THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

Greetings to all the Skinny Minnies and Franky Fatties out there.
How's the battle going?

For years...I could eat anything that I wanted to eat...and never gain weight. When I first met the lovely Ms Brenda Williams, I weighed in at 131 pounds of pure, rippling bone. I went away to Bible School in Chattanooga...and over period of time of eating, sleeping and no exercise gained upward...to the point of when I got married...I weighed 175 pounds. I began to take karate at Bushido School of Karate...taking Wado Ryu Karate (where there was no air conditioner and classes went for 2 hours) and lost down to 160 pounds...which were probably beaten out of me.

Marriage was good (and still is after 39 years)...but after eating the goddess's cooking...I gained up to 195 pounds. I remember standing in a locker room at Courtsouth Racquetball Court...and the scales tipping at 195...and one of my racquetball partners told me that I better stop eating now...because before I knew it I would be over 200 pounds. I told him..."that will never happen." Well...if those words were meant to be prophetic...I guess I would have to be stoned...because before I new it...I hit a new high in the weight
department.

I tipped the scales at 323 pounds. I quit weighing after that... so I do not really know how much weight I actually gained.

The picture with my lab coat is probably at my heaviest. I remind myself of balloon in the Macy Day Thanksgiving Parade. I am smiling in the picture...but I am not happy. Oh... I was "jolly" and to be honest...until I saw this picture...I did not realize how much weight I had gained. I was either in self denial or oblivious to the fact. Maybe I was like a vampire who avoided mirrors.

It was at this point that I made some choices. I helped spearhead a Weight Watchers group at work at Southern Hills. I would send out a newsletter (hmmm...imagine that) over the hospital system about weight loss, life, etc.

I began the slow process of losing weight...feeling better.. clothes getting loser...and enjoying the compliments from people who said they noticed the weight loss. I did not feel as bloated as I did...and could watch the Macy Day Thanksgiving Day Parade without wincing.

At the same time I began to take karate again. With the combination Weight Watchers...and karate...I continued to lose weight.

Over the years...I dropped in and out of Weight Watchers... attempted other things from juice to fasting, to low carbs to high carbs etc...but nothing worked like Weight Watchers for me. I am currently back at Weight Watchers...and continuing to take Karate at Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate. I have been back for 10 years now.

I still Battle The Bulge. Currently I am weighing in at 260 pounds...with a goal to lose another 60. The process is slow ( I like that) but steady. I have gone from pant size of 56 to size 46...and can squeeze into size 44 if I hold my breath.

I am turning 60 years old in a few days...and I sure don't feel like 60...unless you consider my knees and shoulders...quick to fall down and slow to get up....BUT...I am still kicking.

NOTE: I will be OK...if a leprechaun attacks me.

You may be asking yourself..."Self...why is Rodney sharing these thoughts and these pictures?"
Well...I am glad you asked that question.

I am making a public declaration to you, the Lord, demonic forces, and my soul (me, myself, and I)...that I am not giving up. I am in a process and the process ain't over yet. I am in a physical battle...that I belief for me has deep roots in the spiritual realm. I have found that if I have a LARGE GOAL...I must set SMALLER GOALS...as I move forward in the journey. That's what I did with karate...with the BLACK BELT as my large goal...but progressive, individual goals/belt ranks...taking me towards the prize. So it is with my weight. Smaller goals have brought me to the current weight (with some set backs...and regroupings)...and from my 60th birthday...until Thanksgiving is my next touchstone.

"All things are lawful for me, but ALL THINGS ARE NOT PROFITABLE/HELPFUL. All things are lawful for me...BUT...I WILL NOT BE MASTERED/BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANYTHING." (I Corinthians 6:12)


"Everything is permissible for me--allowable and lawful; but not all things are helpful--good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under the power." (I Corinthians 6:12 The Amplified Bible)

"And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through--that is separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God--may your (1) spirit and (2) soul and (3) body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. (I Thessalonians 5:23)

Hey God loves me no matter what I weigh...but He really is concerned if I am being mastered in any area of who I am...spirit, soul, or body. Even a skinny person can be addicted to food or booze just as much as a fatty. My prayer for myself...Lord... bless me indeed...in all areas of my life...spiritual, physical, emotional. I WILL NOT BE MASTERED BY ANYTHING...especially FOOD. Lord...I do need your help. May THE HELPER...the Holy Spirit lead me along the "weigh" : )

Love and God Pleasing Kisses
Rodney "Not As Large As I Use To Be" Boyd.

AUGUST 15TH 1951...BLAST OFF!!!!

Greetings friends,

Since 1951...60 years have passed on the time-space continuum. That's right... this year on August 15th...I will enter that time honored club...of those who have become...60 years OLD.

I don't feel 60 years old. Wait a minute (touching my arm)...no...I don't feel 60 years old. I look in the mirror...and although there are a few lines here and there on the old mug...and there are hints of gray hair around the temples and other areas on my head...I don't THINK I look 60 years old (maybe 59). When I am out on the dojo floor and kicking and punching with younger people...I don't feel as if I am 60 years old. Of course when I go home and every part of my body is aching and stiffening up...I feel 160 years old.

I started out at a very young age. As the story goes...I was born in Murfreesboro Tennessee at a place called Allen's Clinic...on East Main Street. I really have no recollection...just word of mouth from my mother. From day #1...I was her precious baby boy.

My life was filled with good, bad, ugly times...as my soul (mind, free will, and emotions)...were molded and shaped by my experiences. In the study of human development it is thought that we are either blank slates and what happens to us determines who we are...or we have everything in us genetically and left on our own we become who we are... from looks to attitude to intellect to language development.

As a Speech-Language Pathologist... I tend to believe both...nature and nurture. There are things that have been with me from the earliest day... and there are things that are ever changing...as I allow things into my melon (aka brain) via the eye-gate, ear-gate, and any other gate where I can ingest information (touch, smell, etc). From 1951 to 1970...I had a roller coaster emotional life. As stated...there were good times, bad times, and ugly times. Some of the good, bad and ugly times were just things that happened in school, in my family, in interpersonal relationships as my friends good, bad and ugly experiences rubbed of on me.

In the fall of 1970 (when I was 19 years old)...there was a shift in my development...as I made a conscious decision to become a follower of Jesus the Christ with His Anointing (yoke breaking, burden lifting, devil oppression removing healing power of the Holy Ghost).

I became a NEW creation...the OLD things passed away...and new things came...and have been coming ever since.

NOTE: Chronologically I am 60 years old...but Spiritualogically I am really only 41 years if you calculate that I became a new man in 1970.

Looking back...I have accomplished more than I ever thought that I would have accomplished. My life is one of grace (unmerited favor and divine influence within manifested without) and mercy (not getting what I deserved).

The day Brenda Sue Williams came into my life...was life changing. Not only did she love me...agreed to become my wife...she led me to the Lord. She has stuck beside me in good, bad, and ugly times...and has been a rock in our marriage. My son Phillip has been a joy and source of encouragement to me/us for the past 22 years. Walking with the Lord since 1970 has been interesting journey (that continues even as I write)...as He has been faithful to me...even when I have not been faithful. There is a verse in Psalms that really has and is coming true in my life..."Delight yourself in the Lord...and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) This is surely true as He has planted desires within me...and has brought them to flourition.

God has used many of my experiences...good, bad, and ugly...in my life and desires of my heart. I have been blessed to have been married for 39 years to Brenda, been a dad for 22 years to Phillip, been blessed to be a teacher of the Word of God in some form since 1970 (currently at Springhouse Worship and Arts Center for the past 20+ years), been to various countries for missions/teaching/building opportunities (Mexico, Peru, Africa, Guatemala), became a Speech Language Pathologist with a Masters in Education (after I was a very poor student, failing the 6th grade, and hill and valley high school experiences), becoming a Black Belt in Wado Ryu karate (in my 50's...and still kicking at 60) and able to write Bible Studies, blogs, books, and recored an album called RUMINATOR UNPLUGGED.

As I look at my past...and walk in my now...with an eye to the future...I can join with Paul and say this...of all the things that I grasp and hold...of everything I have experienced in 60 years.

"But whatever former things I had that might have been gainst to me, I have come to consider as (one combined) loss for Christ's sake. Yes, furthermore I count EVERYTHING as loss COMPARED to the possesion of the priceless privilege--the over whelmeing preciousness, the surpassing worth and supreme advantage--of KNOWING CHRIST JESUS MY LORD...and of progressively becoming MORE DEEPLY and INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED WITH HIM, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be MERE RUBBISH (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) CHRIST, THE ANOINTED ONE." (Philippians 3:7-8 The Amplified Bible)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Well...if I live to be 120 years old...I am considered to be middle aged. Whatever the length of my days here on planet Earth...I look forward to continued adventures, continued open doors, continued opportunities to serve and encourage people.

Love and Life Lovin' Kisses
Rodney "60 And Counting" Boyd