Austin's declaration

It is encouraging when you hear God say: "You are doing great! Keep on running the race. You are bearing good fruit. Don't give up. I am so proud of you!"

This happened the other day through the voice of my son. We were out of town at the breakfast table and I bought up the subject of each one of us having the best day of our life. That led to the question- what has been the best day of your life so far? As my daughter was scrolling through her 8 year life history, my son Austin quickly declared his Top 3 list. He was perfectly clear concerning the 3 best days he has had in his entire 11 3/4 years on the planet. His declaration was passionate and detailed.

The powerful thing about his list was this- each "best day of my life" was a day that he and I had spent the whole day together(two of the days were part of previous father-son retreats- just he and I). The other similarity was that each day contained an outdoor adventure that was challenging and exhilerating for the both of us.

I was reminded that my son has a desperate need for his father to get off his selfishness and lead his son into great adventures that will train him to be the man God wants him to be. He hungers for his dad to pour large chunks of time into loving him. He wants to be challenged and learn to overcome his fears while experiencing the excitement of doing new things in life.

God was showing me that my efforts were not in vain. And more importantly, as my son turns 12 in 3 more months, He was asking me to get an even bigger vision of leading my son into the great adventure of real manhood!

Lemonade anyone?

I just finished the Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemonade Diet. The cleanse consisted of drinking a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and my favorite... cayenne pepper for as many days as you are able( or until you are completely clean) while consuming absolutely NO food. After losing 9 lbs. in 8 days I decided to cross the finish line. I didn't plan on losing that much weight. I also took a herbal laxative tea each day to help flush out compacted matter that had been stuck in my digestive tract since I was an adolescent. I was greatly inspired by the cleanse conducted by a man who pooped out a marble that he had ingested 22 years earlier! WOW... what an awesome feat. I was not as fortunate- I never expelled any antique treasures such as his.

The cleanse turned out to be much more than I bargained for. I was shocked at my addiction to food. Although the lemonade kept me from getting ravenous each day, I found myself drawn toward food because of the emotional fix it has always given me. I was angry each time I realized that food was off limits and I daydreamed of the day that I could raid the pantry any time that I was emotionally drained and needed a quick fix. I was saddened to see the real me... When life gets tough, don't go to God, just fix a peanut butter sandwich!

It is not only the obese that abuse food, it is guys like me that try to eat healthy but still eat for the primary purpose of escaping the pains of life. Marriage difficulties? Eat a Cheese-It. Financial problems? A cookie will do the trick. Kids struggling? Lay's potato chips and chocolate ice cream will always be a faithful friend.

What ever happened to the pantry that contained the Bread of Life?