This past Sunday, I went to church and heard a sermon that I
needed to hear. Hope Church’s Senior
Associate Pastor, Dr. Eli Morris, delivered the message entitled “My Favorite
Track Meet.” You see, the sermon series is on “Faves” and Eli is a
self-proclaimed track and field nut, so it was only fitting that he spent Sunday
morning talking about this often-overlooked sport.
And whether you are religious or not, Christian or not, or a
sports fan or not, the theme of the entire sermon is applicable to your life, I
promise. Of course, Eli meant for the “track meet” to parallel your path with
God and the journey of Christianity, but it spoke to me about my weight loss
journey and transformation process. I took copious notes on the outline and
even saved the outline to look back at later. I don't do that with sermon notes very often.
I’ve been struggling a bit lately (again—no one said this
was going to be easy) and I’ve been searching for the answers to a few
challenges I’ve been having. I’m fighting for every pound lost right now, and
sometimes, I feel the fight in me waning a bit. This sermon hit me square on
the head and was exactly what I needed.
Here are a few key points he made and the ones that hit home
for me. I think they are applicable to everyone and I hope they help you handle
an issue you may be facing:
- We step off the track because we get distracted by other things. Boy, do we! I have been distracted recently by lots of other things: stress at work, kids and their busy schedules, trying to figure out how to get everything done and the list goes on and on. It is endless. But it is always going to be that way. I just have to assess the situation, adjust and figure out how to get back on track.
- The cost of staying on track seems too great: Again, hit me like a hammer on my head. I sometimes get tired of meal prepping for just me. I prep for breakfast and lunch, and usually dinner. It takes time and it is a hassle. But it is something I have to do. So I just need to suck it up, take a few minutes and prep my meals. It is as simple as that.
- We get off the track because we settle: we settle for less because we say things like “well, it’s better than what it used to be.” I’ve been thinking this for a while when trying to determine what my final goal weight will be. I’m happy where I am not, but I want to lose a little more to get to my final goal weight. But I have to be honest, sometimes I’m just ready to be done. And I think “well, this weight is fine. It is better than what it used to be.” NO! I’m not going to settle just yet. It isn’t fine. I am better than fine.
- So why should we get back on track and push on? During this section, Eli talked a lot about character, stewardship and your legacy by doing the right thing. But honestly, the thing that stuck out to me most was that nothing compares to the right thing. NOTHING! Think about that for a second. It’s easy to do the wrong thing (and the “wrong thing” can be whatever applies to you—for me lately, it has been not taking the time to prep my meals or have the right foods in the house. I have just been lazy and get tired of doing it over and over again.) But it is the “right” thing for me to do and I just need to go it and get back on track.
His final thoughts were perhaps the most powerful for me. He
addressed how to stay the course, when faced with adversity. This scripture
just may be my new favorite.
“Let us
strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those
sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us
run with patience on the particular race that God has set before us.” Hebrews
12:1-2
Eli encouraged us to “discard the baggage” (strip off
anything that slows us down) in order to stay on the course. In previous blogs,
I’ve discussed some of the baggage I’ve discarded over the last year or so: the
negative relationships I’ve had in my life (including that very negative
relationship I had with food,) bad habits that I have formed for 40 years, the
laziness that led to lack of exercise, just to name a few. But that verse tells
us to strip off anything that slows
us down or holds us back. ANYTHING! Bad habits, actions you shouldn’t be doing,
negative people- anything.
He also talks about taking little steps to stay the course.
He referred to some days as “Quick Sand Days,” meaning the only way to survive
those days, as you do with quick sand, is to take little steps to get out of it.
It is a perfect way to describe some days. Now I have a perfect description for
days when I feel like I’m drowning- quicksand days! And now I know that the
only way to get out of them is to take little steps.
Lastly, Eli talked about Envisioning the Finish. And lately,
I’ve had trouble envisioning the finish and seeing the finish line. As I
mentioned previously, I’m now fighting for every pound lost and that is a
challenge in and of itself. But it is the little things I have noticed recently
that have helped me envision the finish:
- I went to a water park (twice! and climbed stairs to the top of the tallest water slides and didn’t die (or even get out of breath!)
- I’m walking a lot (by myself and with a few girlfriends from time to time) and walking pretty fast. And I didn’t die! In fact, when I don't walk, I don't feel as good.
- I have some clothes that aren’t that old that are too big. (uh, that's NEVER happened until this journey.)
- I’m finally below my pre-pregnancy weight (from nearly 13 years ago!)
That last one about being below my pre-pregnancy weight is HUGE
for me. Seriously, my baby will be 12 this week and I’m finally below that
weight. I haven’t been below that weight in nearly 13 years!!!!!! That’s what I call a
success, even if I haven't reach my goal as quickly as I wanted to. I'm still taking little steps toward achieving it.
If you want to listen to Eli's sermon in it's entirety, I high recommend it. It can be found here: https://www.hopepres.com/media#!/swx/pp/media_archives/206115/episode/69074.
One final thought on envisioning the finish: Here is my August
photo and progress report.
 |
| August 6, 2017 Down 93 pounds! |
To date, I’ve lost 93 pounds. I’m coming up on my one-year
anniversary of surgery August 23, and I’m both excited and a bit sad. Excited
because I know how far I’ve come, but a bit sad because I really wanted to
reach 100 pounds by my birthday. When I didn’t, I began to really get down
about it and to be honest, I felt a little bit like a failure. But after a bit
of wallowing in my own self-pity, I picked myself up and began again. I’ve set
a new goal of losing a total of 115 pounds total, so I have 22 more pounds to
go. Since I’m fighting for every pound now, my goal is to get that final 22
pounds off by Christmas of this year. It’s going to take a lot of work and perseverance,
but I can do it… one little step and quicksand day at a time.
