A
couple of months after my big mental and emotional crash in the
summer of 1999, I decided I needed to get a new Best Friend. I
had just seen a movie in which Gene Hackman had a Jack Russell
Terrier on board his submarine, and he claimed that the Jack was
the smartest dog on the planet. Since I didn’t want to play
second fiddle to anyone, the Jack Russell was the best friend
for me. (I also knew that if I found one smart enough and cute
enough, I might get some of the credit for the smart and cute
part.)
I
found the perfect pup and bestowed the coolest possible name I
could come up with for the Jack Russell purebred registry. Francis
Albert Sinatra was the king of cool and exemplified my love of
classic music and swank retro style. Frankie had a new home.
I
had done quite a bit of reading on Jacks and knew I was in for
a handful. However, as was the story behind most of my bumps and
bruises, I thought my special gift of uniqueness would ensure
that I didn’t have the same level of challenge and aggravation
every other JRT owner experienced. I was sadly mistaken. As they
say here in Texas, I was in for a good old fashioned butt whuppin’.
When
I first brought my new puppy home, I was sitting on the exact
opposite side of reality. I thought I needed to teach this dog
how things were done, the whole time unaware of the fact that
God had put Frankie in my life to teach me some of the most important
lessons I would ever learn.
A
Walk on the Wild Side
After only a few days of having Frankie home I was ready to take
him out for his first walk with his new collar and leash. I felt
like the awkward high school boy who somehow was taking the best
looking girl to the prom. I had visions of walking down the street
with Frank’s head held high and chest puffed out as he pranced
by my side. People would have no choice but to marvel at the sight
of us. Frank was going to ride in the front seat with me as we
cruised around town, pretending that he was ignoring all the turning
heads and the sound of children’s voices shouting, “Hey
mommy, look!” Frankie and I were going to be a
team that would someday be compared to the greats, like The Lone
Ranger and Tonto, or even Batman and Robin. This was going to
be so cool. Click
here to continue...
Read
the entire article at:
http://www.renewedreflections.com/Walkin_the_Dog.25.0.html
Forty
Days of Purpose
Starting
March 1st, I will be hosting an online group through a journey
of Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life.
I would like to invite you to go though it with us. Please email
me at Craig@RenewedReflections.com if you would like to join
in. There is no fee for the course other than obtaining the book.
You can order it for $9.99 through Amazon
by clicking on the image of the book shown here. I can honestly
say this book provides amazing insight into the eternal question
of “Who Am I”.
Reaching
Out
Many
of us out of either habit, instinct, or fear tend to isolate when
things seem to be going a little rough. Reaching out for help
or offering help does not feel natural or comfortable when we
are not at our best. For this reason, I encourage you to practice
daily the art of reaching out to someone who is dealing with WLS
issues. If you practice this on your sunny days, it will not feel
as foreign on the cloudy days. If you are not sure who to reach
out to, stop by Obesityhelp.com
Book
Progress -
Physical Bankruptcy™
With
your continued encouragement and support, I am attempting to have
the book manuscript ready for publishing by April. Thank you for
your many notes of encouragement.
Physical
Bankruptcy will be a guide for those who have undergone weight
loss surgery and are now searching for answers to the mental,
emotional and spiritual questions not addressed by the physical
nature of the surgery alone.
How
YOU Can Help
I
have found a common trait among most of us PostOps is that we
are great at giving, but have a very difficult time asking for
help. I am by no means an exception. However, to lead by example
I am listing some things that I could really use your help on.
My goal is to give back to the weight loss community. You can
play an important part by helping with these three humble requests:
1.
Share the good news. Please forward this newsletter on
to anyone you feel might find it motivating or enlightening. Encourage
them to sign up on the newsletter list themselves at RenewedReflections.com.
2. Tell others about this resource. Direct friends
and loved ones to read some of the articles
on the site.
3. Provide prayer and encouragement. I find that
the more I write this book and share the good news of the hope
I have found, I come under what I can only describe as an attack.
Please keep my lovely bride Leslie and me in your thoughts and
prayers as we navigate this path to completion.
Thank
You
You
will hear me talk about the importance of experiencing gratitude
the more you get to know me and my work. I recognize every day
the many people near and far who have had a direct hand in my
progress on this journey. Here are a few that have truly blessed
me over the past month.
1.
Leslie Thompson - The most beautiful woman in the world
2. Dr. Lawrence and Coral Kennedy
3. Dr. Neecie Moore
4. Dr. Jay and Regina Rosenberg
5. Dr. Sanae Tanaka (Tokyo)
6. Dixie Feldman - Author of Dixieland
at RetroRadar.com
7. All of the awesome folks in the Obesityhelp
chatroom
