a bunch of those. All so that, individually, noone would notice anything "missing." But totaled up, as I have done in the aftermath of several grazing sessions, it can add up to over 40 points quite easily. OBVIOUSLY, this is not very conducive to losing or even maintaining a healthy weight.

So, what am I going to do about this life-or-death decision? I have committed to a 28-day contract. I even put it in writing and signed it, giving it to my wife. I agreed to the following:

• Stay within points (Daily, Weekly, Activity included).
• Journal EVERYTHING I eat.
• Exercise (5) days per week, 30-minutes or more.
• I will eat ONLY what I bring to work each day.
• I will eat NOTHING after 8:30 PM.

That is my commitment. I firmly believe that if I stick to the above agreement, I will significantly decrease my current 211 lb body at the end of the 4 weeks and I will reinvigorate my commitment to the Weight Watchers program.

I can do this. I WILL do this.

2009 - I love new beginnings

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [Lamentations 3:22-23]

This quote from the Bible is very often quoted around this time of year. God is a God of the second chance. Some may even say that He's a God of the third and fourth and fifth chances, too. And so on. And they might be right, in a sense. But equally, they would be wrong in a very important sense, too.

You see, when we fail, God picks us up, dusts us off and sets us back on His path. When He does this, we get a second chance, right? But it is so much more than that. Scripture tells us that he removes our sin from us as far as the east is from the west [Psalm 103:12]. It also tells us that He choses not to remember them any longer. [Isaiah 43:25]. That means that if we fall again, God picks us up, dusts us off and sets us back on His path, giving us a second chance. You see, calling this a third or fourth chance diminishes what God is doing for us. When He gives us a second chance, it really is a fresh start.

His mercies are new every morning. Each new day, and even moreso, each new year, is an opportunity to come before God and make a fresh start. No matter what you went to bed with last night, the mercy and love of God is there in the morning to pick you up, dust you off and give you a fresh start.

Happy New Year!