my health

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A Week Of Eating Out

I don’t know how single guys do it – I’d be broke and weigh about 500 pounds if I wasn’t married.  I’d never think about it though, if it wasn’t for a week like this past one.

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Reality set in Friday night. I don’t go away all that often, and Lily goes away on her own even less, but this past week we were both away … separately.

I had some meetings in the Toronto area Tuesday and Wednesday, and Lily had work meetings in Montreal Wednesday to Friday.

The hard part was figuring out our vehicle situation because number one son also needed a car for parts of the week. But once that was settled, we were all good.

… Except for the food thing.

While I was away, I was eating meals brought into our meetings and going out to restaurants. When I got home, Lily was gone so it was just eating out at restaurants for me.

Lil said something to Mike our son about checking in with Dad around dinner time and his comment was, “Ya, I guess he won’t be cooking”.

He had that right. I make a mean hot oat bran cereal in the morning, but past that my skills and desire fall pretty flat.

So over the week I had pizza twice, subs once, fajitas once, hamburgers twice, a hotdog, and of course, I had hot wings.

I almost fasted over lunch one day. I had played hockey at noon and missed lunch. I almost thought I didn’t need anything, but when I was nearing Harvey’s, I got a hankering for a hotdog.

So the craziest thing happened – the car just automatically turned into the parking lot and parked itself. It was just like one of those Ford car commercials where they let go of the steering wheel and the car takes over and parks.

I just had to go in then!

You can see that if this was a regular pattern of eating for me, my weight would skyrocket and I would be burning the strip right off my debit card.

Though I might not get that far, according to my doctor my cholesterol would soar, and my arteries would clog up like putting a drain stopper in a sink.

I have to be careful, and I’m glad that Lil’s now home and I’m getting good healthy meals … well except for tonight – it’s Saturday night and there’s a hockey game on.

You know what that means: it’s hot wings and a Dr. Pepper . . . mmm  . . .  I can feel by blood pressure on the rise just thinking about it.

I know what you’re thinking: Paul needs an intervention. But listen, it’s only one week, and I’ll be back to eating carrots, broccoli and almonds for lunches before you even get to read this.

That’s right, I’ll be back saving money and getting slim. I just have to finish off that darn candy sitting around the house from Christmas.

Here’s the thing: There are all kinds of interruptions that come into our day, our week, our life. They get us off track from taking time with God. Don’t let them permanently derail you. Don’t get down because you missed a few days. Just start today and get yourself back into the groove of taking that regular time with God. He’s waiting for you, and He’s not going to beat you up about missing some days. He’s happy to have you back spending time with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What patterns do you fall into when you fall out of routine? Leave your comment below.

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Being Firstborn Increases Your Duty

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I think my firstborn nature is keeping me from reaching one of my goals. There is something about firstborns that they are duty-bound.

They diligently follow through on something until it’s complete. We have a kind of gyroscopic equilibrium deep inside us that does not stabilize until we have done what we think is right.

Of course, what we think is right probably came from all the “no’s” we got from our parents in the first two years of life. The more “no’s” we got back then, the harder it is now to maintain that inner balance.

How this is playing out for me right now is with food and my weight goal. I hope to reach my target weight goal by the end of the month but the problem is we are over a week into the new year and I’m still trying to clean up the excesses of Christmas food.

… Not so much the turkey, more like the candy, baking, and other calorie-laden edibles.

You see, right now along with every meal, I also have to consume morsels of good cheer that are lingering in our pantry and fridge.

And yes, I said “have to” because of my firstborn nature, and the program my parents instilled in me before I was really accountable for anything.

Those Ferrero Rochers HAVE TO be eaten. Lil’s allergic to hazelnuts so I HAVE TO do them in. Then there are the liquorice allsorts and the peanut brittle, and . . . I could go on and on.

I’m not even mentioning the cookies and other baking.

Every time I open the pantry, I start to get vertigo unless I pop something in my mouth. This firstborn thing is really getting to me. I know what I need to be doing, but this thing I have about cleaning up is killing me!

With every piece of chocolate, every Christmas cookie, I sense my cholesterol on the rise. But I say to myself, “It’s just until I get rid of all this stuff.”

The problem is there’s so much of it. And because Lil’s not a firstborn, it’s all on me to do the clean up.

I know, it’s a heavy weight to bear . . . literally.

I have a choice to make. I either gorge myself and get rid of it all quickly (and in the process gain about 10 more pounds), or I slowly kill myself by eating just bits every day.

I think my second choice would take until March which is way past my target weight date. But the other prospect will have me living on my new rowing machine for hours every day to work off the poundage I’ll be putting on.

I just wish my parents hadn’t said “no” so often when I was a child so I didn’t have to say “yes” so often now.

Well it’s morning now, and the cream I’ve been adding to the milk with my cereal is finished so I’m done with that. I will, however, need to finish off Lily’s caramel corn later today.  Man, it never ends.

Here’s the thing: There are a lot of things that we might feel bound to – one of those things should be our spiritual growth. We should have a feeling deep inside that things are not quite right unless we are growing spiritually. We should feel like we are out of sorts unless we take care of our spiritual needs. Stay stabilized and commit to your spiritual growth this year.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you plan to grow spiritually this year? Leave your comment below.

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From Bad News To Work Out Room

I wrote earlier this fall about some bad news I got from my doctor. I had had a blood test, waited about three weeks, and thought I was in the clear, only to have my doctor pull me aside one day and tell me my cholesterol was high.

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I cringed, of course, but I kind of knew it – I had been pretty liberal with my snacking in the last while.

Since then I started to change my eating patterns. I wrote about this in a September blog called, “Difficult Choice” (your can read it here).

In that time, I’ve lost about 10 or so pounds. I say “or so” because on a given day I can go up or down as much as three and a half pounds.

It’s kind of crazy – I’m not sure if it’s my scale that’s lying to me or whether the pizza I had the other night really did put 3 pounds on me!

The thing is, I’ve been doing this for about three months and I think I’ve kind of hit a wall. I don’t seem to be able to get past the 10 or so pounds and go lower to reach my goal.

It’s time to start phase two of my plan. However, phase two requires Lily’s help.

No, I’m not asking her to make certain foods for me, or spot me when I lift weights, I need her to agree to let me purchase a rowing machine. I’ve wanted one for two years now since I took a  cardiac rehab course.

At the clinic they had a rowing machine and I really got hooked on that piece of equipment.  However, they are not cheap. I’ve wanted one but no one has sprung the cash to get me one for my birthday or anything.

Well that is until now. Somehow, without any real arm-twisting on my part, Lil thought we could make it a Christmas present to each other.

It’s really going to cut down on gift wrap this year, and Christmas morning we’re not going to have much to open because we ordered it and it’s already arrived!

My son had been telling people for ages that he no longer had a bedroom at our house, that we had turned it into a workout room. But all I had previously done was stick a weightlifting bench in the middle of all his stuff.

Now Mike has a real case for telling people he has no bedroom at home. I’ve taken his old room, cleared out most of the debris, set up my mountain bike on a trainer, put a weight bench in the room … and now have a brand new rowing machine as well!

My new gym room is nicer than many hotel workout rooms. And I’m counting on it to help me get past the 10 pound barrier and on to my goal.

Here’s the thing: To ensure I stay physically healthy, I’ve had to take some significant measures. What I was doing wasn’t getting me to where I needed to be. Your spiritual life is the same. You can’t just keep the same devotional time with God that you began with. To get where God wants you to be, you need to take measures to make your time with God more impacting on your life. You have to up your commitment level to spiritual growth.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you started that you realize you need to up your commitment level to? Leave your comment below.

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Evaluate and Make A Plan

Recently, I made a plan to exercise more regularly. I looked back over the past spring and summer and noticed that I have biked only half as much as I did the previous year.

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I’m not sure whether it was because of the weather or me just being a slug. Whatever the reason, I turned into a slug regardless.

Now I’m trying to work my way back to a regular exercise routine, so I’m looking for a little cooperation from several sources: weather, schedule, and equipment.

I’ve taken a little time to evaluate and research the top contributing obstacles to my regular exercise.

Weather is a big one for me, especially in the spring, summer and early fall, because all my exercise is geared for outdoor activity. I mountain bike and play golf, and though golf is not a high level of exercise, it does keep my step count up.

And I depend on consecutive days of dry weather, because the day after a rain the trails are sloppy, slippery and generally a mess. This year it seemed like we couldn’t get more than a couple of days in a row of good weather, which leads me to my next obstacle.

My schedule this year didn’t provide me with the freedom I needed to get out there and make a difference with my health.

I regularly bike on Mondays, Wednesday evenings and Saturdays and it seemed this year that there was a meeting or I was out of town or some other responsibility kept me from hitting the trails.

Other times that I found myself free to go, I ran into the weather problem – it was raining or it had rained hard the day before.

What I really need is an option that gives me freedom to exercise regardless of the weather and my schedule – something I can do indoors and can fit between finishing at the office and an evening meeting.

And that is where my third obstacle comes into play: equipment. I don’t have the equipment I need at home to make that work. Getting a gym membership doesn’t work for when I don’t have much time.

I need equipment at home ready to go. Something like a rowing machine.

When I did rehab after my heart attack, they had me use a rowing machine as part of my exercise routine. I really enjoyed that piece of equipment.

They had me on other equipment too, but it was the rowing that I enjoyed the most. The treadmill was boring and the elliptical, well I had to be careful not to get out of rhythm with it and fall off the thing.

I really didn’t like the movement, maybe because I can’t dance.

No. A rowing machine is what I need. I’ve done the research. Of course, they’re expensive, but I have narrowed it down to one or two possible makes.

Now all I have to do is convince my wife. How’d I do, Lil?

Here’s the thing: After making a decision to do something, evaluation and planning are what come next. And it is true with your relationship with God as well. If you feel convinced that God is asking something of you, or you feel convicted to do something for God, evaluate your life, determine the obstacles and plan a method of overcoming them. Then follow through.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacles are in your way of following what God is asking you to do?  Leave your comment below.

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Difficult Choice

It’s alway more difficult to make the hard choice over the easy one.

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Not long ago I did a blood test for my doctor. I say it’s for him because he’s the one that asked for it. Personally, I had no desire to have a blood test.

It was not anything special, just a routine test I should probably have every year … but I’ve extended it a little – like about 2 1/2 years!

Since the test, I’ve been holding my breath hoping that my blood was red or the right colour of red, or whatever they were looking for in my blood. One week went by and I thought, “That’s a good sign. I haven’t heard anything, so maybe everything’s good.”

But I wasn’t convinced, so I thought I’d hold my breath for another week, just to make sure. The week went by; still nothing from my doctor and I was starting to think about breathing again.  That’s when my doctor informed me that my cholesterol was high.

My first thought was, “What’s wrong with my cholesterol pills? Are they not working? Did they give me a placebo? Are they past their expiry date?” Then I realized, no, I just thought I was immune to bad cholesterol while being on them.

I’d been living large, thinking I could eat anything because my cholesterol pills would eradicate any of the bad stuff out of my system.

My doctor and I had a brief chat about my recourse: Option 1 was to double my cholesterol pills.  If I did that maybe I could go on eating as I pleased. But I wanted a different option. Option 2 was lose weight.

I’ve done that before. I lost 28 pounds in six months once. I lost 10 pounds when I had my heart attack. There were a couple of times I lost 5 pounds just by getting the flu.

But this is a little different. I have to have a plan for eating, and I know that’s not going to be easy.

When I lost that 28 pounds, I only ate things that were low on the glycemic index. That got rather boring after a while and difficult to manage. So this time my strategy is a little different. I’m only eating at meal times. I’m not restricting my diet, just not eating outside breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I started five days ago and it’s been doable. There have been a couple of times I’ve wanted to search out a little snack in the evening, but I’ve resisted heading for the panty where I’ve got a stash of liquorice.

I don’t like not being able to snack, but the crazy thing is I’m feeling better. I’ve also lost 4 pounds (by the way, I’m whispering so my wife doesn’t hear me write this – it bugs her that I can lose weight so easily).

Losing weight has not been a problem for me when I really work at it. Like most people, my problem is in keeping it off! My desire for a good burger and fries, wings, Dr. Pepper, chocolate, liquorice – well you get the idea – is strong!

Right now I’m motivated for the challenge … we’ll see where this takes me.

Here’s the thing: I’ve chosen the hard option – to reduce my cholesterol – but many are inclined to take the easy way. The life of a Christian is not taking the easy way. It is taking the hard option of being obedient to God and His will over living to one’s own impulses and desires. It will always be a challenge and the easy way will always be a temptation.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you had to choose between the hard and easy options? Leave your comment below.

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Why You Get Springtime Colds

There’s nothing worse than a springtime cold – partly because you’re not supposed to get a cold when the weather is warm (or just “warmer” this spring).

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Colds are for the dead of winter when it’s nasty outside, -30 and everyone is trapped inside to spread their germs around like kids trading hockey cards in Johnny’s basement.

But I could see this one coming on. I could have predicted it. I let myself get run-down and then put myself in situations where I could easily catch what someone else was trying to get rid of.

I had a couple of late nights and then a trip to Toronto and back the same night. The next morning I had to be up for a seven o’clock meeting, so I only got a few hours of sleep.

I knew right then I was vulnerable. My office is rather frigid at this “in between seasons” time of year, so I was also a little chilled during the day.

Then on the weekend, at a family get together, there were several who were fighting off colds and other bugs, and Sunday I shook a lot of hands at church, hands that are filled with germs.

Monday I started sneezing and blowing my nose. I don’t think I’ve ever sneezed as much as I have this week. I would say for the first four days I must have sneezed about thirty times each day.

I normally sneeze in two’s. My brother’s sneeze pattern is about 4 or 5 in a row. This week I was sneezing like my brother, multiple sneezes almost every time.

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and I worried that I wouldn’t have a voice to preach on Sunday. I know my congregation prays for me … I’m just hoping they’re praying that I have a voice and not the other way around!

The last two days I really haven’t felt all that great. But this morning, after a very restless night, I thought playing hockey would be the ticket to get me feeling better.

There was no sore throat when I got up so I put on an extra sweatshirt and let my pores push all those bad bugs out of me while I sweat. I wrote about this method in my blog “Guaranteed To Cure The Common Cold” (you can read it here).

This is not the time of year to be having a lingering cold. It’s no fun BBQ-ing and not being able to taste the Montreal Steak Spice on your steak, or being able to smell the fresh breeze while you’re outside doing yard work.

No one wants to be looking out the window at the green grass, budding trees and feeling too lousy to get out there to do anything.

It’s a different story in the middle of the winter with the snow piled up to the window sills and the wind howling at the front door. When it’s like that you’re almost glad you don’t feel like going outside.

I guess I better pay closer attention to the needs of my body.

Here’s the Thing: Like a springtime cold, when you find yourself in a situation when you think, “This shouldn’t be happening to me”, take time to dissect it. God may be trying to teach you through your experience. Don’t just accept it without seeking to find what God wants you to learn from it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you learned from a situation you didn’t think you should be in? I’d really like to hear from you. You can leave a message below.

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Why Your Arm Goes Numb When You Sleep

When I sleep, sometimes the circulation to my arms gets cut off. I understand that it’s good to get a deep sleep, but your limbs shouldn’t be going to sleep on you, as well.

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In fact, when your arms do get all pins and needles, it wakes you up from whatever depth of sleep you were in so your arm won’t turn blue and need to be amputated.

I’ve been sleeping the same way my whole life, so to have this arm-numbing feeling rouse me in the middle of the night is a little disturbing. It never used to happen.

I’m thinking it’s an age thing. Stuff inside gets pinched or constricted in some way and, BAM, all of a sudden you’re dreaming about an elastic band being wrapped around your arm just above the elbow.

There have been a couple of times I’ve woken up and haven’t been able to feel my arm. I worry that my arm will get so starved of blood it’ll become useless to me. I will have to walk around with my arm dangling and I’ll be unable to use it or stop it.

Just the other day, however, I discovered that my muscles are too tight and that’s what’s causing the circulation in my arms to be cut off.

Apparently, I need to loosen up some of the muscles around my neck and shoulders. I’m wondering if I had have stretched more if I wouldn’t have this problem now.

I’ve never liked to stretch. I know experts say you should stretch before and after you work out, but I’ve never done it; I’ve never felt the need to. I’m not the most flexible guy, but I never thought it has hurt me in any way.

But maybe if I’d been stretching all these years, my arms wouldn’t feel like a couple of 2×4’s attached to my body at two in the morning.

Another theory I have is the older we get the tighter we get, the more tension we carry in our muscles, and the more they start to put the squeeze on our nerve pathways until they can’t transmit information from the brain to that limb or back.

It’s like when you’re driving and talking on your cell phone to a friend (using hands-free bluetooth, of course). When you suddenly enter an area that doesn’t have a cell tower to give you a signal, your phone call goes dead and you’ve lost the connection with your friend.

With a phone, you have to re-enter a cell area and make a new connection. The good thing with your arm is you just have to wait a few seconds until the connection is restored automatically.

So now I’m doing some exercises and stretches to limber up my muscles in hopes that my arms won’t take any more liberties of catching a few extra zzz’s while my brain doesn’t know what’s going on.

In the mean time, if I find my arm is tingling at 4 am, I know it’s not my “spidey sense” and that the “Sandman” isn’t robbing an armoured car or something (Spider-Man 3 movie).

Here’s the thing: Prayer is one of the greatest connections we have with God. If we restrict our prayer with God, we will for sure hinder our communication with Him. Praying regularly and often will keep the connection flowing and prevent you from having that numbing feeling when you have lost the means to transmit your thoughts and needs to God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What causes you to restrict your prayer times with God?

I would really love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below.

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How Darkness Causes You To Stumble

I’m wondering if you can become more klutzy as you get older. I wouldn’t say that I have the greatest hand eye coordination but I’ve always been able to negotiate my way around things.

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But not last night. I was working at the church and had gone out to run an errand. When I came back, I didn’t turn on any lights except for in my office. So, by the time I was done for the night, the church was pitch black dark.

The church foyer is pretty open so I made my way across it to the stairs. I started down the stairs and right near the bottom something caught my eye. It may have been a reflection or something but I looked up and then missed the last one or two stairs.

Well that was it – it would have made a great video! I sprawled out, my computer bag went flying, and I landed hard on both knees, which are not the greatest to begin with.

I rolled on the ground for a second, waiting for the pain to subside, then stood up, grabbed my bag and left. No harm, no foul. No one saw my wipe out. I didn’t suffer any kind of injury. But I felt pretty dumb.

When I was in my teens my bedroom was in the far end of our basement. There were two flights of steps to go down, and to get to my room I had to walk through two other rooms.

Instead of turning on a light at the top of the stairs, then turning on a light in my room and going back to the top of the stairs to turn that light out again, I would just make my way to my room in the dark.

I not only had the stairs to contend with, but I had couches, lamp stands, and any number of other objects that would be in my way. But I made it; I never fell down the stairs, never banged my knee into a door frame.

What happened to me last night, I don’t know. I’m just glad I wasn’t chewing gum at the same time; it might have been a disaster.

I know some people would try to tell me that I should look where I’m going. But really, I’ve been walking for well over 50 years! I think by now I should be able to cheat on that a little bit and get away with it.

Every morning I walk down a dark hallway, turning a Q-tip in my ear, and so far I haven’t jammed my elbow against the wall and sent that Q-tip clean through to my other ear.

Maybe my fall was an isolated incident, some kind of fluke that won’t happen again. Or maybe it’s the start of a clumsiness that will find me in traction drinking through a straw!

I guess I will just have to see what happens.

Here’s the thing: In the dark, even a glint of light catches our attention. Our eyes are drawn to it. But in the light, these little glints aren’t even noticeable. God has given us a great light in the Bible, and if we will read it, know it, and use it, all the little theories, fads, and ideas won’t distract us and cause us to fall.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your greatest source of distraction? Leave your comment below.

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What You Do When You Have Words To Say But No Voice

I have no voice and only one day now to find it. Tomorrow I will be preaching at church and today I sound like Marlon Brando from the Godfather.

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For that movie, I understand they put cotton balls in his cheeks to help give him that sound. I don’t need the cotton, it’s all natural, listen … “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”.   Not bad, eh?

I know you can’t hear that but, take it from me, I sound just like Don Corleone. And that’s my problem! I need to sound like Paul Silcock by tomorrow at 10:30 am, so you can bet I will be trying all the remedies I’ve heard in the past.

I’ll be checking the internet for solutions, because I understand doctors do that, too. Today I’m going to soothe my throat with some “Fisherman’s Friends” lozenges … hourly.

I don’t really like the taste of them but they’re supposed to be great if you’re fishing in the ocean around the Bay of Fundy on a stormy day. I’ll only be trolling for amens in a warm and dry sanctuary tomorrow, so they should work there, too.

If my mother-in-law finds out what state I’m in she will be pushing echinacea on me. I had a difficult time finding the spelling for echinacea and that goes with the difficult time I have in figuring out what it actually does.

But that doesn’t matter. My mother-in-law thinks echinacea works for pretty much any ailment you might have.

I’m not one for taking medicine of any kind, but I think I might have to take a trip to the drug store and find some magic elixir that will do something to my throat to release my vocal chords from the prison they find themselves in right now.

Then there is my congregation to think about. They may enjoy a more soft spoken, gentler, mafia-sounding preacher for a change.

I think if I ended my sermon with something like “Today God’s making you an offer you can’t refuse”, I may need some help with all the people that might come forward.

I’m really glad that I live in this time period; I have so many help options to choose from. If I lived an hundred years ago, not only would I not have many solutions, I probably wouldn’t have a microphone to help magnify my voice.

One thing is for sure, I’m not putting Vicks VapoRub on my chest. My mother did that to me as a kid, and I hated it. Now I have hair on my chest; there is just no way I’m dealing with that mess!

Nor will I try my Dad’s old remedy of eating onion sandwiches. He would get those little onions and slice them up, arrange the slices on two pieces of toast and enjoy. He probably got that idea from my grandmother. I hate onions.

Well I’ll let you know what happens.

Here’s the thing: There are many things I could do to help my sore throat, and I will try some. But the thing that I’m counting on, what I’m putting my hope in, is God making my voice work tomorrow. I’m praying that He will give me a voice. That doesn’t mean I won’t try anything else, but He’s my first and main source of help for my situation.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you treat a sore throat or laryngitis? Leave your comment below.

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Why The Older You Get The Harder It Gets To Keep Going

This morning I played hockey at 6:30 am and, as I reflect on it, I am feeling old. Both my elbows are sore. I’m not sure whether I have tennis elbow or some other injury, but I think I just have to live with it, if I want to keep playing.

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This was my first game since before Christmas so I’m still a little winded right now, lounging on my couch in our family room writing this blog. I haven’t done anything active for a while (except shovel snow) so I wasn’t at the top of my game.

There were younger guys playing who had lots of energy. I used to have energy, loved to skate hard and could go forever. Now my hips get tired if I go for too long, so I have to coast a bit or go back on defence.

I notice I’m playing defence a lot more these days. I used to hate being a rear guard, working behind the play, throwing the puck up to the forwards and watching the play develop.

I was always in the middle of the action. I was quick to break out and always went to the net. I still play with that sense and urge, except now I don’t mind taking a turn initiating the play and watching it unfold as I coast up the ice catching my breath.

Don’t get me wrong, I would never want to be a full-time defenceman – that’s not me. It’s just that I need a change of pace from skating hard and crashing the net.

I was a little surprised this morning that my knee felt pretty good. I wear a custom-made carbon fibre brace on my left knee, to give it support because of a torn ACL. I’ve been wearing this brace and it’s predecessor for the past 23 years.

This thing has been a lifesaver. With it, I’ve been able to play baseball, hockey, snow ski, and water ski. Without it, I doubt I would have been able to do any of those things.

But even with my brace, in the last while my knee has not felt as stable. It feels like it is deteriorating a bit and I may need to have it scoped again some time.

Being a pastor, I’ve done my fare share of visiting people in the hospital who’ve had hip replacements, knee replacements, and open heart surgery, and their stories stick with me. I hope I won’t be in their place one day.

However, with all my aches and pains, I can’t rule that out. I never saw myself as having parts that would wear out. Now I wonder about that.

My right elbow has regressed, it feels like it did about two weeks ago. It hurts to even bring my hand up to my face. Oh well, I’ll play again on Monday and try to get myself back in shape. Once I start playing I don’t really think about my aches and pains.

There’s something about being in the action that dulls all those twinges of discomfort.

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to let little annoyances and pains stop you from doing activities that are good for you. They can become a great excuse, and justify giving up. You find the same thing in your spiritual growth. Little things will try to keep you from continuing on the path of growth. Don’t give in, keep growing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find gets in the way of you growing spiritually? Leave your comment below.