I have had good days and harder days on this journey. I am not going to lie, today was a harder day. The day has tried to get away from me more than once. However, I am here at the end of it again finishing up the needful.

I have a thought this evening. It is easy to question myself and why I waited so long to finally make a change. It is a useless question. The real question is, what do I do from this point forward?

That is all I have any control over. The past is gone. I can learn from it, but lamenting over it and wanting to change it…not going to happen. So, I have to look at the choices I make from here on out. How do I stay on the consistent path?

That is what we are driving for…consistency.

Oh my goodness. I am excited. I have officially lost over 40 pounds this year. Let me write that again with more excitement!!! I have lost OVER 40 pounds this year!!!

I weighed in on a biometric scale today. You know, one of those fancy scales that you get on barefooted and it tells you all about you…your BMI, your weight, your resting calories, your lottery numbers….ok, that last one maybe not. I was blown away by the results.

Before I started my current journey I had lost a little weight. Not a ton, but I was seeing a few pounds lost. At my heaviest I weighed in at 297 pounds. I think I may have had a mental breakdown if I had hit 300. I was down. I was depressed. I needed a change.

Enter September 11th. That evening I sat down and wrote a list of 7 things that I would do every day. I have shared about this several times. Between my fitness and food goals, I have lost a lot of weight.

Don’t believe me? Check this out…

From 297 to 254. Boom. AND…I am just getting warmed up. Let’s kick this into gear and really see where it goes.

Do you ever have times when things don’t turn out quite as expected? You thought it would be one way, but it turned out to be another way all together? I’ve had one of those experiences today.

I’m not as tired as I expected to be. It’s been a busy two weeks. Along with my 100 Day Strong goals, I have been a part of a large Christmas production at my church. We have had rehearsals almost every day for two weeks. We then had 8 shows over 5 days.

It was a wonderful success, but after all of the hard work, I expected to be exhausted. I am tired, but in a very content way. In some ways I am surprised. How did I get here and not be worn out?

I have made it through this time successfully for two reasons that I would like to share:

1. The work I have done over the last 91 days has given me more energy and more endurance and I have had many years. I can go longer and further than before. I can’t even begin to describe how thankful I am for this.

2. Being a part of some thing larger than yourself is an awesome experience. There is a certain high that comes after you finish the job that is very rewarding. I’ve had this feeling after running a half marathon, and also after performing and shows. I prefer performing in shows. My shins don’t hurt as bad.

There is also reflection that comes after participating in the show like that. You get the opportunity to be around amazing people, and to share one-of-a-kind experiences. I am thankful that I got to be a part of it all.

So, here at the end of the day, I am finishing up the last few things I need to do. I am tired. I am happy. The goals keep moving forward. The finish line is in sight. #finishstrong #keepmovingforward

Today is day 90. I am 10 days from completing my 100 Day Strong goal. I am so close I can taste it. Just a little further. I am almost there.

I wrote the above paragraph as a remind that now is not the time to quit. I have to push through. I have to keep going. Even though it is getting rough, I have to keep going.

Why is it rough? Our church musical is in full swing. We have run three shows today. Needless to say it has been a very long day. That does not give me permission to skip. We are still headed to 100 Days Strong.

My thought is if I can make it through this, I can keep my healthy choices up after the 100 days is over. That is the thing I am building through all of this. Consistency. This is becoming a habit that is worth keeping. So, we keep going.

Ten more days to go. It is time to finish strong.

There are times when I can barely contain the pride I have for my son. I have been proud of him all his life, but I can feel it so much stronger these days watching him become an exceptional young man.

I have numerous reasons, but there are three I want to share:

1. He is sweet on his mama. This is big to me. Their relationship has been awesome over the years, and it keeps getting better. He takes care of her. He looks out for her. He is sweet on her. It makes me very proud.

2. He loves being around kids younger than him. He doesn’t look down on littles. He is kind. He will play games with them. He looks after them like they were his siblings. He is kind. I love it.

3. He loves God. I could have put this one first, but chose to finish with it because this is so awesome. He does his best to make good decisions and honor the way God wants him to love. So proud.

I absolutely love being a dad. Even more than that, I love being his dad. I never expected it to be so good. I treasure it every day. I look forward to the man he is becoming. He makes me so proud.