Getting Close to God

Pastor Timmy has been doing a really great series on getting close to God. Insightful, and inspiring.

A special blessing you have as a hairdresser is, being able to have your finger on the pulse of your clients. Getting close to God is definitly an issue to the people of the area, and the world. It actually is a common denominator. I am so fortunate, about half of my clientelle is from Wyandotte County, and the other half from Johnson County. One being the poorest County in the state, one being the richest.
Their problems are the same, though thier addresses are different.

From both sides of the county line (I am mostly speaking of women in this blog.) Self esteem is the core issue. Poor self-esteem, more specifically. Thinking that they have to achieve, do, be something better than they are, to be worthy of being loved, and that includes Gods love.

The disconnect is almost always the same, they feel that God can love the worst sinner unconditionally, but they don't feel as worthy as the worst sinner.

There is a difference between knowing the sins of others and knowing your own.

So getting close to God for many, I think, involves understanding Gods nature, and love, and desire to be close to us.

His nature,is Creator, he created us and all our being, even the parts we hate about ourselves. He created every part of you on purpose. So that we could love each other and walk together.

His love, is perfect, and unconditional, before your grandparents and thier grandparents were born, God knew every beautiful, and every ugly thing you would do in your life, and still Jesus came to die on the cross to redeem the ugliness in your life and my life and make a way for you and God to love each other and walk together.

His desire, that we would accept his love, as unconditionally as he gives it, so that we can love each other and walk together.

So drawing close to God, means accepting his desire to draw close to me.
Accepting his desire to redeem the parts of me that make me feel unworthy.
Knowing that I don't have to get rid of those things first, but understanding that Gods desire is to help me, mold me, shape me, clean up the ugliness as a part of our relationship. Like a parent loving a baby, the dirty diapers are just a part of the package, we don't get angry when we change them, it doesn't even dissapoint us. It is just a part of the Parent, child relationship.
It means understanding that God desire to create a relationship with me, with you, and guess what he already knows what you hide from everyone else and he still desires you. With God thier are no suprises for him, he won't ask for a divorce or be dissapointed when you fail. He is there to pick you up, strengthen you, heal your brokenness,and get close to you.

So as we consider getting close to God today, simply concider his desire to be close to you.

Things I am learning

Wow last month was a whirlwind of activity, I am still processing it all to see what I can learn from it. Here are a few of my thoughts;

Seeing my wife achieve a dream is one of the sweetest moments life can offer.

Having my daughter want to follow in my footsteps is a beautiful and humbling feeling.

Making a safe enviroment for communication is important for a good conversation.

Sometimes what seems like the worst moment in your life can be the beginning of achieving the best moments in your life.

When explaining A.D.D I like to use the illustration of the difference between an appliance that uses a 110 electrical outlet and an apliance that uses a 220 outlet.
They both use the same electricity they are just wired differently.

-17

Well 2 weeks and 2 days have gone by. I am feeling better, I have tons more energy and alot less weight. I am really starting to get in the groove now. I am astounded how I have been able to, for the first time, have some willpower and not be tempted by food. I made a lasagna Saturday night for my cousin who just had a baby. Now I'm telling you it was the best lasagna ever. I took 4 cheese ravioli, and used that for the noodles and cheese, and alternated layers of Cascone's Marinara sauce, ravioli, ground beef and Italian sausage, Cascone's Alfredo sauce, Parmesan cheese and a little of my home made spaghetti sauce. I actually made two, one for them and one for Arielle. There is only one piece left and I haven't even been tempted. I can't believe it. I also have gone out to eat several times. I found it quite easy to order without blowing the system. My clothes are beginning to get a little baggy. I guess the best thing is that I now eat because I need to eat. I am not even tempted to go through the drive through and spend 18.00 bucks at Sonic just for me. I don't eat because I am bored or only when I am ravenous anymore. Oh and by the way, my wife doesn't know I am losing weight, she is out of the country for 5 weeks so this will all be a surprise to her.
She returns on the 11Th.
We will chat later.
Ross

Week 2

Well, Fathers day was not good for me. I fell off the waggon. I could see it coming though, so I just tried to not go back to old habits completely. I will tell you that there was a prime rib buffet, and a church pancake breakfast involved. But here is the cool thing. Come Monday, it was so easy to get back to the plan. It was effortless as a matter of fact. I went to the box in the kitchen, picked out five meals, and you know what? After a week of this plan, I was still looking forward to eating the meals. I had a moment where I wanted to put off the plan and stop at McDonald's, and then I thought of my wife, who will be coming back on July 10 or 11. You see I haven't told her I am doing this. If I am successful she will freak.
So I have to be successful, because seeing Jeannette Freak is really cool!

I have also decided to forget about the scale for a while and just try to focus my energy where it needs to be. Which, by the way, is much easier with fewer calories, and lots less energy devoted to figuring out what I am going to eat.

Later All.
Ross

climbing over the first wall.

12

I didn't blog yesterday, because it was a "Hit the wall day."
At 6:30 AM I got out of bed and hit the scales, I have to tell you I was disappointed. When the digital scales stopped flashing to let me know that it had honed in on my new svelte weight, and I got close enough to see without my glasses, the numbers were exactly the same as the day before.

It is quite strange when that happens, all these words hit you, Failure, Fat, Fool, Freak, maybe even one or two you can't really throw out there for public consumption. I felt deflated and really a bit underpowered to continue.

But then I ask myself, "What is the truth in this situation?" Well that wasn't hard to find, if I stepped back and looked at my experience over the last week, I was 9 pounds down, I was sleeping much better, I had more energy during the day, and the feelings of the F words, well those things are not tied to what the scale said. Those things weren't true when I felt good about myself, why would they be true because the scale didn't say what I wanted? The truth was that for the first time in a long time, I was moving in the right direction. I was doing something that was good for my body, mind, and spirit. So I asked myself a new question, instead of was I better than yesterday, I asked was I better this Thursday than last Thursday?

Yep!
Psalm 73:26 (New King James Version)

26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

-9
Beginning of day 4. Scales said 211. Had a small mental breakdown last night. As I was reading my information again I looked at the list of acceptable veggies and realized that I had brussel sprouts for two meals, including last night. AAAHHHHH! Brussel sprouts are not approved. Too many carbs for the fatburning stage of this plan. On the good side, I had two meals with brussel sprouts and still lost 9 pounds at the beginning of my 4rth day.

Got to tell ya, this stuff works so well. You don't get hungry, you don't have alot of prep time, you have a whole lot of choice and the weight just falls off. WooooHooo!

My thinking about food is changing also. I no longer seek comfort from cheeseburgers.

7.5

Psalm 73:26 (New King James Version)

26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Good Morning,
Starting Day 3 of my culinary intake and thought adjustment process. Scale said 212.5. I am really amazed how easy this is going. I had eggs for breakfast today at 9:30 at 12 I will have a fruit punch, at 2:30 chicken noodle soup, at 5:00 a protien bar, at 8:00 a chicken breast with a salad, and green beens, if I need a snack at 10 or so I'll have some cinnimon rice crisps. To bed around 12 and that will be my day. Amazingly if you eat a little something every 2-3 hours you never get hungry. That cuts my caloric intake down from 4000 or so calories to about 1000calories per day.
We'll talk soon.

Psalm 73:26 (New King James Version)

26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I decided yesterday that some things in my life need some work. (No suprise huh.?) So I spoke with two clients who have recently changed thier eating habits and lost quite a bit of weight and today I'm jumping in.

I have always known that my love of food was pretty unhealthy. I alone can spend around $18.00 at Sonic. Often I will eat a little something for breakfast, and then go pretty much all day 10-12 hours before eating again. Sometimes I'll grab a poptart or a handful of nuts. But at the end of the day I have become ravenous. Eating copious amounts of anything in sight. Usually from a drive through or restaraunt. Which I'm sure has contributed to my tight budgetary situation of late.
So today it's all going to change.

My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I am starting out with exitement and anticipation. I don't really have a goal except to be healthier and break my addiction to food. But for the purposes of tracking I guess 50 pounds would be a good goal.

I started today off with a blueberry oatmeal at 7 am. It's now 10 am and I am having a glass of tropical fruit punch. The scale said 220 this morning. Ok hang on here we go.

Things I am Learning

Things I am learning;

When living life in any situation, people are the most important part.

Conflict can't truly be resolved unless both parties are willing to be wrong.

When we feel wronged, just being heard is strong healing medicine.

Trying to fix a situation without telling the truth is just politics.

Politics don't belong in churches.

Healing a relationship doesn't always mean we agree, just that we understand.

Relationships weaken when the benifit of the doubt is gone.

Churches are about people.

Though we strive for perfection, and excellence, we live in an imperfect and fallen world, and yet that doesn't hinder God.