Day Five: On Purpose Living

You'll notice that I missed my entry for Day 4. Long story. I did OK yesterday, but  I went over my calories again by 200. Part of that was not writing everything down before eating.

Here's some thing I know about journaling:  Write down and add up your calories, (or points, if you're doing Weight Watchers) before you eat.

I often tend to record what I've eaten after the meal. Unfortunately, with my brain, I can forget to write it down until long afterwards. That's when you forget what you actually ate.

On the bright side, my average over the last 4 days is under 1800 calories per day. I didn't do any walking yesterday. But I did drink all the water.

Today I read day two of The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren. God has a plan and a purpose for my life. Sometimes I'm not so sure. Sometimes I think I've screwed it up so badly, missed my chances, and all I get now is the consolation prize. 

For so many years I've felt like I've lived on accident. When I was younger, I drifted aimlessly from one dead end job to another, all perfectly suited to the skills and education I had, and all guaranteed to keep Michelle, our son Jon and me on the ragged edge of poverty.

Seemingly by accident I got a job in the sheet metal trade installing gas heating systems and water tanks for Washington Natural Gas Co. (now PSE). That led to a job at Boeing. When I got laid off at Boeing on March 19, 1993, yes, I still remember the date, I realized I needed to live on purpose.

Unfortunately, I decided to live for my own purpose. As a christian, I was deeply interested in knowing what God's will for us was, but I've never felt like I really knew what that purpose was, so I found it easy to substitute my own plans for His. 

What's this all have to do with losing weight? I don't know. I just know it's what I'm thinking about right now. I do believe God has a plan and a purpose for my life. I fervently hope I've not missed out on it. And if I have missed out on what He'd originally planned, then I don't want to miss out on his backup plan.

Lord, please help me to stay the course. Help me to do the things you want me to do. Help me to be faithful and diligent. Amen.