New, old clothes 

When I was leaving to take my daughter and her remaining furniture and boxes back to Indiana; moving her out and into her own home, Terri was going through my drawrs. That’s right! She was tossing my old and holy underware, socks and tshirts. Sooo grateful. Anyway she sorted and organized my shirts into different drawers: 4x in current, 3x in another and 2x in another. When I returned she informed me of the system and let me know I have some nice 2x shirts waiting for my weight loss. 😉

When she came home from work we did a little fashion show of pants that didn’t fit anymore but do now. The sad reality of losing weight when you’re three hundred and fourty-five pounds (345 down from 378) is you struggle to see the weight loss. You actually feel it more. For example, a few years back I liberated myself from the tyranny of the belt in favor of suspenders. I was also leaving pants unbuttoned and the zipper low to accommodate my growing size. Today my 48 inch pants are loose buttoned and the 46’s fit buttoned. A week ago the 46’s buttoned but we’re still painful to sit in. They felt like they were cutting me in two, the button dug into my waist because of the weight of the belly. My 46’s are comfortable now and I found two brand new pair of 48’s in my closet and a couple of 46’s.

Though they are old clothes they are also new as well. New to me. New to wear. They’re going to be transition clothes. Because the trip from 378 to halftheman.blog, I’m going to go through many different sizes to my final resting weight. I found dress pants, work pants and jeans that all fit and or are loose. But, as long as the tire is sitting on my lap nothing will be comfortable. 

We all bear a weight of sin that is uncomfortable to bear. You have to accommodate it and suffer it and explain it. It’s better to be forgiven of it and be rid of it. Paul tells us in Colossians 3 to put off anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene speech from our mouths … and to put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience …. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Col. 3:8, 12‭, ‬14. (Emphasis & elipsis mine) The virtues of kindness, humility, meekness, patience and love may seem like old clothes but if you try them on again I’ll bet they’ll feel like new.