Road trip refreshed

Last week, I hit the road with my two sons. My husband was working all week at a kids' camp, so instead of taking time off and just being at home, we packed up the car and headed a few hours south.

From Indiana to Kentucky to Tennessee to Kentucky back to Indiana - we spent time with people I really, really love - but life has kept me from them for years. There was a quick lunch in Kentucky with a treasured friend who I seldom see. Then hours of little cousins playing with little cousins. Then deep fun and reminicing with a family of 7 who I adore. Then we stayed in Kentucky with the parents of a sweet friend from church - total strangers who treated us like family.

I'm exhausted, but so refreshed. Friends, family, hospitality, love, new sights, car games, laughter - some of the best things in life.

Outliving Life

Sometimes, something crosses your path - and then it changes your path. For me, in September, that something was Max Lucado's book Outlive Your Life. Now, we could converge on the same beautiful path for one, important, "outlive" project.

On Sunday, September 26th, I was in my closet, lamenting as I put away clothes. "I have all these clothes, but I'm only fitting into 2 pairs of jeans and a couple tops. This is silly. I'm a joke." Every weekend, I would plan on paper how I was going to start eating well and moving more, and each week nothing changed. My weight had been solid at 208 for almost a year. Nothing was changing, but I kept pretending something would.

From the closet, exasperated, I asked God, "So what motivates me? What REALLY motivates me?!"

Slowly, but clearly, three answers came:

1) Money

2) Competition (mainly with myself)

3) Inspired projects where someone is tangibly helped - and it draws them closer to God.

By now I was pacing through my bedroom, smiling. I said, "Okay, so what can I do to COMBINE all three?"

Motivation dynamite was about to be lit.

Over the next few days, this plan was birthed:

For the 3 month span of October 1, 2010 to January 1, 2011, I would track my weight. I would find as many friends as I could to pledge $1 per pound, knowing that each dollar would be pure motivation to stay with a sensible eating & exercise plan. And the money? It would go to a worthwhile, Christian outreach serving widows and orphans worldwide: Compassion International.

Since October 1st, with the motivation of over 200 friends, I've melted off 26 pounds. Through reading two books, The End of Overeating by Dr. David A. Kessler and The New American Diet by Steve Perrine, I've stopped overeating. And the foods I do eat are now nutrient-dense lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. I've become very intentional about nurturing myself. And I've offered my body to God as a living sacrifice.

It has been pure, heavenly motivation knowing that each pound of fat is going to help change the life of a hungry child.

Here is why you are reading this.

There is a project that we could make happen together through Compassion International that would equate to you and I outliving our lives.

"Cramped, make-shift kitchens and a lack of ventilation make it difficult to feed 630 children attending four Child Development Centers in India. Compassion’s four church partners are each seeking to build proper kitchen infrastructures, with storage, to better service the children in their care. Once a day, at four Child Development Centers in India, 630 children eat a balanced, healthy meal. Without this daily meal, these children would not have any nutritious food in their stomachs."

The full project cost is $27,475.

It is the transference of health. By January 1st, I'm reaching to be within the range of my healthy BMI at 170lbs. That would be 38 pounds total. My fat and your compassion would be used to fund an ongoing project that would serve poor children and reach out to their families.

Let's outlive our lives together!

It would be a one-time gift somewhere between $30 and $38. If you want to help, just click on this link that will take you to the Facebook page where others have said "Yes, I wan to be on Team Outlive!" By joining this Facebook group, you're saying that in January, you'll make a gift to Compassion International.

Thank you for considering giving a gift to motivate and, more importantly, to make a difference.

As long as we are alive, we can together live out Jesus' words from Matthew 5:14-16 in the Message Bible:

"You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

Let's Outlive!

Lisa Williams

godsradiogirl.com

look people in the eye

just got back from the grocery store.
Superbowl Sunday in Indianapolis.
everyone was wearing Colts clothes.

and even though it's a huge day for the city...
and it could be like a pep-rally in the aisle...

no eye contact at all in the grocery store. i checked with over 2 dozen people.

only one small woman buying cupcake mix made quick eye contact with me. and smiled at the cupcake mix as i passed, an almost human contact moment.

everyone seemed...
focused, busy, preoccupied.
almost sad, but not really.
kinda cold, like the weather.

maybe it's about safety?
protecting themselves from interaction?
maybe it's just the culture here?

it reminds me to:

look people in the eye.
see them.
respond to them.
smile at people.
be alive.
notice things.
respectful, but engaged.
honest, but un-intrustive.
kind and warm.
available.
present.

these are great qualities that translate on the radio.

people are drawn to these qualities.

better than TV

or Facebook.
or Tweeting.

i thought i'd spend more of my free time writing.

then maybe i can capture these roaming radio (and such) thoughts and wrangle them into sentences and paragraphs for safekeeping outside my crammed and cloudy cranium.

for example, here's a topic:

Friendship ministry.

i was reminded this week that Christian radio is a friendship ministry. at least the kind of Christian radio that i feel called to. because K-LOVE is national, getting "out" and meeting listeners that are representitive of who we're talking to each day is...rare. on the K-LOVE cruise, i got to hear/see/touch a microcosm of our listeners. every state was represented. except for Conneticut. :)

and over and over again, i saw the faces of friends. friends who just lost their husbands. recently had surgery. just watched their daughter graduate. were celebrating 35 years of marriage. many on their first cruise ever.

i long to be a real person on the radio. not someone trying to change you, teach you, or convince you. just a friend, experiencing life with and seeking God with those who listen.

the palm trees, the water, the islands, the food, the concerts... all amazing. but the faces and stories were precious, life-changing, and highly affirming to my soul.