A pain in my behind (393.0 pounds)

Another exciting weigh-in this week.  After being excited and delighted at being under 400 pounds last week, I was happy to step on the scales and see another 4 pound weight loss this week.  I am so very thankful to the Lord that in just 7 weeks He has let me lose 42 pounds!

A close friend of mine was in town this weekend and it was great to spend time with him.  I had a chance to talk to him about the places on my body that I was losing mass and you may find it interesting that I am losing the most mass in the following places:  I have a pit at the top of my belly almost big enough to put my fist in, I am losing weight in my head and I am also losing weight in my backside.  Two of the three areas I have been losing weight have been neat to experience (head and belly) but the loss in my backside while exciting has also come with challenges.  First of all, I am now having to cinch my belt so tight that sometimes breathing is a chore!  The second challenge is that with some additional padding going away, it is becoming more painful to sit.  With this in mind, I had an interesting perspective yesterday at church when our pastor approached the theme of change.  By and large, people are adverse to change even when it benefits them.  People get used to routines and when they are told of impending change, their defenses are automatically heightened.  Fact is however, that the body of Christ can be just like my weight ballooning out of control because of doing the "same old thing."  Next thing you know you look back at years gone by and realize that you are not quite as healthy as you believed you were, but you never realized it because it happened over a span of years and not days.  At that point just as in my diet we get to a point where we recognize that a change is vital to live a healthy life.  Let me be very clear about one thing, my weight is very unhealthy but my church is not.  Also, just as I have to take guidance in diet from the doctors and medical journals, so we must take guidance with regards to change in the Body of Christ from our pastor(s) in direct accordance to the will of God Almighty through His Word.  If there is any change that is contrary to the Word of God we are called to stand in direct opposition of it, otherwise just like my diet, we are to embrace it as an encouragement to the body.

Yes, with my diet my change has brought about a pain in my behind.  Often times changes as a whole can be seen as a pain in the behind, but in the long run they are very beneficial for life in our body.