I’m driving to work the other day trailing an SUV with about 5 of those youth sport decals…you know, “Johnny #5” in the shape of a baseball and “Sally” in the shape of a cheerleader megaphone. It hit me, CARS ARE THE NEW REFIRGERATORS! The SUV is now the family shrine to the kids.

Think about it, when was the last time you saw a fridge plastered with family artifacts? Nowadays the ‘designer’ kitchen is in. It doesn’t make sense to drop $1,000 on that sleek stainless steel fridge only to cover it up. A few people I know still have some pictures on their fridge. But its NOTHING compared the smorgasbord that used to be on every southern mother’s refrigerator. Seriously! How did Mamaw fit that much crap on there? And the fact that the stuff hasn’t fallen off in 2 generations makes Mamaw’s fridge a true engineering marvel.

We’ve entered a new era for household shrines. And it makes sense if you think about it. With the fridge shrine your boasting is limited only to those who grace the presence of your kitchen. Not so with the SUV. Now parents can take an active role in spreading their children’s fame throughout the land. It’s like the modern day version of ‘shouting from the rooftops.’

The SUV also provides increased surface area allowing for more and/or bigger pieces of advertisement…errr…I mean, support. This has not always been the case with the ‘mobile shrine.’ For decades proud parents really only had the back bumper to spread the good news. With the limited space mostly taken up by a piece of support for the last Presidential campaign, a redneck truism (i.e. “Ain’t Skeered!”) or warnings of the upcoming rapture, there was simply no room left for the kids. Can I get an amen?

The SUV has changed this age old dilemma and ushered in the new era of the Mobile Shrine. Now parents have ample surface area to share all sorts of helpful facts about their young celebrities. I know next time I’m out at the Little League field I’ll keep my eyes out for little Johnny wearing number 5. Maybe I can get an autograph!

On a side note…did anyone have family members who called the fridge, the ‘icebox’? What’s up with that?

How did we do it? (I say we because I could never have handled it all without my sidekick a.k.a. wife) The biggest key was changing our diet. I worked out about 20-30 minutes on the weekdays and a little longer on the weekends. That helps. But we drastically changed what we ate. No trans fats, no bad carbs, small portions, 6 meals a day, lots of fruits and veggies. We threw out everything that was bad and loaded up on the good stuff. The grocery bills go up but the waist size goes down pretty quickly.

We formed our plan mainly from 3 books: You on a Diet, Body for Life and The Abs Diet. We didn’t follow any religiously, rather, took ideas and LOTS of recipes from all.

After 3 (now almost 4) months I realize how much I was abusing my body. I had no idea how to take care of myself. The surprising thing is how its not that much harder to take care of yourself than to let yourself turn into a vegetable. And the rewards far outway the way the effort. I truly feel I’ve begun a new lifestyle of health.

This healthy lifestyle is a little piece of the home my wife and I are building together. My big dream in life is to create the home I’ve never known. My wife is the epitome of God’s provision for this dream and this piece has been no exception. We learned together, teamed up and she supported me. Better than hearing, “you look so good” is looking at my wife and knowing if have laid just another brick on the home God is giving us.

Jacob deceives again and again. He looks out for #1 with seemingly no trust in his ‘Shield and great reward.’ Of course he is a victim of much deceit and backstabbing. His sons and wives are almost exact replicas. Its a soap opera, plain and simple. There is theft, rape, murder, betrayal, grudges and loads of moral failure. Almost no one is exempt. You don’t see much faith, righteousness or goodness. This is backwards! This is upside down!

I’m overwhelmed when I compare this epic to the way I, and most of my contemporary Christian companions, venture to continue God’s story. I would hate the people of Genesis today for the ‘bad name’ they gave Christianity. I would have no faith in God’s ability to move forward with the story of redemption because of God’s people. I would lament in hopelessness. I would eventually blame God.

Christians have to be dynamic…different…right. This is a big deal! The fate of the world and of our, er, God’s story rests on how well we represent God.

But that’s not how it goes down after all. God continues to bless his people. They create all kinds of messes! God makes the best of them. He redeems. The story keeps moving along.

So what? So…a lot of things. The beauty of the whole God-man reality is that its a story. Genesis is a REAL story. No heroes here. There is only a God and this is HIS story. I need to make careful note of this when I try to make my life into MY story.

Be careful when your perfect little life plan comes from the perfect little story of how things should go in your head. Be careful when you try to force life into picture-perfectness. Be careful when you know God needs you to conform to the perfect image of a Christian — blameless, nice, wise, and blessed. God will mess with your head. He will love Jacob and hate Esau. He will give safe harbor to a cheat. He will spare a prostitute. He will maintain a group of murderers.

I don’t want to exclude the common, everday from my thoughts. I won’t always be writing about deep, spiritual subjects. I just want to think and relate to God on every specturm of my life.

My writing/communication skills can also use some work. These blogs are meant to improve my writing…to better put words to my voice.

I’m confident. In the past I struggled mainly for 2 reasons: 1) My mindset coming from high school sports was that I had to kill myself on every workout. But since college I haven’t had the time or energy for that. 2) I’ve never learned how to cook and eat right. Melissa is a huge help in this. She has been appointed CEO of food. I could never handle the eating part of this on my own. Plus I think it will be easier with a definite starting point and ending point. Obviously the healthy lifestyle will continue past the competition. But, its easier to deny yourself if you can tell yourself there is an end in sight.

Here’s the plan: workout 5 days a week for 30 min’s. I’ll do 3 circuit workouts and run for 2 days. Abs will also be a big part. We’re taking most of our eating from the book ‘You on a Diet.’ I plan on a balanced diet of 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.

My hope and prayer is to be 200 by year’s end. But its about more than pounds. I want to be attractive to my wife and myself. I want to feel active and like I can tackle any challenge or activity. I want to feel more active and alive in every area of life. Laziness seeps into so many parts of life. I don’t want to be lazy anymore. In summary the goals are…Life and Health.