2 posts tagged “god”

I have heard that too many changes all at once can be stressful.  In the last couple of weeks we have experienced a lot of changes as a family.  We recently moved from a trailer that we lived in for 7 years and in order to move from there into our new place we had to make some tough decisions and sacrifices.   One of the hardest decisions was to downsize the pet farm.  At that time we had two dogs, a cat, a bird, two puppies and a kitten.   We are now down to Angel the lab and Peaches the bird.  It was very difficult for us to say good bye to our beloved pets but the new residence only allows for us to have two pets and they also put a very steep pet deposit in place which made it necessary to severely reduce the number of pets we took with us. 

The other thing that was stressful for the teens was to uproot from their schools at Sedgefield and Goose Creek High School and make the move away from their friends into new schools at Westview and Stratford High School.   I am sure that Justin and Kristina will find new friends eventually but I am sure that they sorely miss their friends from the other schools.  I know that Kristina keeps in contact with several of her friends in person as well as through MySpace and e-mail.  

I drove in to work early this morning and it is a dreary rainy dark looking day.  It was good to go to bed around 10:30 pm last night because it enabled me to wake up at 6 am and get an early start on my day.  That includes driving from Goose Creek to Kiawah Island which usually takes about an hour depending on traffic.  The earlier I start out the easier the traffic is which makes my morning commute much more bearable.  Speaking of change my new job as an I.T. manager for a resort rental company has been quite stressful.  I found myself walking into somewhat of a mess and I had to hit the ground running with little to no training from the previous I.T. person that was here before me.  When I arrived that person had been gone for two weeks and I had to depend on feedback from the technology provider company that was being utilized until my arrival.  When I arrived here there was a back log of workstation problems that took me about 4 weeks to resolve. 

On my drive in this morning I prayed for my family and my church, my nation and I am quite thankful for many things.  I am thankful for Katy and the children.  I am thankful that God has blessed me with a family who loves me and friends like you who care about me.  I am thankful that I live in America and that I can enjoy the freedom of speech and religion and the right to vote for my leaders.  I understand that our system is probably messed up beyond all measure however I also know as a naturalized citizen that if it were not for my adoption parents I would have never made it here.  I also realize that no matter how screwed up the American form of government is or how many crooked politicians may be in office it is a far cry better than living in some socialist or communist country where we would not have any freedoms that we take for granted.   

I am thankful that each American can go out and vote tomorrow during the presidential election.  If you are an American I would encourage you to do what a lot of other citizens in other countries can not do, go VOTE.  If you feel hopeless, and that your vote does not count then please know that you are probably not alone.  All you can do is educate yourself the best you can and make the best decision you can. There are websites that are dedicated to providing us with a comparison of each presidential candidate and where they stand on the issues.

Your decision to vote will enable the democratic system to work the way it is supposed to work.  For the people and by the people means that we vote people into office that we think will best represent us in our government.  If you do not vote then you have robbed yourself of a privilege that you have as a citizen and you will not be able to complain about who makes it in office.  The bottom line is this, your vote counts.  

I am thankful this morning that I can go to church on Sunday and that my family and I can take part in open praise and worship.   I am also thankful that other folks like you have the right to go worship God or not worship God.  That is what is great about our country.  We do not have to worry about our government forcing us to worship one particular religion nor do we have to worry about them throwing us in jail just because we do chose to worship.  

I am thankful that I am employed this morning.  There are a lot of folks out there that are being laid off or are having a very difficult time finding gainful employment.  Our economy is struggling at this time and businesses and people alike are learning how to live more frugally than before.  I am hopeful that our government leaders will be able to make the right decisions and the tough decisions that will enable our economy and citizens to get back on the right track.

I am hopeful that our government leaders will realize that downsizing and making budgetary cuts is not just limited to the poor and middle class Americans.  All of us need to make some sacrifices for the greater good of all. 

I am thankful for technology and that I can use it to write these words and share them with you.  If it were not for the advantages of technology and the Internet or World Wide Web I would not be able to share my thoughts with you nor would I be able to know all of you, my friends and fellow cyber citizens.  

I blew it big time with my calories yesterday coming in at 2300+    The only thing that saved my keister is that I burned 2450 calories with walking , climbing five flights of stairs twice at work and two hours of bowling.  I probably burned more than that with my other daily activities but I dont feel like micro managing every single activity like typing, reading etc. 

I want to keep my calories around 1800 a day.  Some days I get close but it is usually on the MORE than that side of the number line.  I need to get better at reducing how much I eat at night.  I ate a tuna sandwich last night at the bowling alley because I was starved.  Then when I got hom the family had ordered pizza so I warmed up two pieces of pizza and had a cinnamon stick.  Then before I went to bed I had some cereal. 

I guess I just rationalized the fact that I had gotten a lot of exercise on that day and it was ok to blow it a little bit.  The problem with that justification is that I am not going to lose weight by doing that.  I must eat less, eat right things and exercise more.  Repeatr after me.  I must

Eat less

Eat the right things

Exercise more

Msriff, I saw what you said and I am honored to be your friend and I will do whatever I can to encourage you.    The truth of the matter is that we all need encouragement.  We need to be willing to be transparent with one another and be honest about what is going on.  Amen ? 

We need to explore why it is we make bad life choices with regards to over eating etc.  Some of us are emotional eaters and some of us (like me) have gotten where we are because we have made some terrible choices with regards to exercise and eating choices and now we are where we are at. 

My choice in 2008 is to do whatever it takes to make the right choices so that I can lose weight.  My goal is one lb per week.  I think that goal is quite reasonable and I fully expect to lose more than that every week.  My expectation is 1 lb and if more than that comes off then praise God. 

One of the ways that we can support one another is by communicating BEFORE we blow it and stick the wrong thing in our mouth or get trapped by our emotions which can cause us to get down in the dumps and give up.  Trust me when I say that I understand what it is to get depressed about life's circumstances.  I have my days when I think about all the negative crap in my life and Just want to quit and say to HE** with all of it. 

The only thing that bails me out of that mindset is my belief that God is real and that my faith in Him to keep his promises in His word gives me the HOPE I need to go forward.  When the going gets tough I call out to Him and I say Abba father , please forgive me for my gluttony (and other sins or failurs) and help me to turn over the junk to you (He is more able to handle it than I) and give me the strength to carry on. 

If you dont have that type of faith then you will be grasping at what the world has to offer and you will find yourself coming up short more times than not.  If you are depending upon your own self determination and discipline and nothing else then you are going to be dissappointed.  If you are thinking you can do this alone without reaching out to others then you will be in trouble. 

Keep on keeping on and know that God loves you no matter how fat or skinny you are or perceive yourself to be.  Lets all make the right choices with regards to life today with the idea that we want to be healthier in 2008. 

Take care