A Change In Life Habits

The Mrs. and I are making some lifestyle changes with our eating habits.  Since I started serving as a pastor again, my weight has been steadily climbing - again.   I have always enjoyed eating - a lot!  When I was growing up on the farm, I was as skinny as a rail.  Hard work and the high metabolism of a growing teenage boy prevented any fat from attaching itself to my body.  But as I got older, things began to change.

After marrying the Mrs., my weight slowly began to climb.  Some blessings seems to carry a curse with them.  I married a great cook, but that meant I began eating better and eating more.  The result was a slow, but steady weight gain.  I was able to keep most of the weight off through light exercise, like playing church softball, but still it was creeping up.  When the Mrs. was pregnant with our first son, she craved chocolate malts which caused me to experience significant "sympathy" weight gains.  Still, I was keeping my weight below 190 lbs., so I wasn't overly concerned.

After we moved to Sioux City, I hit the magical age of 30 and found my weight was getting harder to manage.  I added a bicycling commute to work to get the exercise I needed, and was still able to keep my weight down.  But, when I started serving as the church planter for a new church start in Kingsley, my time to exercise slipped away and the pounds starting slipping on.

By the time we moved to Rochester, my weight was officially a problem.  I went on a diet and lost a lot of weight, and started biking again to keep it off.  Even with that, I was gaining some weight back over the winter - a little at a time.  When I started serving as the pastor of Viola Bible Church, the biking slowed significantly and my weight ballooned again.

So, here I am with a problem and, after the Mrs. had a health scare, a new motivation to get the weight off and keep it off.  Her doctor recommended she start following the GI Diet (glycemic index).  So we both adopted that diet as our new eating lifestyle.  The whole idea of the GI Diet is to stabilize the rate that sugar is entering the bloodstream.  Some foods digest quicker than others and cause a spike in your blood sugars shortly after eating.  Those are naughty foods and we were told to avoid them.  Some digest slowly and are slowly releasing sugar into the blood stream.  Those are nice foods and we can have lots of them.

To make a long story short, the diet is working, the pounds are coming off and I am feeling better about where our health is headed.  And I don't feel hungry all the time.  I haven't been eating some of my favorite foods, but I really haven't missed them.  The Mrs. is really a good cook and can make almost anything taste good.  Except broccoli, which is categorized as a noxious weed. 

I needed some discipline in my eating habits, and now I am motivated and have been given the right instructions to do that.  Our souls need discipline too.  We need to meditate on the Bible and pray every day so we can hear God talk to us.  It is for our own good, but it is so easy to grow lax in that discipline and just coast along. 

My memory verse this past week has been Psalm 5:3, "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."  As I have worked at memorizing this verse, I have been blessed by it.  First, the psalmist is committing himself to pray every morning to God.  He is showing good discipline!  But then he adds the benefit - he waits in expectation.  He truly expects God to answer his prayers!  Why shouldn't he think that?  Jesus promised in Mark 11:24 that we could ask for anything and know that He will answer our prayer!  That doesn't mean that we will receive anything we ask for; the Bible clearly teaches that unconfessed sin can hinder our prayers.  Barring that, when we are earnestly seeking God's will on an issue, we can "wait in expectation" for an answer. 

Let's not pray and wonder if God will answer it.  Let's pray and ask God to reveal His perfect plan for us and "wait in expectation" for the answer!

Power of Prayer

January 5, 2010 is a day I will never forget.  It started like every other day, but it shook my world.  When I came home from work, we were planning on having our weekly "family night."  This is a tradition we started when the boys were pretty young.  One person in the family gets to pick where we eat dinner and pick a fun activity for the family to enjoy.  While we were out, the Mrs. asked me to stop at Walmart and pick up some aspirin. 

We came home and played a new game that the Mrs. had received for Christmas - Bananagrams.  After the game, the Mrs. told me she was feeling "pressure" in her chest.  I knew that was a symptom of a heart attack, but I went to the computer and checked it on MayoClinic.com.  It recommended going to the Emergency Room.  I came back upstairs and the Mrs. was getting dressed to go out.  She had come to the same conclusion and off we went. 

When she explained her symptoms to the desk clerk, they immediately took her to the critical care area and began running tests.  Shortly they mentioned the two words that we didn't want to hear, nor really expected to hear - "heart attack."  She really wasn't even in pain - just this pressure in her chest.  For the next 4 hours, the doctors worked on her.  She received nitroglycerin to open her blood vessels, they gave her other medications to lower her blood pressure and reduce her heart rate.  Finally she was resting in a hospital bed; it was late, so I headed home.  Sleep came, but it was far from restful.

I had to get up early the next morning to get Mr. Youngster off to school.  I told him what was happening and told him I would keep him notified of any news.  He left for school and I picked up the phone to call two of my closest prayer partners.  They were both out of town and in a meeting - the same meeting.  They prayed with me and I headed back to the hospital.  January 6th was a day of tests as they worked to figure out why the Mrs. had a heart attack - an EKG and an angiogram were the tests de jour.  I continually texted my prayer partners as we learned each new piece of info.  The EKG showed where the damage was, but the angiogram showed absolutely no problems.  According to the doctor, her arteries were "beautifully wide and clear."  They had fully expected to find blockage in the artery where the EKG had shown the damage, but there was nothing.

More text messages went out, phone calls were made to family, and we were starting to breathe a little easier.  Our prayer request went out to more people - pastors, church members, and fellow Baptists across Minnesota and Wisconsin.  The Mrs. finally was allowed to eat supper and she was starting to get some real rest. 

The next day brought an MRI on her heart.  We were assured that the MRI would tell us why she had the heart attack.  The doctor explained that blocked arteries are not the only cause of a heart attack, the attack could be brought on by a blood clot or a constricted artery.  The MRI would show where that had happened.  The MRI results came back with a better picture of the damage, but nothing to indicate why it happened.  I texted the good news back to my prayer partners.

Now the Mrs. and I are making major lifestyle changes.  Our primary care physician has placed us on a diet that is to be a permanent change of eating habits.  The Mrs. is now exercising and my bike is begging me to start riding when the weather warms up.

I have never experienced anything as scary as what I experienced on Jan. 5.  To look down at my beloved Mrs. and know there is nothing I can do for her but hold her hand and pray is a scary feeling.  I can't begin to explain the emotions I felt.  I went from great fear one minute to great joy when we received the good news from the angiogram.  I will never take the Mrs. for granted again.  She is the greatest gift that God has ever given me.

James 5:16 tells us "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."  We still don't know what caused the heart attack.  I know that I had two righteous men praying for the Mrs.  Maybe God heard their prayers and healed her before the doctors found the problem.  Maybe the doctors just never found the problem.  Either way, I know the prayers of those two men helped me and the Mrs. tremendously through the whole ordeal.  I know prayer works and I know I need to spend more time with the One who showers blessings down on me and the Mrs.  I don't plan to take God for granted anymore either.  God is good - all the time.

Choosing A Team

My favorite NFL team is the Kansas City Chiefs.  Since I was born and raised in northwest Missouri, you might think it was quite natural to follow them, but that really wasn't the case.  I never followed the NFL during my formative childhood years.  I loved baseball (still do!) and I enjoyed following the Missouri Tigers in college football and basketball.  But, the NFL never caught my attention until late 1989.

I moved to Sioux City, Iowa in December of 1988.  When football season came in 1989, I discovered I was a square peg in a round hole.  Everyone I hung around with loved the NFL.  I ate countless lunches that Fall in total silence because I had no idea what was going on in the NFL.  Finally, I decided to start following this sport so I would know what everyone was talking about.  It's tough to follow a sport without any team loyalties, so I started the process of picking a team.

You would think I would have selected the Chiefs to start with, but that wasn't the case.  I had a specific set of criteria I used to select my team.  First, I wanted to follow a team that no one else I knew followed - that way I could argue with everyone!  Second, I wanted to follow a team in the Midwest so I could watch them on TV and maybe in person.  Third, they needed to have some moral values.  Armed with this information, I settled on... the Cincinnati Bengals!

I know what you are thinking - you can understand how they filled the first two criteria, but what about the third?  Sam Wyche was the coach of the Bengals that year and he did a couple of things that caught my attention.  He refused to allow female reporters into the locker room - which made sense to me.  The league disagreed with him, though, and made him scratch that rule.  The second action by Coach Wyche was a classic!

The Bengals were playing against Cleveland at home.  The officials made a call that the rowdy home crowd did not appreciate.  They began booing loudly and throwing things onto the field.  The officials asked Coach Wyche to tell the crowd to stop throwing things on the field.  He took the microphone on the sidelines and stepped out onto the field.  He pleaded with the crowd to stop throwing things on the field, because "you live in Cincinnati, not Cleveland!"  I loved it (there is a major rivalry between those two teams) - but the officials didn't and gave him a "sportsmanship" penalty.

The day I decided to be a Bengals fan, I went home from work, putzed around a bit, and flipped on the TV.  There was a football game on and the Bengals were on!  I sat down and began rooting for my beloved Bengals when the Mrs. walked into the room.  She saw me watching the game and questioned what I was doing.  She noted that I didn't like pro football and I replied, "I love pro football, and the Bengals are my favorite team."  She asked me, "Since when?" - to which I replied, "Since this afternoon!"  She rolled her eyes and walked away.

As an FYI, after the Bengals served as the NFL's doormat for many long and depressing years.  I finally gave up on them and switched to the Chiefs.  I have no plans to switch again, no matter how bad they are playing.

Choosing a football team is not a major choice for most of us.  And, if we get disappointed in the team we choose, we can switch loyalties without offending too many people.  However, choosing to follow Jesus Christ is a major decision that we should never vacillate on.  God audibly affirmed Jesus when He said, "This is My Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."  God gave us the gift of His Son so that we might have eternal life.  1 John 5:11-12 clearly says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."  To refuse to accept the gift of Jesus is to choose everlasting death over eternal life.  Is that really what we want to do?  Let's become great fans of Jesus, accept the gift of salvation He offers us, and the promise of eternal life is ours!

Unexpected Blessings

We are fortunate to have a Culver's just about a quarter-mile southeast of our house.  For the nearly ten years we have lived in our house, we have enjoyed meals at Culver's.  Our oldest son worked there while he was in high school, which was a great job - we got a family discount!  It has also become a tradition for the family to eat there after church on Sunday nights with some friends from church.

If you have never been to Culver's, I will do my best to describe it.  It looks like a fast-food restaurant, but it doesn't quite fit that description.  Their hamburgers are excellent and made-to-order - no warming tray for precooked sandwiches .  Mr. Interface, one of the Microsoft programmers I work with, insists on eating there every time he comes to Rochester - he loves their Butterburgers!  They are quite good...

They also have frozen custard - which is ice cream on steroids!  They post their "Flavor of the Day" on their sign along the highway, and I always check the sign.  You just can't drive by some flavors!  I like all the flavors except the ones with coconut in them.  I don't understand why you would ruin perfectly good ice cream by putting coconut in it. 

This past Sunday found me at Culver's with my good friends, Mr. and Mrs. Musical Lovers and their youngest son.  The Mrs. and Mr. Youngster had eaten earlier, so I was the only one there from my family.  We had finished eating and were sitting around joking and laughing (as usual) when a Culver's employee approached our table.  In his hands were two pumpkin-pecan Concrete Mixer malts.  He asked if we would like to have them - free of charge!  Naturally, I agreed.  It turns out that Mr. Musical Lover doesn't like pumpkin, so his wife and I enjoyed the Concrete Mixers.  Culver's wasn't through with us though, soon another employee walked up with a caramel cashew sundae and offered it to Mr. Musical Lover.  He gladly accepted it.  We were all three in heaven as we enjoyed our free and unexpected desserts!  I believe the freebies were given to us (good customers) because it was their 10th anniversary of the restaurant.  The Mrs. and Mr. Youngster chose a bad night to eat early...

In Malachi 3:10, God offers us a challenge, "Bring the whole tithe (10%) into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."  I have heard many people say they can't afford to give a tithe to the church.  From personal experience, I found that isn't true.  The Mrs. and I have been tithing from the day we were married.  Yes, there were times that money was extremely tight and giving a tithe to God was an act of faith.  But we quickly found that God will take care of us when we trust Him.  And this verse is 100% true - He will bless you abundantly more than you can ever imagine when you trust Him with the tithe.  I was excited to receive the unexpected blessing of a pumpkin-pecan Concrete Mixer from Culver's the other night, but it pales in comparison to the unexpected blessings God has poured out in my life!

Pigskin Designs

Mr. Youngster and I have been enjoying the unseasonably warm (for Minnesota) November temperatures by tossing the pigskin around.  Football is really not my sport - I love baseball.  I love the pop of a baseball when it hits the glove.  I love the crack of the bat.  The baseball was made to be thrown.  Even a young child can throw a baseball with pretty good accuracy. 

Whoever designed the football was a sadist.  I know it can be thrown accurately for long distances - I have seen it happen on TV.  But the football was not designed to be thrown.  It's shape is all wrong for throwing.  I think it was designed to bounce erratically on the ground to drive the players nuts.  When I throw the football, I don't get a nice, tight spiral.  I can usually hit Mr. Youngster at the numbers, but it rarely is going to have a nice spiral.  More often than not it resembles a wounded duck.

Mr. Youngster, on the other hand, can throw the football with a spiral most of the time.  However, he is sadly confused.  He apparently thinks I walk on my hands, because his tosses always come right at my feet!  It doesn't matter if he is standing close to me or 30 yards away, it always comes right to my feet.  I am now nursing a sore pinky finger on my right hand because I tried to reach down and catch one of his passes.  It hit the ground and took a typical football bounce (who knows where it is going) and jammed my pinky finger.

We often question the design of many items we buy; we have all experienced the frustration of poorly designed products.  I have spent hundreds of dollars fixing cars that were poorly designed.  I have thrown away toys days after Christmas because they couldn't stand up to child's play.  But God's designs are perfect in every case.  As we look through the creation story at the beginning of Genesis, we repeatedly read the phrase "it was good."  When He created Adam and Eve, the phrase changed to "it was very good."  While we may not like certain features of our bodies, God made us so we must be "very good."  We don't have to look like a Hollywood movie star to be a star in God's eyes.  We just need to use the talents and gifts He gave us to fulfill the purpose He designed us for and we will be perfectly satisfied with our lives.