I want to take a moment to express gratitude. My wife is the best. I am so very thankful for her. She has been my best friend and my favorite person in this world for over 24 years.

Here are three reasons (out of a ba-gillion):

1. I have (aside from Jesus) never had a better friend. Our friendship just gets better and better with the years.

2. She is an amazing mother. My son is awesome. He is respectful. He is kind and considerate. He has manners. His influence? His mama. She is the best.

3. She is crazy creative. She makes everything around her more beautiful. I absolutely love it.

I love my wife.

That is the post.

I wrote the words below some time ago, but ran across them today and wanted to share. I continue to journey with this beautiful woman. It is a wonderful adventure.

It seems like I have known you forever. And also like it’s only been days. Our love is still fresh, but so rich and deep.

We feel in love so quick. Many wondered if it would stick, I never doubted us for a moment.

I knew that We had found it. A love that was real and lasting. So, we marched confidently into the future.

We are not where we thought we’d be. But, that is completely ok. Where we are is better. I love who we are becoming.

It’s not an adventure if you know the path. There is no one I would rather do it with. You are my best friend.

I love it that I get to walk with you. That you are my partner through it all. I wouldn’t be me if it weren’t for you.

We are now two decades down this road. There are wonders and indescribable beauties. The best one of all my love is you, the woman I love.

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