I have faith and I share that faith from time to time. If you're not into it, that's fine - I respect that. Faith has gotten me through some pretty rough patches in my life. Faith has grown me as I continue to realize that I cannot do it all myself. And yet after seeing what faith can do time & time again I find myself oftentimes running right to the negative when problems arise. Last night was not exception except that I changed my attitude when I realized what I was doing.
Yesterday was a scorcher (well a scorcher in this neck of the woods) for May. We topped out at 91 degrees with I thought 60% humidity, which makes the hot temperatures feel even hotter. Taking a walk for over an hour at lunch, I came back to the office with a completely soaked shirt & a bad case of "indian underwear". I had planned on getting some yardwork done since I couldn't let the lawn get any longer. Playing hooky from my home responsibilities this weekend caught up with me. Getting home, I changed the furnace filter & closed up the house (which by this time had climbed to 84 degrees indoors). Flipping on the central air unit, I felt the flood of cold air begin to flow out of the kitchen vent. Changing my clothes & grabbing my iPod, I prepared to tackle the lawn when all of a sudden 'snap!' the power went out.
Having been through this a couple of times (living in an older home it happens), I checked the breakers. Nothing. I flipped each individual breaker off and back on. Nothing. I flipped all the breakers off, including the main, and systematically flipped each breaker trying to pinpoint the problem. Nothing. By this time I was hot, tired, & frustrated. I told Bren to pack a bag for all of us and call the electrician and make an appointment for the next day (I wasn't about to pay a $150 emergency service call fee). I also told her to pack whatever frozen items we could to salvage because there was no guarantee that they would stay frozen overnight.
I headed out to do the lawn, defeat began to run through my mind as I thought of using up our vacation funds to pay for repairs. After the second mower bag was dumped, I had realized what I was doing. I was running to the negative in this situation, not even sure of the actual cause or cost to repair the problem. Once I realized that, I changed my attitude. I began to pray & give thanks for the vacation money to fix the electrical problem. I gave thanks for having in-laws that live in the next town who have room for us, central air, & a deep freezer for the meat & other items we needed to save from the freezer. I put my faith & trust into this situation working out to my good. I turned from the negative & walked into faith.
Just a moment I had finished praying, I looked over and saw a public works bucket truck turn the corner near my house. That sparked a thought, so I had Bren call the power plant in the off-chance that the entire block was experiencing an outtage. Bren stopped me while I continued to mow and said that there was an outtage in the area and a crew was out to rectify the problem. I recalled a similar incident last year during a thunderstorm, our block's power had gone out because of a faulty transformer. I guess in the situation last night we found out what happens when everyone on the block turns on their central air at the same time.
I told Bren to cancel the electrician appointment & I finished the lawn while continuing to give thanks for the result of the situation. When things in life happen, we can make a choice even when we think there is no choice. We can choose to run right to the negative, or we can choose to change our attitude & have faith.
How do you start the day? Do you look at the 'gloom & doom' on the news or do you begin your day with thanks & faith?
MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lost shoes & road pennies
One thing that I find more often on my walks than anything else are shoes. One lone shoe lying on the side of the road or off to one side of a sidewalk. Some are name brand (Nike, Reebok, etc.) & some are generic/non-descript. I have seen some in excellent condition & yet have seen some that were nearing their expiration. And I wonder about those lost shoes. Where did they come from? What was the owner like? Does the owner realize their shoe is missing?
Sometimes we may feel like those lost shoes, discarded, uncared-for, forgotten. Situations in life can bring us down, thoughts of failure & disappointment cloud our minds.
Another thing I find often on my walks are "road pennies", so-named because they are found on the road! I get a little giddy when I find them, not for their monetary value but rather for their characteristics. These coins are abused, scratched, barely worth redemption for their value. The one I found today takes the cake, it was so scratched that the zinc core has been exposed along the edges of the coin. Looking over the small collection at my desk, the only one in worse shape looks as though something took bites out of the coin.
I cherish each and every one of them. Some may say "why bother?" and see them as ugly & worthless. I see them as unique & in a way beautiful because of their scars & defects.
I should carry one of them on a chain as a reminder when I'm feeling down or a little depressed. A reminder of Someone who accepts, loves, & cherishes us despite our defects. I think you have an idea of who that might be...
"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Ro 5:8, NLT
MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
Sometimes we may feel like those lost shoes, discarded, uncared-for, forgotten. Situations in life can bring us down, thoughts of failure & disappointment cloud our minds.
Another thing I find often on my walks are "road pennies", so-named because they are found on the road! I get a little giddy when I find them, not for their monetary value but rather for their characteristics. These coins are abused, scratched, barely worth redemption for their value. The one I found today takes the cake, it was so scratched that the zinc core has been exposed along the edges of the coin. Looking over the small collection at my desk, the only one in worse shape looks as though something took bites out of the coin.
I cherish each and every one of them. Some may say "why bother?" and see them as ugly & worthless. I see them as unique & in a way beautiful because of their scars & defects.
I should carry one of them on a chain as a reminder when I'm feeling down or a little depressed. A reminder of Someone who accepts, loves, & cherishes us despite our defects. I think you have an idea of who that might be...
"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Ro 5:8, NLT
MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The uphill battles we face...
This week in both my podcast & on my web show I discussed a topic brought on by someone I've come to admire (and became my FB friend, for what it's worth), Erik Chopin. For those that may not know who he is, he was the 3rd season winner of the television program, "The Biggest Loser", losing a whopping 214lbs which I believe is a first for the program (a contestant losing over 200lbs).
After winning, within 2 years he had gained back all of the weight he lost. He said that he just began to lose focus. The hoopla of winning died down & he began to rest on his laurels. Then the "passes" began to show up more frequently. "Passes" included allowances for over-eating ("Oh, I'll just train for an extra hour at the gym this week"), for not exercising, & finally for gaining weight ("I gained 4lbs? No prob, I'll bang them off next week!"). It got to a point where the passes overtook him and he could not cash the checks his mind had written. Falling into depression & old habits, he stopped going to the gym out of embarrassment, and after 2 years he had lost - he had gained all the weight back. Everything he had worked so hard for, the progress he had made, the inspiration he had given others was gone.
He's thankfully working his way back and warned the current contestants of his downfalls. It was hard enough to lose the weight the first time and he mentioned that it seems even harder the second time. Every day is an uphill battle. Having to lose weight in the "real world" is a lot different than losing it in seclusion on a television program.
Another couple of friends of mine that you might remember, Matt Hoover & Suzy Preston Hoover, were previous winners on the television program "The Biggest Loser" as well. Both of them have also fallen victim to the "passes" mentality but not to the degree of Eric. In his book, Matt talks about letting himself go and gaining back 80lbs & feeling like a hypocrite since he had based his business on inspiring people to lose weight but he himself was gaining it back. Both he & Suzy are on their way back, Matt has been training to do triathlons & even an Ironman competition in Hawaii. But for them as well, every day is an uphill battle.
I face my own uphill battles everyday. Some days I conquer them, some days I have defeat but rise again to fight them the next. Yesterday I faced a literal & figurative uphill battle on my bike. Literal in the sense that near my home there is a rather large "stepped" hill that had beaten me once already on my bike. I got 3/4 of the way up and had to get off the bike & walk because it seemed so difficult to keep going. Figurative in the sense that as I approached the hill my mind was filled with negative & self-defeating thoughts, telling me that I should just give up 3/4 of the way up like last time & try it again some other day.
The thoughts became louder & more pronounced as I began to climb the hill, deep down inside I knew if I stopped where I did last time that it would be my brick wall or glass ceiling. It would be the point that I would always think was the spot where I could make it and no farther. I pushed myself & the bike as hard as I could, each "step" slowing my progress even further. But I crept on, looking I'm sure like I was traveling in slow-motion. Cars passing me, people gawking, but I continued undaunted.
With the last revolutions of my pedals I had reached the top. Taking a brief moment to look back at my triumph, I pedaled home with a wide smile on my face. I pulled into my driveway exhausted & high off of the victory. That battle was won, that mental roadblock defeated.
Some days are full of battles, some we win & some we lose... Ultimately when we wake up each morning to fight again, we've already won.
MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
After winning, within 2 years he had gained back all of the weight he lost. He said that he just began to lose focus. The hoopla of winning died down & he began to rest on his laurels. Then the "passes" began to show up more frequently. "Passes" included allowances for over-eating ("Oh, I'll just train for an extra hour at the gym this week"), for not exercising, & finally for gaining weight ("I gained 4lbs? No prob, I'll bang them off next week!"). It got to a point where the passes overtook him and he could not cash the checks his mind had written. Falling into depression & old habits, he stopped going to the gym out of embarrassment, and after 2 years he had lost - he had gained all the weight back. Everything he had worked so hard for, the progress he had made, the inspiration he had given others was gone.
He's thankfully working his way back and warned the current contestants of his downfalls. It was hard enough to lose the weight the first time and he mentioned that it seems even harder the second time. Every day is an uphill battle. Having to lose weight in the "real world" is a lot different than losing it in seclusion on a television program.
Another couple of friends of mine that you might remember, Matt Hoover & Suzy Preston Hoover, were previous winners on the television program "The Biggest Loser" as well. Both of them have also fallen victim to the "passes" mentality but not to the degree of Eric. In his book, Matt talks about letting himself go and gaining back 80lbs & feeling like a hypocrite since he had based his business on inspiring people to lose weight but he himself was gaining it back. Both he & Suzy are on their way back, Matt has been training to do triathlons & even an Ironman competition in Hawaii. But for them as well, every day is an uphill battle.
I face my own uphill battles everyday. Some days I conquer them, some days I have defeat but rise again to fight them the next. Yesterday I faced a literal & figurative uphill battle on my bike. Literal in the sense that near my home there is a rather large "stepped" hill that had beaten me once already on my bike. I got 3/4 of the way up and had to get off the bike & walk because it seemed so difficult to keep going. Figurative in the sense that as I approached the hill my mind was filled with negative & self-defeating thoughts, telling me that I should just give up 3/4 of the way up like last time & try it again some other day.
The thoughts became louder & more pronounced as I began to climb the hill, deep down inside I knew if I stopped where I did last time that it would be my brick wall or glass ceiling. It would be the point that I would always think was the spot where I could make it and no farther. I pushed myself & the bike as hard as I could, each "step" slowing my progress even further. But I crept on, looking I'm sure like I was traveling in slow-motion. Cars passing me, people gawking, but I continued undaunted.
With the last revolutions of my pedals I had reached the top. Taking a brief moment to look back at my triumph, I pedaled home with a wide smile on my face. I pulled into my driveway exhausted & high off of the victory. That battle was won, that mental roadblock defeated.
Some days are full of battles, some we win & some we lose... Ultimately when we wake up each morning to fight again, we've already won.
MattyV
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com
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