Life Truths

2010 has been strategic for me.  From a personal standpoint I wanted it to be the year that I actually get healthy and get some physical fitness back in my life.  I devoted the past three months to a strict regiment of exercise and better eating.  It’s paid off a bit.  I used to always feel like Kevin James from “King of Queens”.  Now I feel a bit more like myself.

At first I felt pretty stupid as I did all these pushups, crunches and exercises.  At one point I had this out of body type thingy where I knew I looked like a jack rabbit on a hot stove top.  Remember those old western movies where guys used to shoot at their enemies feet and tell them to “dance!”.  That was me.  But it became more natural.

Then I started to run.  I really enjoy running.  I spent a good part of my younger life running.  But Old keeps getting in the way.  But I thought this time was different.  ”I’m not going to roll and ankle!”  ”I’m not going to pull a groin  muscle!”  ”I’m not going to tear the obscure ligament in the top of my foot that I never knew I had!”  It was going great until yesterday.  3/4 of a mile into my 3 mile run, out of nowhere, blammo!!  My right calve wrenches and cramps like it’s in some sort of nasty vice.  And the irony is, each time some old-person injury happens to me it something different.  How amazing is that?

Anyway – I’ll rebound and try and keep all the progress I’ve made but I’m not liking the fact that age is rearing its ugly head more and more.  I’m glad that God loves me despite my inabilities.  As I get older and change physically it doesn’t discount me in His eyes.  He says in Proverbs 16:31 (NLT)  ^“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life. ”  I don’t know how godly I looked walking home yesterday afternoon but I can be sure that God’s not demoting me to the second team.  He can use all of us no matter what our station in life or physical condition!

I love my wife! I really love her and I wanted to show that love to her this past Christmas. Some might think, “Oh, you bought her diamonds.” Nope. “You took her away to a fine spa to pamper her for a long weekend?” Nope. “You bought extra duct tape for the sake of quieting the children down for a day of peace and quiet”. Nope.
I expressed my deep, heart-felt love for my wife by purchasing her some pepper spray! Merry Christmas honey…try it out, go ahead!
Now some might think that this is a peculiar way to express love. For me it makes perfect sense. She arrives at work in the city in the pre-dawn hours and I wanted to give her an advantage against those who would try and rob or steal my Mindy. The only problem with this gift is that it still sits on the kitchen counter 5 months later. It has never made the trip to work in those pre-dawn hours because she’s fearful of it. She thinks she’ll hurt herself or mess up with it.
Merry Christmas, honey!
Now there is a spiritual side to this story, fortunately. We live in a country where most families have a Bible sitting on their bookshelf, but rarely use it. It is God’s great gift to those that He loves so much and wants to protect. We look at the Bible in an attitude of fear…worried that we’ll confuse ourselves or convict ourselves rather than considering the greater goal of God’s word which is to save yet another one for Himself and His pleasure. The Bible gives us a guide for life (this one and the next) to keep us safe and saved.

People watching.  I love it.  You can learn so much about society in general by simply taking time to sit in a mall food court for an hour and observe the humanity crawling around you.  I am a hound for free wi-fi so I have my favorite mall food court which affords me this luxury every so many weeks.  What a trip! 

• First I see an elderly couple dressed like they are going to an art gallery premier.  I know that they must have money because they are eating and drinking Sbarro.  No one with any financial common sense and a limited income buys pizza from Sbarro.  Of course…she has a salad.
• Woops…scratch that because to my left I see a single mom with three in diapers and she just polished off an entire Sbarro pizza.  But she’s probably on a tight budget because she clearly can’t afford enough clothes to cover her own body.
• Gathered around the kiddie playground area is an intriguing layer of moms who are basically clueless to what their children are doing as they dish away with someone sitting next to them.  I can hear the conversation now, “So I told Jerry, we simply can’t afford the riding mower.  If he buys that mower there’s no way we’ll be able to keep Samantha in her dance and equestrian classes.  He thinks horseback riding is silly for a preschooler but I feel it’s a significant form of therapy while she’s potty training.
• Over my shoulder are four men standing in front of their respective restaurant counters offering the same things on toothpicks.  Bourbon chicken, honey chicken, spicy chicken and sweet & sour pork.  Of course I take a sample from each.
• Lastly are the teenagers.  It’s the middle of the school day but somehow they are here.  Amazing.  I’m sure they are eating their fast food over a heated discussion regarding what excuses they need to use this week.

My point to all of this is not to mock those different from myself but to highlight an extremely important concept from the Bible .  John 3:16 is one of the most recognizable Bible verses simply because of that guy behind the goal-posts at each NFL game.  It says, “For God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  God loves the world!  My human tendency is to stereotype, differentiate and categorize.  In God’s eyes He sees humanity as His cherished creation that He loves and it was worthy of giving up His Son in order to save.  Everyone in this room surrounding me is cherished.  Everyone.

I used to be a very, very outdoorsy person.  The kinda guy that loved a good 8 mile hike on a Saturday afternoon.  I was the kinda guy that loved a tent, the sound of crickets, and swimming in a hidden forest stream.  Mind you, I wasn’t a tree hugger or anything, I just really enjoyed fresh air, exercise, and enjoying God’s creation. 

Today I had to do a serious evaluation of a transformation that has taken place.  If I had to be honest, in the past 15 years I’ve truly come to appreciate hotel rooms, bug spray, and air conditioning.  Late summer is always a blessing and a bit of a curse.  Gnats the size of bees and angry bees the size of small hummingbirds.  Why is it that if I want to roll around in the grass with my kids I have to walk into the house with 18 various bug bites on my arms and lets and forehead?  That’s right, forehead.  A bite on my forehead looks like high school acne all over again! 

I don’t know if this is the kind of change I foresaw coming when I was 20 and sleeping out under the stars but it certainly aggravates me now from time to time.  How sad that I prefer a hotel room to a two-man.  But change is inevitable I guess. 

I am thankful that God doesn’t change and that He doesn’t change His mind.  He’s the same yesterday, today and forever.  In a life full of changes (some warrented and some just sad) it’s nice to know that there is a constant that you can hang your hat on!

Now, where’s the bug spray?