The Nativity Story

I just read this review, and I can't wait to see the movie!

When I first learned that Hollywood was producing a film version of Jesus’ birth, I feared the worst. I wondered if they would use computer-generated angel wings, Renaissance-era costumes, cheesy subplots and sappy dialogue spoken in King James English by blond-haired actors. But I didn’t cringe even once during New Line Cinema’s The Nativity Story. It is possibly the most tasteful treatment of a Bible story to ever grace the screen.

Don’t expect a romanticized, Christmas card version of the familiar story. This movie (which opens in theaters on December 1) is not about cattle lowing while angels sing sweetly over a stable. It opens with a terrifying scene of Herod’s soldiers storming into Bethlehem to butcher Jewish baby boys—a grim reminder that the promised Messiah came to a world gripped by government-sponsored terrorism.

The film then takes us to the town of Nazareth, where we meet the young Mary (played by Oscar-nominated actress Keisha Castle-Hughes of Whale Rider) and her future husband Joseph (Oscar Isaac)—whom Mary’s father forces her to marry. The miraculous events that follow—the birth of John the Baptist, the appearance of an angel to Mary, and her unexplainable pregnancy—are set against the rugged backdrop of Palestine during the Roman occupation. Life was cruel, houses were tiny, food was scarce and Jews were the victims when Herod’s troops marched into town.

When soldiers abduct a young Jewish girl because her father could not pay his taxes, we feel the fear and oppression that hung over the residents of Nazareth—and we find our hearts aching with theirs for the coming of a Savior. When the maniacal Herod (Ciarán Hinds) pouts on his rooftop lair in Jerusalem, worrying that his own son or a phantom Messiah will overthrow him, we understand the demonic forces that drove him to commit his despicable attempt at genocide.

Screenwriter Mike Rich (Radio, Finding Forrester) did his homework on the historic details of this film, and sets and characters conform to the customs of Palestine at the time of Christ’s birth. Filmed on location in Israel, Morocco and southern Italy, the movie has a gritty quality that reflects the hardship of the times. We see the oppression of women (the men of Nazareth want to stone Mary when they learn she is pregnant), the pain of primitive childbirth (Elizabeth holds a rope during contractions) and the dangers of travel through Judea’s terrain (Mary and Joseph’s 100-mile journey to Bethlehem is almost fatal).

The stark realism of The Nativity Story will challenge those who think of the birth of Jesus as a fanciful fairy tale. Director Catherine Hardwicke made sure that the characters are believable (including the angels, who are understatedly human-looking). Unlike Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which offered us a Catholic-style Mary on a decorative pedestal, this film gives us a frightened, teenage Mary who wonders why God chose someone like her to carry His Son and then tries to muster confidence after her family accuses her of immorality.

Though Mary’s relationship with Joseph is strained at the beginning (after all, this was an arranged marriage), she grows to love him after God shows him in a dream that the child in her womb was miraculously conceived. Eventually the young couple discovers they are on a divine mission, and Joseph emerges as a hero as he protects his bride from snakes, marketplace thieves and murderous soldiers.

The film is not preachy but the message is clear: When God sent His Son into the world, He chose the lowliest people to carry out His plan—and the most powerful man in Palestine could not stop Him. The baby Jesus (who is seen only in a few brief scenes) escapes Herod’s sword and finds a hiding place in Egypt.

Theologians may quibble over minor details of the movie, especially that the Magi who travel from Persia arrive on the night of Jesus’ birth instead of two years later. The film also suggests that the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem was actually an alignment of three heavenly bodies. That may not be how it really happened, but certainly some type of divine alignment occurred in Hollywood this year. The Nativity Story arrived in theaters just in time—when our terrorized world is desperate for some good news.

Celebration Time!

I did my very last workshop here at the Co-op today! Got presents and hugs and everything! No second thoughts, though! I feel so FREE! Last night I slept very little (hormones, I think) so I was a walking zombie all day. It will be so nice that when I retire I can sleep until noon if I need to!

Too grossed out to blog

I think there's a lesson in this picture, which explains why I decided not to blog tonight!

My quiver is full!

I'm on my way over to the Edingtons' house to stay with the girls while Mark and Lisa and the rest of the praise team and the band rehearse Christmas music.

Yesterday Jody and Shannon and her two precious boys left after five days here.

I haven't put up a Christmas tree since Madeline died, but today I bought a table-top Christmas tree because I'll have a grandchild crawling around next Christmas!

This time last year I felt like a barren woman. Now I feel like my quiver is full!

Thank you, Lord, for Samantha and Emily and Taegan and Shea and teensy pre-born Charlie!

I weighed this morning

A miracle! I didn't gain any weight over Thanksgiving! (I didn't LOSE any either, but at least I didn't gain any!)

"God sets the lonely in families"

Here is Jody with his new family. Wedding plans are underway! I really like Shannon and the boys! God is good!!

It's All About Wheels!

Taegan can drive the motorized 4-wheeler from next door, and Shea holds on tight to ride. Is that cute or what?

A three-fold cord

Today I desperately needed a three-fold cord.

Thanks, Lisa and Mark!

Two days in pictures

Pictures from Thanksgiving and the day before--

The cooks--Todd and Ginger, with a little help from Granny Hickey on the gravy.

Jody was glad the boys got to come with him to Arkansas.

Granny Shiras brought them a ball, among other gifts.

They like the Disney Channel.

Jody had to sleep a lot after driving all night.

The boys banging on the piano briefly (Shannon stepped in)!

Shea has the cutest little grin we've ever seen!

The boys like everything with wheels!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everybody I love has a nice Thanksgiving!

We're eating at Ginger and Todd's, and will be making plans to move my mother to Heritage soon. They have an opening!

This article was on my Google homepage this morning, and I found the turkey on the net!

Do you take many things in your life for granted? By looking at the world a little differently, you just might realize how much you have to be thankful for. Here's how to stop and smell the roses.

Steps
Look around and pay attention to the people around you. You will find that everybody has something to worry or complain about, not just you. It's easy to focus on those who seem to have it all, but you never know what's going on inside. They might look happy, but they might be miserable as well. Don't look at others and think "I should have it like they do." Look at those who aren't as fortunate as you are and count your blessings.

Practice acceptance. Stop dwelling on how things should be, what could've been, and what you don't have. Recognize what you do have--whether you like it or not, it's yours to keep or to change. Accepting your lot in life is not about resigning yourself to unhappiness. It's about not wasting time lamenting or denying your problems. Take them for what they are and...

Become a problem solver. Use your lemons to make lemonade. Get in the habit of asking yourself how you can turn the negative into a positive. The most successful people in life, and those who have the most to be grateful for, are also those who've endured tremendous trials and managed to persevere and turn it all around.

Learn to see hardship as a chance to develop character. Imagine yourself looking back ten years from now and recounting your difficult circumstances, and being proud of how you handled it and worked through it.

Focus on what you can control. Stop concentrating on your situation, and on conditions and incidents that happened to you and that you have no control over. Instead, shift your focus on what you can control: your response, and your behavior.

Take joy in the small things. Blow bubbles with your kids. Play with a puppy. Get lost in the park. Goof off and have a good laugh. Life's treasures are the small pleasures. Give thanks for each small gift you receive!

Tips
Avoid negative people whose social interaction consists of comparing their lives and competing for who has it worse.

Volunteering to help those in need will help put things in perspective.

Warnings
No matter how positive and thankful you are, remember that life will always have its ups and downs. You're going to have to take the good with the bad.

The boys are here!

Taegan is four, and he's artistic, likes to make stuff. Also worked very hard digging a hole, rode on Joe's four-wheeler and played with Wayne's grandson a lot today. Shea is two, and he likes to play with cars and PlayDoh. He took a good nap. Jody has already taken them to a pro basketball game!

Jody drove all night, so he's sleeping today. When he wakes up we'll probably go to the Marina to eat.

I like Shannon a lot. She's very friendly.

Over the river and through the woods...

Look who Jody is bringing to our house tomorrow! Shannon's boys and his dogs! It'll be wild and fun! They're actually driving all night and will be here tomorrow morning.

Jody and Shannon and Todd and Ginger all have Razorback tickets for Friday, so Joe and I will get to babysit! I hope the boys will warm up to us ok!

Thanksgiving is a scary holiday!

Thanksgiving kinda scares me, too. It will be hard not to overeat when eating is the whole focus of the day.

I lost another pound!

Here I am in the blouse I couldn't wear 9.4 lbs. ago!

Amazing Scenery

Can you believe this is OUR CHURCH? I'm so blown away by Spring's creative vision and all the hard work she and Mark and Lisa and others did to make it happen! Too bad they'll have to paint over it for the kids' Christmas program.

The night was awesome in every way! I don't have the words to describe it.

Annette, Mark even made a video to run beforehand using IHOP music. You would have liked that!

I think we fed everyone in Johnson Co. who wanted a free meal--they just kept coming. At one point the line stretched nearly from the front doors all the way back to the kitchen. I think God multipied the food because we had enough! Of course some people left in the lull between the meal and the Night of Worship, but I guess that's ok since the church was packed out anyway!

I've always appreciated Mark, but never more than tonight. God was very good to send him to us. And Darrell did a great job with the invitation. FBC is extremely blessed. I'm so glad I'm part of it.

The time is NOW!!!!

Well, tonight's the night! It's gonna be WILD and WONDERFUL!! I love what Rick Warren says on Day 40 of our 40 Days of Community book:

*Worship is a festival, not a funeral!

*It's ironic that in our culture it is acceptable to get excited about anything except God. You can go to a sports event and scream your lungs out, jump up and down, cry, hug, and raise your hands in the air--and people will smile approvingly and call you a FAN. But if you show any joy, heartfelt emotion, or enthusiasm in worship, you're called a FANATIC.

*2 Sam. 6:5--"David and the whole house of Israel were CELEBRATING WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals." THAT MUST HAVE BEEN FUN AND NOISY.

*The Bible is full of celebrations--feasts and festivals and holidays.

*Rev. 5:11-13 tells us that heaven is going to be a giant celebration! Let's start practicing our celebration skills now, so our hearts will be ready for heaven!

I can't wait to celebrate with all my might tonight!

Spending the day with Emily

Today Emily and I are playing together. Here we are at Wal-Mart. We got a Dora PlayDoh kit and played with it. Now we are going to play with the toys she brought in her backpack. Then we will play computer games. Then we will go to the park. Then we will go to McDonald's for lunch, Then we will come home and read books and take a nap. Then we will go and pick up Samantha at school.

I like playing with Emily a WHOLE lot better than going to work!

The End.

(Emily helped me write this. Could you tell?)

Elijah's Mantle

If you can't read this, it says: Elijah went to heaven and all I got was this cloak.

The cloak (or mantle, as some translations call it) definitely fell on me at last year's Night of Worship. I wonder who else will get it this year...

Getting Ready for our Night of Worship

This is for my two readers, Annette and Irene.

I'm soooo sad you can't come Saturday night, Annette, but I'm glad Natalie is coming home!

Irene, I know you can't come Sat. night, but maybe you can come to one of the three services Sunday!

Isn't the scenery awesome!?! It was mostly Spring's doing. Lisa helped a lot, too. And Mark, of course. A few of the others of us did some of the painting, but they did the majority of the work. I'm asking God to really bless them.

Rainy Tiring Weird day

Today was weird. I said goodbye to some Mountainburg teachers I'd been working with for two years. (They were the ones who threw the surprise retirement party for me.) It was a odd sensation realizing I'd never see them again because they were part of what will soon be my "former life."

I took them and their principal to observe a Reading First classroom at Ft. Smith. It was near the mall so we ate lunch there. Marketplace has a new salad that's really good!

I had to leave the house at 6:15, and it has rained all day, and I don't have any church responsibilities tonight (had a 3-hour Night of Worship dress rehearsal last night) so tonight Joe and I are going to chill out and watch movies. I rented United 93, RV, and Memoirs of a Geisha.

I may take a nap before he gets home. (He's playing cards at the golf club, which is what they do on rainy days.) Mark told us last night to take care of ourselves.

Not only do we have to be at church at 3:00 Saturday to rehearse more, eat a Thanksgiving dinner, and sit in the worship center and pray before we sing at 6:00, but we're going to sing several of our songs in all three services the next day AND then we're having lunch together!

Like I said before, it's a busy week, but IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!

No pizza for me

No, I haven't been trying to download pizza, but I was reading something Jay Leno said today. He's half Italian and eats a lot of pizza.

He said: I've always liked that "moderation in all things" quote, but we don't seem to do that anymore. Everybody today is either dieting or they eat like gluttons. People either have a tiny salad or they have a double or triple burger with large fries and a giant Coke.

Well, I think I'm finally getting the "moderation" thing (which he probably doesn't know is a scripture)! In fact, someone on my Greek forum pointed out to me today that I've got an anniversary tomorrow. It was a month ago tomorrow that I quit the gluttonous extreme! To God be the glory!

Sonic and Potty

The only fun part of my day today was taking Samantha and Emily home from school/preschool. We stopped at Sonic, which is becoming our ritual. Emily had to listen to her favorite song from my Passion CD. It says "We're gonna party" but she sings (very loudly and many many times) "We're gonna go potty!"

Sandy found out tonight that she's having a grandbaby, too! There's nothing like kids to make a boring life fun!

Still losing!

I lost another 1.2 lbs. for a total of 8.6 lbs. in my first month of this journey! To God be the glory!

Food today: milk/toast, a little OJ and popcorn at church, apple, Healthy Choice frozen dinner for lunch, cereal/milk for supper, 6 grapes.

Goal: I want to lose 15 total by the end of next month, which is 6.4 more. The only way to do it is (1) no sugar throughout the holidays, and (2) lots of running. I want to be able to fit back into my jeans and wear them on New Year's Eve!

My Saturday

OK, I know it's not Easter, but isn't that FUNNY?! It's not Christmas either, but you wouldn't know it by all the stuff in the stores! I refuse to get in the Christmas spirit until after Thanksgiving!

Didn't have a chance to exercise today (went to Little Rock) but I didn't eat too much! Ginger and I went to Target after we finished at Mother's, and she got some new running clothes. Her next race is the Jingle Bell Run (everyone wears a bell on their shoes)!

Busy Days Are Ahead

The next 9 days may be the busiest of my entire life, at least my entire work and church life. I've got a lot going on both places in the same time frame. It's all good, just real busy.

So I have decided to cut down on my exercise for the next 9 days. I'm not going to cut it OUT because it's good stress relief, but I don't want my body to be as sore and tired as it's been since I started running. I plan to just walk about 30 minutes a day, like I just finished doing. I can get pretty compulsive about running, so it'll probably be good for me.

I still plan to watch my eating very carefully, but I'll have to be reconciled to the fact that my weight loss will slow down as a result of less exercise. That's ok. It's just temporary.

I'll probably still blog a bit every day, though. All my blogging buddies have tapered off to nearly not posting at all, but I can always find time to blog!

Food today: cereal, apple, a few peanuts, a little cottage cheese and pineapple, Sonic burger #2, some popcorn with Joe.

The cold front moved in, so I stopped and got Joe a chili dog and rented some movies to watch tonight. The Weather Man wasn't much, but Crash was wonderful!

Today was fun!

Nice day! Ran my Freedom Road early, then Rose and Julie and I helped Spring and Lisa paint scenery for N.O.W. awhile (Spring and Lisa worked on the set ALL DAY--God bless them!), went to lunch at El Parian with Mark, Lisa, Emily and Darrell (our new pastor) and read a Gary Paulson book to 4th graders.

Surprise Party!

I had a surprise retirement party today! The teachers at my workshop brought a cake, presents, and took me to lunch at Sula Mae's! They said they had a hard time convincing the bakery that the cake was NOT supposed to say "Happy TRAILS To you!"

I didn't tell them I wasn't eating sugar, and I did cut the cake, so I doubt if they even noticed that I wasn't eating any. (I confess that I did lick the knife after I cut it!) The cake was huge, so we had about half of it left. I dropped it off at Coal Hill at Toni's house. (Toni is a new woman in church that we're helping.)

Food today: milk/cereal, strawberries and grapes from the fruit tray I brought, Philly steak sandwich at Sula Mae's, Healthy Choice dinner.

STRESSED OUT TONIGHT

Quote I read today: Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."

I'm stressed out and cranky tonight about work (long whiny story but I'll spare you), but this time tomorrow the situation will be over, praise God! In fact, this time tomorrow I'll be reading stories and saying prayers with Samantha and Emily (my night to put them to bed while Lisa rehearses late with the praise team).

One good thing happened today: I cut 3 minutes and 15 seconds off my fastest Freedom Hill time!!!! That's HUGE!!!!

Food: protein shake, apple, tuna/crackers, bowl of cereal--NO STRESS EATING!!

A Dreary Monday

I thought this cartoon was funny. It doesn't have anything to do with anything, it's just funny.

The dreary colors on my post tonight reflect that today was a dreary day.

It was quite humid when I ran, but I still cut a few seconds off my best Freedom Hill time! Like 3 or 4.

Didn't eat ANY cereal today!

Breakfast--Toast and chocolate milk (made with unsweetened cocoa and artificial sweetener)

Lunch--Sam's lasagna somebody warmed up

Supper--chopped sirloin, sweet potato, part of roll, probably 2-4 strawberries

Only 5 more Mondays and I'll be FREE TO BE ME!!

MY MIRACLE!!

I lost another 2.4 pounds this week! That's a total of 7.4 in just three weeks!

And some people don't believe miracles happen anymore!


I had already decided to take a day off on exercise (after 6 days in a row), and it was a good thing because it rained all day!

Had a very emotional morning! Lisa sang "More Than You'll Ever Know" and dedicated it to Tracy and me for being her friends--isn't that sweet?! And I had to be in all three services with Sandy because she needed moral support as she gave her testimony. Then a 2 1/2 hr. choir rehearsal for our N.O.W. It was a busy day, but it was all good!

Food today was weird. Dry cereal and protein shake for breakfast, bowl of cereal for lunch and supper. That's all (unless I eat some grapes later). That's what I wanted. I'll get more variety tomorrow. At least the cereal is whole grain and I got my calcium!

It was a great day!

And Jesus Weeps Again

I've been reading about the fall of another Christian leader, Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

Can you imagine the pain his WIFE and FIVE children are going through tonight, not to mention the THOUSANDS of church members he has betrayed?

I've never heard the guy speak, don't know a thing about him, don't even belong to a similar church persuasion, yet I've been upset about this since I heard about it. I feel somewhat betrayed myself!

I DO know a little about the worship pastor who has to take over. He's soooo young to have to step up and deal with such a horrible situation. My prayers are with Ross Parsley.

Food and exercise

I had a hamburger from Wendy's today, a single with mustard and pickles. Dang, it was good!

Someone asked me today what I ate. Except for sugar, I eat anything I want to. I just don't eat out of boredom or stress or to celebrate anymore, and I don't eat more than I need.

Samantha and Emily wanted to go to Hardees like Joe and the guys this morning. I had a sausage biscuit and O.J. Later Mark mentioned eating lunch together but I declined because I couldn't imagine ever eating again after all that!

But when I got hungry I got the burger. For supper I just had cereal. It's what I wanted.

So it's a weird sort of a diet, but hopefully I'll keep losing. What will help is the 18 miles of wogging I put in this week.

Tomorrow I'll weigh. If I don't show a loss, I'll have to make some changes, but, hey, change is my middle name right now!

Food and exercise report

Joe and Samantha and Emily had Pizza Hut pizza and cinnamon sticks with ICING (I love that stuff!) for supper. I had a Healthy Choice meal and some frozen grapes and was perfectly content until I had to go back in the kitchen and throw out the last 4 cinnamon sticks. I wanted to eat one soooooo bad--I resisted, though! I love this grace thing God is doing! Breakfast was dry cereal (don't ask) and a protein shake. Lunch was tuna and crackers and an apple.

I ran (remember, I use that term loosely!) my Freedom Hill at work only 5 seconds slower than last time! I thought that was pretty good since it was my 5th straight day of running. I'm going for 6, and then I'll take Sunday off.

THE GIRLS IN OUR LIVES

TGIF! It's great having little girls in our lives! I'm picking up Samantha from school today, and she and Emily are spending the night with us! We'll probably let them decide where we'll eat supper, and they're bringing over a new video we can watch. They really make our boring lives fun!

THE BOYS ALMOST IN OUR LIVES

Here's a picture of Shannon's boys. Aren't they cute? Joe can't wait to get his hands on them! Wayne's two grandsons (who are about the same ages) are living next door at Wayne's while their house is being built, and I think seeing them so much is making Joe wish he had some little boys in his life, too. They can't come with Jody and Shannon on Thanksgiving, but we hope to meet them soon.

In Dr. Nick's words

I'm posting the original article I read by Dr. Nick which got me started on my weight-loss journey.

Five years. That's how long it's been since the day I straddled two medical-quality scales and discovered the monumental 467-pound challenge that lay ahead of me. Five years ago I turned my very existence in a completely new direction as I began my journey as a Health Steward.
I'd been living a life of profound hypocrisy. My personal health and public career as a physician didn't jibe. Daily I gave medical advice while constantly having to qualify my own overweight, out-of-shape body with the words "Do as I say, not as I do."


It's not that I didn't recognize that I was severely overweight—there were daily reminders. A 60-inch waist makes for a very limited wardrobe. I couldn't fit into an airplane seat, wear shorts, or climb a flight of stairs without becoming winded. I dreaded going to an unfamiliar restaurant, worrying I might not fit into the booth or chairs. I needed to make a change, but I kept making excuses and rationalizing the error of my ways. Until a bout with testicular cancer forced me to deal with the consequences of my poor health decisions.


Though the cancer was unrelated to my excess weight, it caused me to confront head-on my own mortality for the first time in my life. As a result, I suddenly saw my physical health as a God-given gift over which I was obliged to demonstrate good stewardship. When I recovered from the cancer, I decided I could no longer go on killing myself with an avalanche of calories and a lack of physical activity.


So in 2001 I stepped off the scales, took God's hand, and asked Him to lead the way. After much prayer, I decided to take an unconventional approach—I'd combine doing something good for my health (diet and exercise) with something I loved (baseball). It would be my "radical sabbatical."
Over the course of the next year, I traveled over 38,000 miles in an old RV, visiting every state in the continental U.S.A. and every Major League ballpark. I enjoyed over 110 games, but rather than feasting on junk foods, I stuck to an aggressive, medically supervised meal plan of about 600 calories a day. Through that diet, coupled with daily exercise, I lost 270 pounds.


Today, exercise and healthy eating are a major part of my life. I'm enjoying focusing on my personal fitness and am encouraged by the slow but steady improvement in my body's shape and composition. Whatever pleasure I lost from overeating has been replaced many times over by the blessings and opportunities that result from my transformation. The old saying really is true: "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels."


In my book, My Big Fat Greek Diet, I chronicle my journey and share some key lessons God taught me. The concept of Health Stewardship is simple, yet profound. As a physician, I believe most of us already know what we should do. What we need is the meaningful support, encouragement, and inspiration to do it. It's my hope and prayer that the following three pillars will start you on the path to doing what you already know is necessary.

3 Pillars of a Health Steward

Pillar 1: Change the way you see before you change the way you look.

Key Verse: "Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside … and then the outside will also be clean" (Matt. 23:26).

God created our bodies and He cares how we treat them. We need to view obesity and health from a new perspective. Obesity is not just a physical problem; it's a spiritual problem that has physical effects. Jesus' warning to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 is helpful here. Jesus was upset that the Pharisees were focusing on an external set of rules and regulations rather than people's hearts. But His teaching also applies to obesity and other matters of physical health.
If you focus on your spirit, it will affect your body. Obesity is just the warning light that something is wrong inside the engine. You don't fix the problem by working on the warning light; you fix it by working on the engine. The main reason diets fail is because they focus on the outside (the effect) and not on the inside (the cause).

Begin your permanent weight loss journey by changing the way you see. Change your looks by changing your outlook. Recognize that your physical health is a spiritual issue.

Pillar 2: Slash your calories by eating for the right reasons.

Key Verse: "Life is more than food" (Luke 12:23).

Why we eat is more important than what we eat. That's a radical idea, a paradigm shift in gaining and maintaining our personal health. Bookstores are full of books about what we should or shouldn't eat. So why do people keep gaining weight and losing their health? Those who lose weight by merely focusing on what they eat usually gain it back. Traditional diets don't work because their focus is the stomach. For most of us who have issues with weight, the more important focus is our mind and heart.

Have you ever noticed that fit people eat the foods all the diet books say you shouldn't? So what's up with that? Perhaps it's because, in most cases, fit people eat for different reasons than fat people do. Fit people focus on why they eat. Fat people focus on what they eat. Fit people eat to fill their stomachs. Fat people eat to fill their souls. Fit people eat to live. Fat people live to eat.
Learning why and when to eat, and how to stop eating at the right time, is the key. God never intended for us to use food to replace the role He longs to have in our life. As Jesus said, "Life is more than food." Food is meant for nutrition, not for companionship or stress reduction. Most of us who struggle with weight do so because we use food in a way God never intended.


Give both your worries and eating habits to God. When you eat, ask: Why am I eating? Is my stomach hungry or is my soul empty? If it's your stomach, eat. If it's your soul, seek support and pray. As 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you."

Pillar 3: Fill your tank with the right amount of the right foods.

Key Verse: "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body" (1 Cor. 6:12-13).

God has designed food for our physical nourishment. It's to be fuel for our bodies. Even though why and how you eat are more important, what you eat still matters.
When the Babylonians captured Daniel, he asked if he and his friends could eat vegetables rather than the rich food served in the palace. The Bible says, "At the end of ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food" (Dan. 1:15). What Daniel ate made a difference.

You can eat anything, but that doesn't mean you should eat anything. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable." Just because you're allowed to eat anything doesn't mean that it's good for your body to do so.

Ask God to help you to not be mastered by foods that are high in fat and sugar and low in nutritional value. Follow Daniel's example of honoring God by eating the right portions of healthy foods. Be deliberate about your food choices. The kind of behavior that comes naturally to many thin people needs to be learned by those of us who struggle with food issues.

Just getting started

In my book, I share four other Pillars to weight loss and maintenance, but beginning with the above three will pave the way for a successful journey. Believe me, I'm not sharing these principles because I want folks to think I'm an amazing guy who accomplished an amazing thing. My goal is to communicate the amazing things that God can do in the mind, the heart, and even the body, when we're completely dependent on Him.

Now, let's get moving.

Early Morning Running

Ahh, early morning running! I agree with Ginger about that---it feels so good to know that whatever else happens today, you've already accomplished something important and don't have to worry about fitting a run into a busy schedule later in the day! I wogged my "Freedom Road" (my road at home, as opposed to my "Freedom Hill" at work) in 50:36 (which was a little faster than last time)!

Here's something satirical I got from Larknews last night that cracked me up:

MINOT, N.D. — Jack Crocker, a beer-loving machinist and "part-time Christian," finally agreed to read Proverbs with wife Reanna. He's glad he did. "I'm a Proverbs 31 husband all right," says Jack, then quotes Proverbs 31:6-7: "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more."

"That's my permission to crack open a cold one," Jack says, having a Coors after dinner. But Reanna, a new church member, is pushing Jack hard to stop drinking. She insists he is neither "perishing" nor "in anguish." But Jack researched the Bible on the Internet and found 2 Corinthians 4:16 and 5:2 which say, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day," and "Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling."

"Everyone is perishing and in anguish," Jack says. "Until we're delivered from these bodies, the Bible says to drink up."

As part of the escalating family tension he created a "Proverbs 31" category on their weekly budget and listed "beer" under it. He also wants to start a Proverbs 31 Men's Group with his buddies. "We're trying to find where the Bible talks about buffalo wings," he says.

OK, that didn't have anything to do with anything, I just thought it was funny!

Food today:

Yogurt before running/cereal afterwards

Grilled chicken/sweet potato at Western Sizzlin

7 saltines snack at 4:00

More grilled chicken/brown rice/steamed veggies for supper

Today I read in Hebrews about "making every effort to enter into rest" and I thought, "Hey, I can do that when I retire NEXT MONTH!"

More about pumpkins!

I just read this story and thought it was cool!

BOONE, Colorado (AP) -- Nobody knows who, but someone with a lot of Halloween spirit decorated this small southern Colorado town with hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins. Residents woke up Tuesday to find virtually every surface covered with the orange holiday icons.

There were pumpkins left on front porches and at front gates, on the front and back steps of a church and all along the boundary of the city park. Larry Taylor said there weren't any pumpkins when he walked his dogs at about 10 p.m. on Monday in the town of about 330 residents, 110 miles southeast of Denver. But by the time Postmaster Nancy Pennington drove to work at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, they were everywhere. At Boone Grocery and Hardware, pumpkins were placed on top of the concrete parking stops out front. "It's kinda cool," said employee Bill Coyle. "It's kinda unique. They're everywhere."

Our Halloween wasn't much, although Joe's brother's little grandsons, a Ninja turtle and a Razorback football player, came to trick-or-treat.

Jody said he and Shannon took her boys AND his Golden Retriever and German shepherd trick-or-treating! He said it was fun!

Today I get to start saying, "I'm retiring NEXT MONTH!" Woohoo!

Exercise: Wogged (walked and jogged) my hill in 51:54, which was a new PR (personal record). At the end I was running to songs with the words "I am free" and "Freedom reigns in this place," and I decided to rename my work hill "Freedom Hill."

Food: milk/cereal, apple, a few peanuts (was VERY hungry a.m. but the peanuts helped); pineapple and cottage cheese for lunch, spaghetti for supper.