Have you ever waited for something for so long you wondered if it ever would get here? For over a year and a half I have been waiting for something that most people would rather avoid than pursue–surgery. For much of my life I have battled being overweight. It began as a young kid before I ever really remember consciously making a decision to eat a Big Mac instead of Cottage Cheese and pineapple for lunch. It just seems that I am predisposed to putting on weight easier and more quickly than others. Overweight as a child, I thinned out in my teen years due to a growth spurt, dieting, and a mom who made me begin exercising. Every night for several months we would walk the neighborhood. Notice I said “we.” Mom didn’t just tell me to get walking, she did it with me (I probably never said thanks for that, mom, but Thanks). With school activities, football, and everything else the weight stayed off through most of college.
Not long after marrying the weight started to creep up again. For a couple years I kept it at bay by running and dieting. For a year, Lori and lived right by a golf course. She was pregnant and so while she was busy being pregnant I would go out every night and jog around the golf course. I discovered a real fondness for running. I want to run again. After we moved I would run at the high school track to keep the weight off. But as a pastor with a pretty busy and sedentary life the weight came back with a vengeance. Folks who have never battled weight have no idea how hard it is to lose and maintain. And so through the years I have had many well meaning friends give me advice on losing weight. I’ll admit that my inner responses to them were not always so kind. Like most grossly overweight folks (and especially pastors) I would cover it up with humor. I never really thought of it, but perhaps God gave me a gift for humor as a way of dealing the immense inner pain young children go through when overweight. And I am now able to joke about it even though it hurts.
Did you hear about the preacher who told his staff that he wasn’t going to eat KrispyKremes any more? Yet the next morning he came in with a box of the deep fried demons. They asked him what was going on. He said that he was really tempted as he drove by the KK, so he prayed ot the Lord “If it’s Your will for me to eat a donut then show me by opening up a parking space right by the door.” “Sure enough,” he said, “on my 12th time around the parking lot a spot opened up right by the door.” Anyway . . . Although my weight has been fairly stable for the last few years, I never in my life thought I would weigh what I do now. How much is that? I’ll tell you later . . . after I’ve lost a good chunk of it.
Lately my health seems to be going downhill rather quickly. Add to that just my ability to be a good dad to my kids, pastor to my church, and most of all husband to my wife. I just reached the point where I have to do something. So a year and a half ago I started researching weight loss procedures and going to informational meetings. It didn’t take long to decide after prayer and talking with those who have gone this route that I need to do this. Not long before I began looking into this, Lori had begun working with the state and so now our insurance will cover such a procedures. God is good. But it was a long process to get everything done that needs to be done for the surgery. Just yesterday, I got the call from Hurley Bariatric in Flint that I have been approved having crossed every t and dotted every i. In the next couple of days the schedulers will call to give me my date. It will likely be the end of May or early June.
I am having a procedure called the Lap Band System. In this, a small band is placed around the top portion of the stomach to restrict the amount of food you can eat and provide a full sensation with less food. Then every so often they fill the band with saline to decrease the size of the band to assist in further weight loss after hitting a plateau. This procedure is less invasive than otherkinds of procedures and tends to provide a more lasting maintenance of weight. Initial weight loss isn’t as fast as the stomach bypass procedure, but I felt it was the better choice for me.
I just decided that I can continue to struggle with weight and probably not be successful or, at age 41, I can get this done and get the weight off and get my life back. This is not an easy quick fix. It will require a lot of sacrifice, lifestyle change, and work. But I am ready . . . past ready. I don’t want to live the rest of my life in this condition. Moreso, I don’t want those in my life to have to live with me in this condition. So please keep me in your prayers and check in as I will be journaling my journey to health on this blog. I was struck this morning by the words of a song by the group “Switchfoot” called This is Your Life. “This is your life-are you who you want to be. This is your life-are you who you want to be-this is your life-is it everything you’ve dreamed it would be-when the world was younger and you had everything to lose.” I love everything about my life. I have great kids. I have a wonderful wife whom I love more than I could ever say. I pastor a church with wonderful people and amazing potential. But when I look in the mirror the man I see is not who I want to be. I like the song–we only get one life in this world. One life–one chance to be all that God made us to be. This is my life, and I’m going to take it back!
“…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1
Chris Higgins 