Happy 6th Birthday DJ and What I Have Learned

Just a quick blog to make everyone that reads this aware that my son, DJ was born at 11:58 AM on this very day, 6 years ago. It has flown by so fast, but there are a few things that I am very proud of that have happened in that 6 years. They are things that have made me a better parent, helped him become a more positive little man or both. I would like to share them with the hope that what I share could possibly help someone else.

For starters, his mother and I get along. Not only do her and I get along, but I get along with her husband and she gets along with my wife. It actually goes beyond that. For example, on Friday my wife and I took DJ and his baby sister to Silver Dollar City. We were joined by his mother, her husband and his two children. We had a blast and got to share that fun together. How great that my son gets to see all of us get along well.

When he was born I was an alcoholic. In fact, my alcoholism got worse the year he was born when my father committed suicide. Since he was born I have stopped drinking, smoking cigarettes, cussing, going to bars and getting into fights. I can actually set a good example for my son. I could have never done that before. In fact, when he was born I was a pretty good example of how not to act.

I married a wonderful lady who also does not drink, smoke or cuss and never has. She also sets a good example for DJ. We dated for a year before we got married, and the first time we had sex was on our wedding night. That is something that we can use to encourage him to wait until marriage. I treat my wife like a lady, and because of that my son has picked up a cute habit. He will open the door for her to get into our car, and holds the door for others when we are at stores and restaurants.

I do not listen to music that contains bad language or immoral things in it, because all I listen to is worship music. My son's mother is the same way. My son sings songs that praise God and talk about living moral and upstanding lives. He does not hear at home the garbage that promotes drinking, drug use, violence and immorality. That also gives him a better chance to grow up to be a good man.

The most important change that I made was turning my life over to Christ after living as an Agnostic since I was in the 5th grade. It happened before my son turned 2, so he will have no memory of the wreck I once was. Since the day I turned my life over to God I have not drank, smoked, done drugs, got into a fight (outside of a ring) or been promiscuous. I had what could be called a Pauline Conversion, and my life has changed forever.

I have learned several things along the way, as you can see. God is great, and truly believing in him and allowing him to influence your life will make you a better person. What I am saying is always put God first in all that you do. It will trickle down. You WILL become a better husband/wife, mother/father, son/daughter, friend, employee, neighbor and person! Treat everyone the way you would want them to treat your children, and never do anything that you would not want your child to either see or do themselves. That is all it takes, and by all I mean everything.

In closing, I have added another addition to my family, a daughter named Addison Grace. My son dotes on her. He is awesome with her. He is a good student and a good athlete, a good brother and a good son. I am so proud of him. I hope that between his mother, his step-dad, his step-mom and me he is given the foundation he needs to become a great man. He is already a great kid.

A Day at Silver Dollar City City

So I went to Silver Dollar City (SDC) with the family yesterday after DJ’s basketball trophy presentation. It was a beautiful day to go to SDC. It is December and still in the 60’s. Unfortunately, I was not
the only one who had the idea to go. The traffic there was insane and so were the lines. And I do mean insane!

What normally takes me 45 minutes to drive took 2 ½ hours. We did have some great family conversation on the way there, though. DJ practiced his songs for the upcoming Christmas concert at Praise Assembly. We sat in crazy lines of traffic, though. I have learned to just laugh and realize that there is nothing I can do about it but get mad or be glad. I have learned to be glad, mostly.

Others have not been so fortunate. I saw a truck from Louisiana with several bumper stickers on it that contained Bible verses and said Christ Saves flipping people off after rolling down his window. I also
saw people cutting others off, running red lights and driving on the shoulder. Traffic definitely brings out the worst in people.

Thankfully I was with family and enjoying myself. Then we got to SDC and it was just as crazy. I fully believe that is the busiest I have ever seen it. We headed straight to the Powder Keg, which is a roller
coaster that shoots you out and accelerates you from 0 - 53  in 2.8 seconds. My son got to sit in the very front for the first time. He loved it. I loved what I saw while we were standing in line.

There were two teenage girls standing in front of us and a young girl (4-6) and her dad behind us. The girl we will talk about was wearing a Christian tshirt and a sock monkey hat.. She and her friend were
talking and the little girl started talking to her dad about the sock monkey hat. Her dad told her to tell the girl she liked her hat. She took a couple of steps forward and nervously said, “I really like your
hat. I have a lot of sock monkey stuff at home.”

The teenager took off her hat, handed it to the little girl and told her she could keep it. “I have another one at home.” The dad offered money, which was refused. What a cool thing to see. It even impressed
my son. “Wow, dad. I can’t believe she just gave her that hat. She was really nice.” They boarded and the father commented to me how nice it was to see a teenager being that nice. “It is really rare anymore.”

We rode the roller coaster, ate, played in the kid’s area, watched the Frosty the Snowman show then stood in line awaiting the parade. As we were waiting I saw the guy in front of me was wearing a Celebrate Recovery backpack. I told him I liked his backpack and we proceeded to have a conversation. He was from Little Rock where he was in CR, had seven years in recovery, and professed to CR savin g his marriage and his life.

Next he introduced me to his CR pastor, who was there with him.  I shared a two minute synopsis of my story with them. We watched the parade, shook hands and acknowledged how nice it was to meet each
other and went about our merry way. It took us forever to get out, and my mind kept recalling the two people I had the pleasure of meeting over the course of the day.

As we were leaving my son saw the teenage girl again. He said, “Daddy, there is that big girl that was really nice and gave that little girl her hat. I want to do that when I get bigger.” Positive example was
downloaded into my son’s brain and I didn’t even have to set it. So thankful for some of the single serving people that come into our lives.

In closing, I had a fun day that was made even better by people representing what they wore. There was also another reminding me that if we profess it we better represent it, even if traffic sucks. How many people are drawn to Christ when we do good deeds and repelled when we are mean. Whether we see them or not, people are impacted by the things you do, be they good or bad!

From Shack to Temple - Week 2 (Down 13.3 Pounds)

This week was not nearly as good as last week, which is what I figured. I lost 10 pounds last week, and only 3.3 pounds this week. Did I say only???? Never mind that, I LOST 3.3 POUNDS THIS WEEK!!!!! Come to think of it, that is pretty awesome. That said, it was a very rough weekend, for sure. I keep forgetting that food is an addiction for me, and I need to watch and control it. I swear, it doesn't have to be drugs. One Ruffle's Smokehouse Style BBQ chip is too many, the entire bag is never enough!

For starters, I had a cheat day that lasted several hours longer than it should have. On my cheat day I am supposed to stop eating at 7. All started off well, waffles and turkey sausage with my first cup of coffee in a week. Then lunch after T-Ball practice of a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit. Then we went to Silver Dollar City, and it was Bluegrass and BBQ. I had a rack of ribs, baked beans, apple pie ala mode and a large frozen coke! Yum!!! That was  great day! It should have been over, but it was not.

Then I got to Springfield and it was almost 10. I did a Frisco Thick Burger with Bacon Cheese Fries from Hardees and several scoops of neapolitan ice cream with Reese's Shell on it. It actually started off as a double scoop, but then I had to finish off my son's for him. Next day should have been back to my diet, but I came in from mowing the lawn to my wife, sister, son and niece eating meatloaf and home made mashed potatoes. I did not pass it up, which I should have.

I am feeling very fortunate to have lost 3.3 pounds this week. I have continued the exercise, which is making me feel amazing. I am doing compound exercises that combine several muscles in each set, other than chest and back day. I am also doing cardio. I had someone talk to me about joining a running club, and I need to talk to him at church on Sunday and see what that entails. To be honest, it scares the living day lights out of me.

I continued to be impressed with the customer service at Supplement Superstore. I got a handwritten, page long card from the guy who has helped me, Jake, asking to be kept informed of my progress. I also have a friend, Michael, that is doing the Visalus 90 day challenge. I am keeping an eye on him and the program. I may have to try their products if I hit a sticking point in my routine. If you have never heard of the program, check his website out at http://teamdake.myvi.net/

I am still looking for a work out partner for several mornings a week. If you are at the Meyer Center and don't mind early morning workouts shoot me a message, email or text. I would benefit from somebody to push me at the gym. Next week I will put up the actual workouts that I am engaging in. Thanks for reading the update. Talk to you next Tuesday, when my goal is to lose another 3 pounds!