The Challenge

I'm reading an amazing and challenging little booklet by David Platt called "The Radical Question." It's about how we as Americans follow Christ compared to the persecuted church in the rest of the world. It's very eye opening. The central question to me is are we Americanizing Christ, and how do we follow Christs' message to forsake all else for Christ. As I read the booklet, I find myself reviewing my view of Jesus with the reality of who Jesus is and what he is asking us to do. As the Outreach/Mission's chair for our church, I feel the need to bring this message to my fellow church members and to provide a spark that will ignite action among the members, and myself. Unless I take action, I feel I can't provide the leadership and example for others in the church to act on their beliefs. I'll keep you informed on how it's going. If you want to get the booklet, the ISBN is 978-1-60142-321-4.

Another challenge I've decided to get serious about is my weight. I weigh almost 400 lbs, and that's intolerable. I have to make changes in my life-style that leads to weight-loss. I'm currently reading Al Roker's book, "No Goin' Back." I'm only a few chapters into it, but it is very inspirational, and very easy for me to relate to. I've lost tons of weight, only to gain it back, and more, over the years. This time I plan on making the change for good. I don't plan to do the gastric bypass like Al did, but I am going to focus on the weight loss, and maintenance when I reach my goal weight. I don't have a plan currently that I will be following. I've looked at tons of diets, and either I've tried them and failed or they don't look safe to me. What I'm looking at now is a book by AARP and this medical group. I'll buy it when I get my next paycheck. Until then, I'll be making changes in my lifestyle as I can. The first I made was to quit eating Little Debbies. I love them, but I was eating too many of them and so I'm cutting them completely out of my eating plan. I'll miss them, but not their effect on my weight.