It's so amazing the difference one year can make.
I recently attended our annual Home School Picnic event. It's a celebration for some of us finishing our year, and for others a fantastic opportunity to get together with friends before continuing on with summer studies.
It was a ton of fun, and as a leader for the local group, it was so nice to be able to get to meet new people, and to get to connect faces with names, since I have the opportunity to get to know many of the people via social media long before I get to meet them in person.
I was however taken back down memory lane, because it's been a year since I really started in earnest down my weight loss journey road, and it was a marker moment, where I could look back and see the differences from one year to the next.
The proximity of the release of my one year blog post about having had Weight Loss Surgery to this picnic naturally brought up some conversation as to my success. The acknowledgment for my hard work has been wonderful, for certain. But something far cooler happened that day.
I had a person ask me an innocent question. "So were you this out-going before losing the weight?". My initial gut response was "No". Which I said at the time.
But the answer was actually much more complicated than that. You see, I was overweight as a teenager, but didn't start piling on serious weight until I got married. Then the babies came and the thyroid was diagnosed as problematic.
What I hadn't realized until later than day, is that my answer should have been "Yes". At one point I was this outgoing. But my battle with weight had taken it from me. Or rather, I threw it away with both hands, well over a decade ago, and had forgotten one more thing, that I didn't know I'd lost.
Not until it came back.
So to that innocent asker of the question: Thank you. You gave me a gift on Friday. A gift of realizing another part of my life that I have been able to take back. You know who you are.
You want to know another really cool thing that happened?
Look back up at the top.
See that picture?
See me standing there, with my shirt tucked in? Wearing a BELT?!
Yeah. That hasn't happened since roughly 2000.
That my friends is just one more in my pocket full of victories.
I am ever grateful.
(Thanks also to Rachael DeBruin of Diamonds in the Rough for taking the picture for me.)
oh my dearest jennifer...your blogs are so heartwarming.....i am so grateful to know Godly christian woman who struggle every day with "this or that" and come up victorious!!!! keep dreaming and dream bigger....our God never fails us, HE just wants us to show up...thanks for brightening this monday morning with more blessings
ReplyDeleteThanks Lois for writing! I think there is a lot of value in sharing the struggle, but also the victory. Sometimes seeing that it's possible is what's standing between a person's will to try to achieve their goals, and getting there. It serves as a stepping stone to get there.
DeleteYou may not thought of yourself as outgoing over the past years, but I have appreciated the many aspects of your personality over the same years. You have always been open, and honest, helpful, understanding, and involved in everything that needed your attention, even advising friends (like me) with words of wisdom. I never saw you as quiet or shy, never a slacker. You are an amazing mother. I'm in awe when I speak to you on the phone how you can can carry on a conversation and calmly resolve the kid's issues simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteI highly value your friendship and advice. You might be more comfortable now doing things you haven't done in the past, but I think you've always been outgoing.
Thank you so much for your kind words. We have known each other along time, and fortunately you had the benefit of knowing me before this particular journey began for me. It gives perspective over the whole jouney, versus the times that were difficult and dark for me. I am honoured to get to know you, and even more so to have had you speak so highly of me. Thank you again.
DeleteThanks Jen for the shout out!
ReplyDeleteYou look great in your pic & should be proud of your accomplishments :)
God has truly blessed this season of your life...and who knows what's to come?!
Rach :)
Thanks so much! :)
DeleteIt's been quite the roller coaster ride, hasn't it?
Can't wait to see what's coming.
Way to go Jennifer! Congratulations on your journey and your success. I must mention that I so love reading your blogs. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do that :) Nina Oelke
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading, and for the encouragement!
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