I am glad I have gone through this before (370.0 pounds)

It is during the weeks that you do nearly everything right and still lose very little weight when you have to sit back and say "I am glad I have gone through this before."  Yes, as you can see, I lost only .6 pounds this week, but I am more healthy this week than I was last week.  This week I took my normal weekly tennis lesson, but I also started lifting weights (just a little bit) and I bought a bike and took my first of many rides with my daughters "around our block" yesterday (4 miles was easier than I thought it would be.)  So, knowing that I am doing this to be healthier and not just to achieve a numeric weight loss goal, I am content (even though I was very much looking forward to being out of the 370's this week.)

My new wheels.

This week, the week of Easter I was able to really dwell and meditate on that verse that I referred to in my very first blog post.  John 15:13 says "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  When I was really praying and thanking the Lord for His goodness and love, a verse came to me that I leaned so long ago in AWANA.  1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 says "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures"  Friends, The Lord God loves you and desires to have a relationship with you.  If you have never confessed that you are a sinner and asked him to save you from your sin, I would love to talk to you more about that today, or any day (but preferably today!)

O Happy Day! (370.6 pounds)

When calls come in the middle of the night your mind has a way of always thinking the worst and this was certainly the case for me when my phone rang at 2:49 this morning.  I answered the phone to the greeting from my dear friend Jon LeVan telling me that his wife Kristin, who is in the midst of a high risk pregnancy had been scheduled for an immediate C-section due to some circumstances.  I wish you could all know Jon because he is a great man and a man of great faith.  I could tell though by hearing my friends familiar voice that Jon was weary and his faith was shaken.  You see, Jon and Kristin already have a child, a son Joshua Ezekiel.  Joshua Ezekiel LeVan was born February 28, 2010 after being diagnosed with Potter's Syndrome.  Joshua lived one short hour before he his short, yet very impacting life was over.  Living life with Jon and Kristin I have seen a great and Godly example of parents who trust in the Lord, but also ask the hard questions.  I have seen parents whose love is overwhelming for their child.  I have seen friends who are real and authentic.  So this morning when I got the call just before 3 a.m. saying they were going to deliver my  dear friends little baby girl at 34 weeks I went in to emergency mode.  I prayed broken prayers to the Lord for the health of the baby and the mother because I just didn't know how much more my friends could take.  I got to the hospital  at 3:40 am and upon arriving I asked the first hospital employee that I saw how my friends were.  She told me that she could not tell me how they were doing, but that they had a baby at 3:34 a.m.  Friends, O HAPPY DAY... I am so very excited to tell you that Evelyn Grace LeVan was born at 34 weeks today 4/18/2011.  She weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces and is currently in the NICU as a preventative measure until her little lungs develop a bit more.  On my way home from the hospital I cried great big tears of joy for my dear friends and for answered prayer.

I have been convicted throughout the day today though.  God did answer prayer in the birth of Evelyn Grace, but he also most certainly answered prayers in the life of Joshua Ezekiel.  We have all heard people say that God is good, all the time but when the rubber meets the road the trials are often times by fire.  Those trial are talked about in 1 Peter 4:12 -13 where the Bible says  "Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers in Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."  So today we celebrate answered prayer with exceeding joy, not only for little Evelyn, but also her big brother Joshua and for amazing friends like Jon and Kristin.

This week was another great week in weight loss.  With a loss this week of 4.4 pounds I weighed in at 370.6 pounds.  It is a huge blessing to see and feel God do a miracle in your own body, take my word for it!

Letting go of a heavy burden (375.0 pounds)

Some of the most profound things I have ever learned have been from my children.  Things like unconditional love and never ending mercy are both given to me by my children and received by my children from me.  I learned a very interesting life lesson a while back while reading a book to my daughters called More Stories from Grandmas Attic that has added freedom to my life.  The author was sharing an anecdote about her grandmother growing up.  Grandma had an adversary at school that she really let get under her skin.  Grandma was talking to her mother about this girl at school one night lamenting about this girl when her mother told her a wonderful truth.  "Great Grandma" told her that if she really wants to rid her heart of bitterness towards her enemy she needs to start praying for her.  She surmised that you could not have hatred in your heart for someone that you were actively praying for.  That little quip hit me like a 2X4 right smack dab between the eyes.  There is not anyone in my life that I hate, but sad to say there are a couple of people in my life that I have to pray very hard for not to hold a grudge against.  It has been awesome though since that day praying for those few people and seeing how God has taken my ugliness and improved on it.  I am still far from perfect, but I am getting better and it is like letting go of a heavy burden.

Another great weigh in this week.  I lost 5.4 pounds bringing me to a 60 pound loss on the button in just 10 weeks.  There is no doubt in my mind that God is doing a great work in my life and in my body.

I almost cried! (380.4 pounds... yeah you read it right!)

My main focus this week has been a verse that I may have recited growing up more than any other verse and that verse is 1 Corinthians 10:31 and it says "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."  I know that I am doing this diet to make myself more healthy, but moreover I need to be doing it to the glory of God almighty.  So, this week I have worked really hard on being content.  After gaining weight last week I really have been focused on making sure that I am doing the right things because they are the right things and not because it is really that important how they reflect on the scales.  When I went in to weigh in this morning I really didn't know what to expect, but one thing I did not expect was to lose the 13.4 pounds I lost.  In fact I was so caught off guard I almost cried! 

A lot of you know that I passed my first goal threshold just a few weeks ago when I finally got under the 400 lb. mark.  This week I have passed my second goal threshold.  In 2007 I lost some weight in preparation for getting some life insurance and when I got the life insurance I weighed in at 385 lbs.  I am proud to say friends that I now weigh less than I have in over 4 years!  55 pounds lost in 9 weeks, God is so very good!