I'm a Loser

Don't' worry, this isn't one of those posts where I drag you into a dark, gloomy pit of self-revelation and lack of self-esteem.  No, instead I simply want to come out and let everyone know that I am a Loser.  And...because I am a Loser, others can benefit.

Ok, enough of the cryptic leading...

I am taking part in a fitness challenge as a way to get in better shape and bring my eating habits back on track.  Some of you reading this may remember that I did a similar fitness challenge last year and had AMAZING results.  Well, that's what I'm going for again.

Last year, I participated in a 6-week challenge at Top Level Fitness in Naperville, Illinois.

www.toplevelfit.com

During that time, through increased exercise and intentional healthy eating...I proved that I am a Loser.  I lost 19 pounds, 9% body fat and a total of 24 inches.  It was awesome!

But it didn’t last.  Well, let me just say that life happens...plantar fasciitis, an old shoulder injury, the holidays and Linda's "Christmas Crack" all came together to load on the pounds once again.  And now, I'm ready to meet the challenge head-on, lose the weight and fat again and keep it off this time.

By now you are all thinking; "So what? Where's the part where others can benefit from this?" 

I'm glad you asked.

I have decided, as a way to keep myself accountable during the six-week challenge, to invite you...the loyal reader...to join me in the challenge.  No, I'm not going to ask you to get up at 5:15 every morning and meet me at Top Level Fitness.  (although, if you'd like to, you will love it!)  Instead, I'm looking for your support. 

Over the course of the next six weeks, I am looking for folks to support my weight and body fat loss efforts by giving financially in response to my efforts...actually, in response to my results.

I am looking for folks willing to "sponsor" my weight and body fat loss. 

How does that work?  Again, glad you asked.

For every pound I lose...I am looking for a $1 donation.

For every % of body fat lost...I am looking for a $2 donation. 

But the money isn't for me.  See, this is where it gets really cool.

There is an organization called The Trevor Project.

www.thetrevorproject.org

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.  Definitely an organization that is near and dear to my heart.

I'm hoping that by rounding up a number of "sponsors" I will be raising awareness about The Trevor Project and the vital work they are doing all while keeping myself in check throughout the challenge.

Ok, here's where it gets a bit scary...

I began the challenge on Monday, January 21, 2012.  That morning, before bootcamp, I weighed 244 pounds and my body fat was at 29.2%.  I am carrying around 71.25 pounds of fat!  Yuck!

I have set a goal for myself...at the end of the six weeks, I will have lost at least 20 pounds and dropped my body fat % to below 20. 

As a sponsor...when I am hit my goals that would mean that you would make a charitable contribution to The Trevor Project of $40 ($1/pound of weight loss and $2/% dropped in body fat).  Or perhaps you sponsor either the weight loss or the body fat % instead of both.

So, are you up for it?  Do you want to help prove that I am a Loser?  Do you want to take a step out and help the many Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender and Questioning youth in our communities...letting them know that there are people out there that care deeply for them?  Take the challenge with me. 

Let me know that you will support my "being a Loser."  Tell me that you will give $1/pound lost to The Trevor Project.  Tell me that you will give $2/body fat % lost to The Trevor Project.  Tell me that these young people are important to you as well.

Are you ready?  I've already begun the hard work...I just need you to say "yes."  Comment on my blog, on Facebook or on Twitter to let me know that you are willing to be a part of this important project.  Join me!

The last day of the challenge is March 3rd.  At that time, I will reveal my total losses and encourage you to then make your contributions.  However, we weigh in every Monday so I will be able to share my progress with you.

If I am doing all of this work to lose the weight and body fat...I’m thinking we may need to add a financial goal to the mix?  If I hit (or surpass) my goals, each individual could be contributing an average of $40. 

I want 100 people to join me in this challenge with the possibility of raising over $4000 for The Trevor Project. 

But I need you to help me with that...spread the word, share my posts, and get others excited about being a part of it.  Together, we can make a difference in the lives of many. 

I’m ready...are you?

It's Just Bread...

Every couple of weeks, the entry space of our little church fills up with boxes and boxes of bread...different brands...different flavors...hamburger buns, rolls, bagels, pastries.  For a visitor walking in it must be rather perplexing.

The bread takes quite a journey before it arrives at our door.  This bread is donated by various grocery stores in our community to the Illinois Food Bank.  The Food Bank in turn distributes the bread to a large number of Food Pantries throughout the state.  The bread that we receive comes to us from the Green Harvest Food Pantry in Plainfield, Illinois. www.greenharvest.org

Once the clients at Green Harvest have done their shopping...there is always bread still left on the shelves.  And...very quickly...Green Harvest receives another shipment of bread from the Illinois Food Bank.

We all know that bread doesn't stay fresh for very long.  The Food Bank knows this...and instead of throwing out the leftover breads, they push it onto the local Food Pantries.  So now, the Food Pantries are responsible for distributing...or disposing...of the bread.

Our church, for a few months now, has been taking this abundance of leftover breads and doing our part in the distribution chain.  About every two weeks Partners and Friends in our congregation are invited to take bread home or to share it with friends, neighbors, local organizations or complete strangers.

There have been some phenomenal stories that come back in regard to the continued journey this bread makes...and I'd like to share one with you.

Each time we receive a shipment of bread, I put a post on Facebook to let folks in the community know that it is available. This past Friday, I had conversation with one of the women in my morning bootcamp class about the bread (yes, I've begun my fitness program again...oh, the pain). She had seen the Facebook post the previous day after the office had already closed.  So, I invited her...actually I invited the entire class to come next door to the church and take some bread home.

While picking up bread for her family this woman began to tell me about another family that she knows and the apparent hardships they are currently enduring.  Of course I suggested taking some of the bread to them as well.

It may seem as something very simple...trivial...a loaf or two of bread.  But in reality, the sharing of something so ordinary with someone who is in need...that's where it becomes extraordinary!  The bread that this woman took home and then shared with another family was a vehicle to let that family know that others care.  We don't need to know their exact situation.  We don't even need to know their names.  We just know that there is a family in need and that we have an abundance of bread.

I am pleased that there are opportunities when resources can be shared...however, there is an underlying issue here that saddens me.  Actually...there are several issues.

There shouldn't be situations such as this where an abundance of food is dangling precariously on the line between usefulness and landfill.   Food insecurity is an issue for so many people...not just in far away lands...but here in our own communities. 

And I probably don't know enough about the entire process of food production...but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that some of the actual retail price configuration factors in the amount that may end up being wasted.  Companies aren't going to want to "eat" that loss. 

So...what can be done to change this?  (you knew there would be a question/challenge in here somewhere, didn't you?)

In reality...I think there is much that we can do...far beyond simply partnering with local food resource organizations in making sure that the abundance doesn't become dumpster-filler. 

So I want to hear from you...the faithful reader... What are your thoughts?  What are your suggestions?  How can we work together to feed the hungry...to drive down food prices, making it available for those who really need it?  And ultimately, what are we doing in our communities to work toward a day when places such as the Green Harvest Food Pantry are no longer needed? 

How can we...how can YOU make that change?

This ROCKS my world...

Thank you, NPR.org for not only providing me with thought-provoking stories to begin my day, but also for something that absolutely rocked my world. (and yes, you'll see soon enough...pun intended)

While browsing through the interweb this morning I came across an entry on npr.org about an artist named Michael Grab.  Michael is a rock-balancer...and I would also say, a very patient man.  I'll add the link to the bottom of this post so that you can see for yourself just how patient he is.

Seeing Michael's work immediately took me back to our trip last summer to Maine.  Peter and I had taken a day to spend on the coast and wound up in Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hahbah by the locals).  While there, we walked along the water occasionally picking up stones that caught our interest.  And for whatever reason, I had decided to pause for a moment and begin stacking stones along the shore.

It was not an easy task, for sure.  One-by-one, I placed smooth, flat stones on top of each other, trying to see how high I could go.  And yes, you may have noted...smooth, flat stones.  I mean, come on, how are you supposed to stack them if they don't lay flat upon one another?

Even though I had the advantage of the stones stack-ability, it didn't take very long for me to learn that I was not called to be a stacker of stones.  After my makeshift cairn had fallen several times, I left it behind with three stones remaining.

Seeing artist Michael Grab's work this morning caused me to have a visceral response, wishing that I had the patience (and the time) to do what he was doing.  The process itself has a certain beauty to it...taking that which seems to be unnatural and creating something wonderful.

Perhaps it is the contemplative side of my mind that is quietly saying; "give it a try, allow yourself the time and you, too will experience patience." 

But then, there is another piece to this visceral response.  Looking at the photographs of Michael's work, I couldn't help but think that some sort of Photoshopping trickery was at play.  There's no way that it could even be possible for stones to stack up in that way.  Beautiful pictures...but not real.

But then I remembered...they can't put anything on the Internet that isn't true...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmx4twCK3_I   Bonjour!

Seriously, what is it within me (within us) that causes doubt to enter in?  Is it that we have experienced life in such a way that we have been shielded from such beauty that upon seeing it for the first time we simply cannot believe?  Is it that our minds...our hearts...are so filled with the desire for concreteness that we are unable to experience awe or wonder?

Or are we simply like (Didymos Judas) Thomas, brother of Jesus and we have to "see it to believe it?"

As a people of faith...there are those times in life when we are to suspend our worldly rationale and simply believe...no explanation...no physical proof...no finger-in-nail-holes...

Yet that is not always easy.

We often, flippantly say that we don't believe something...I can't believe it's already 2013...I can't believe school vacation is almost over...I can't believe how much food I ate...I can't believe how many things I can't believe...

What would it sound like (or feel like) if instead, we were to replace "I can't believe" with "I am in awe" or "I wonder...?"

Maybe that's our challenge for today...seek out that which causes wonder...that which invites us into a state of awe.  And when we find it...soak it in, take a picture of it, post it on the Internet, write about it...find a way to share it with others.  And let me know what you find...comment on my blog, Facebook or twitter.  Remember...we are on this journey together...let's share in that which we encounter.

Here are those videos...prepare to be amazed...awestruck...

Michael Grab 5-Minute Demo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JykJrVbCMuM
My favorite - Time Lapse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp6GmC1q35Y

Progress - Marriage Equality

One of the joys (tasks) of coming back from time away is the sifting through of the many emails that I receive while I am gone.  I have adopted a fairly good discipline of not checking my email while on vacation.  Yet, each time I return to an overflowing Inbox, I question that decision.

But once again, I find myself doing a quick glance through the highlighted subject lines, looking first for anything that needs my immediate attention and then on to those headlines that peak my interest.

For anyone looking at my email these past couple of days, it would be very clear that something important...something wonderful is happening in the state of Illinois.

My Inbox is peppered with email communication from organizations such as Equality Illinois and Illinois Unites for Marriage giving me play-by-play updates on the legislative process happening in our state.  It is looking very possible that Illinois could become one of the next states to embrace Marriage Equality.

This past election made it clear to many of us that the tide is shifting across the nation in regard to Marriage Equality.  As we watch these historic moments unfold, those of us in support of the movement can't help but be elated at the progress that is in motion.

Maine was one of the most recent states to open the doors for same-sex couples to marry.  And I had to chuckle a bit when I was sitting at the Jiffy Lube (in Naperville, Illinois), having the oil changed in the truck, and I heard a familiar name come over the radio.  I recognized the name as that of a friend of a friend back in Maine.  Apparently he and his now husband were the first in line at the clerk's office the day that marriage became available for same-sex couples.  What are the chances?

But I digress...

All of this movement on the Marriage Equality front has made me think back on some of the messages I have shared with congregations on this issue.  Most recently, I shared a message as a part of a three-week series leading up to the elections.  My hope in doing so was not necessarily to coerce the listeners to vote "my way."  I was encouraging them to do something that I believe we all should be doing...often...and that is learning the facts and voting our faith.

As a part of that series I also used as a visual, artwork from Church Ahonen (www.chuckahonen.com).  His ability to capture true, raw human emotion in his portraits paired with a message calling us to experience the outrage trapped within on these hot-button issues really drove the message home.

Another message that I shared with a congregation that was in the Open and Affirming process reminded me (and those hearing my words) of how personal an issue such as this becomes for me...a gay man.

Not to bore you with the drawn out details of the messages, I would simply invite you to take another journey with me...back to the time when these messages were shared.  And although we are seeing progress here in Illinois and we have been witness to it throughout the nation, we can be sure that there is still much work to be done.

I will include the links to the two sermons in just a bit.  But before then, let me ask you:

• What have you done to help advance equality in your community?
• What are the areas that you see are not being addressed?
• What can we do to put this struggle behind us and move on as a more unified nation?

Please feel free to respond to the questions and keep the conversation going.  Because together, we can make a different...but only if we open our mouths and speak the truth in love.

Here's those sermons...

Sticks and Stones - http://vimeo.com/30278509
Where is the Outrage? - Marriage Equality - http://vimeo.com/54086816
    (be sure to check out Chuck's work at his website too)

I could multitask myself to death...

I've been thinking about my post yesterday and what I may do in my days/weeks/months to make a difference, to allow for more time to simply be...

While reflecting on that, I was checking my Facebook page, working on a sewing project and watching some TED videos (www.TED.com)...and surprisingly, I didn't sew my finger to the fabric.

I obviously wasn't making any headway in the attempt to slow down.

And then...this TED video pops up, and it's about multitasking...well, actually it's about NOT multitasking, and instead inviting me to think about MONO-tasking.

The speaker, Paolo Cardini shows a variety of smart phone covers to assist us in the "slowing down" that I spoke of yesterday.  I'll link the video at the end of this post so that you can see it too.

So that has me thinking.  I've been on vacation for the last week and spent a bit of that time visiting family for the holiday which involved some traveling, a lot of over-eating and at my father's house...watching several outdated, cheesy Christmas "made-for-television" movies.  (all of which he had seen at least ten times before and would occasionally just shut the tv off before the ending...well, he already knew how it ended so why bother watching it?).

The rest of my time off has been at home and I find myself finding "projects" to work on.  I did some organizing of my office/sewing room, I cleaned out the garage (don't tell Peter, it's a surprise!), I finished a quilt I had started at Thanksgiving, made some wine coasters (I'll give the link to our Etsy page too so you can see them) and now I'm working on another stole for a friend of mine.  Sure, I took some time in there to eat, take care of my personal hygiene, did some grocery shopping but found myself spending very little time just plopped on the couch, watching tv...at least much less time doing that than I had anticipated.

Why can't I just shut down?  Why can't I simply release myself from the list of "projects" that I must be doing?

In reality, I think it is because the projects are things I enjoy.  I love having an organized space to work in (however, don't look at my office at the church right now...it is in some definite need of organization).  I love my new hobby...sewing and quilting.  It is a true joy in part that I can make something with my hands that others will enjoy...and the cash I receive for some of them is nice too!

So I guess I am at least doing some of what I had suggested yesterday...I'm finding time to create, to do things for others.  It's a start.  Now I just need to take these things on one-at-a-time.

I spoke of beginning a new journey and invited you all to join me.  Happily, several of you accepted the invitation right away.  So...what are you doing to be that better person?  What have you done in the past 24 hours that is an indication that the goal of being a better person/spouse/parent/child/neighbor/earthling is obtainable?

I'd love to hear from you...post your comments on Facebook, here on the Blog or on Twitter.  Let's keep connected...it's much for fun to journey with others.

Oh yeah, here's the links I mentioned above:

Paolo Cardini: Forget multitasking, try monotasking

http://www.ted.com/talks/paolo_cardini_forget_multitasking_try_monotasking.html

Our Etsy Shop (more specifically, the new wine glass coaster/charms):
 https://www.etsy.com/listing/119171561/rainbow-fabric-wine-coaster-charm-set-of

Happy New Year - Let the Journey Begin!

A new year...perfect time for a new beginning. No, I'm not talking about listing off all of my New Year's Resolutions for you. I'm talking about taking an opportunity to simply take a look at the way we live and see if we can't work to do it a little better. What would it take for us to be a better person? A better parent or child? A better spouse or partner? A better person of faith? A better inhabitant of this planet? A better neighbor?

What would it take? For me, and perhaps for many of us, it would simply take more time...now, I'm not suggesting we make the days any longer than they already are. And I'm definitely not suggesting we add more hours to our work day. I'm suggesting we take more time, rather than schedule more, to simply be...to daydream, to envision, to create, to wonder, to breathe.

That's what I hope to do in this new year and beyond. Far beyond the time when all of the New Year's Resolutions have fizzled and died, I hope to be enjoying life with those that I love nearby, doing the things that I enjoy, and never getting tired of the magnificent way that the God that I worship causes me to pause and to soak in all of the beauty that surrounds me.

It's not always going to be an easy journey, that I know. After all, I'm kinda stubborn and change doesn't always come easy. But I'm willing to give it a try...because I understand that this life we are living is a gift. And I want to have the opportunity to receive that gift time and time again with each new day.

So, because this is a journey, I definitely don't want to travel alone. Would you care to join me? How will we experience life anew in this year and beyond? What will we do to breathe in all that is provided to us? How will we be sure to make this world a better place just by living our lives?

Let me know if you want to come along...and let the journey begin!