bridgetgirl

Your feeling better already, and you didnt even need me to pur ya a tall one.

__________________
J.Bridget Fisher aka koi-pea
2/9/04 lap 5'11"
298/170-trying to lose another 10

www.myspace.com/caliclovercutie
What Sawyer would call me on LOST: ladybug

"People will argue with you that getting what you want in life isn’t something you can learn, if you’re destined to be one of the worlds winners as opposed to one of its perpetual whiners, its because you have been born with the right talents and temperament and have a big dose of self-esteem, ambition, and good judgment." Kate White

JohnsWife4Life

Jeanie,

Good luck to you now honey. You have mixed feelings for him, it is understandable. I loved my first husband and still do, married him after one date, loved him for 24 years. I learned to dwell on his shortcomings. When I had thoughts of love, I thought of all the beatings he gave me. When I had love I remembered how he left my babies without a daddy and disappeared for 10 years without a word because he was running from a drunk driving tour in jail. When I finally told him all the stuff in my heart after 10 years, I was free to love my husband with everything I have, and my first husband is a nothing, and after all these years, my children now know who, what and how he is.

Your day is coming, dont worry about that. When you least expect it the Lord will drop one in your lap and you won't be able to get rid of him.

Hugs and Happiness Doll,

Traci

sandi

__________________

Sandi
7/13/04
open RNY by Dr. Callery
And the roller coaster ride has begun!

~Starting/current/goal~
~422/208/180~

Starting BMI 68.1~ current BMI 33.6

Weight loss as of today - 214 pounds -
Double Century Club... I HAVE ARRIVED!!!

http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt...77d/weight.png

*Progress~not perfection*

Midntsgirl

__________________
Brenda
Lap 6/2/2004
319/170/129
BMI was 56.5 pre-op, is 30.1 now
size 30/32 pre-op, now size 6/8

Currently pregnant with #3 (1st post WLS)
Due sometime between Jan 4th and Jan 7th, but planning 3rd C-Section for sometime the end of Dec.

Jeanie

I know boys suck. Some day I hope to find a man, and when I do I'll make sure he has a bother or a really good friend.

Blueyz

Hang in there. Guys are strange (sorry guys). You WILL find your price charming. I told this to Christina and look she found Stuart! There are some nice guys left out there and there is one for you.

__________________
Blueyz
Open 7/14/04 w/Dr. Callery 4 years out
239/103/125 below Goal fluctuating between 108-115
BMI 18.8~Dr. C is ok with my weight...yeah

Official Scale Whore # 27 (Recovered..I threw mine out!!)

Peckkale

The Burden

"Why was my burden so heavy?" I slammed the bedroom door and leaned against it. "Is there no rest from this life?" I wondered. I stumbled to my bed and dropped onto it, pressing my pillow around my ears to shut out the noise of my existence.

"Oh God," I cried, "let me sleep. Let me sleep forever and never wake up!" With a deep sob, I tried to will myself into oblivion, then welcomed the blackness that came over me. Light surrounded me as I regained consciousness. I focused on its source: the figure of a man standing before a cross.

"My child," the person asked, "why did you want to come to Me before I am ready to call you?"

"Lord, I'm sorry. It's just that.. I can't go on. You see how hard it is for me. Look at this awful burden on my back. I simply can't carry it anymore."

"But haven't I told you to cast all of your burdens upon Me, because I care for you? My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

"I knew You would say that. But why does mine have to be so heavy?"

"My child, everyone in the world has a burden. Perhaps you would like to try a different one?"

"I can do that?"

He pointed to several burdens lying at His feet. "You may try any of these."

All of them seemed to be of equal size. But each was labeled with a name.

"There's Joan's," I said. Joan was married to a wealthy businessman. She lived in a sprawling estate and dressed her three daughters in the prettiest designer clothes. Sometimes she drove me to church in her Cadillac when my car was broken.

"Let me try that one." How difficult could her burden be? I thought. The Lord removed my burden and placed Joan's on my shoulders. I sank to my knees beneath its weight. "Take it off!" I said. "What make it so heavy"?

"Look inside".

I untied the straps and opened the top. Inside was a figure of her Mother-in-law, and when I lifted it out, it began to speak. "Joan, you'll never be good enough for my son," it began. "He never should have married you. You're a terrible mother to my grandchildren... "

I quickly placed the figure back in the pack and withdrew another. It was Donna, Joan's youngest daughter. Her head was bandaged from the surgery that had failed to resolve her epilepsy. A third figure was Joan's brother. Addicted to drugs, he had been convicted of killing a police officer.

"I see why her burden is so heavy, Lord. But she's always smiling and helping others. I didn't realize... "

"Would you like to try another?" He asked quietly.

I tested several. Paula's felt heavy: She was raising four small children without a father. Debra's did too: a childhood of sexual abuse and a marriage of emotional abuse. When I came to Ruth's burden, I didn't even try. I knew that inside I would find arthritis, old age, a demanding full-time job, and a beloved husband in a nursing home.

"They're all too heavy, Lord" I said. "Give me back my own." As I lifted the familiar load once again, it seemed much lighter than the others.

"Let's look inside," He said. I turned away, holding it close.

"That's not a good idea," I said. "Why?" "There's a lot of junk in there."

"Let Me see."

The gentle thunder of His voice compelled me. I opened my burden. He pulled out a brick. "Tell Me about this one."

"Lord, You know. It's money. I know we don't suffer like people in some countries or even the homeless here in America. But we have no insurance, and when the kids get sick, we can't always take them to the doctor. They've never been to a dentist. And I'm tired of dressing them in hand-me-downs."

"My child, I will supply all of your needs...and your children's. I've given them healthy bodies. I will teach them that expensive clothing doesn't make a person valuable in My sight."

Then He lifted out the figure of a small boy. "And this?" He asked.

"Andrew... " I hung my head, ashamed to call my son a burden.

"But, Lord, he's hyperactive. He's not quiet like the other two. He makes me so tired. He's always getting hurt, and someone is bound to think I abuse him. I yell at him all the time. Someday I may really hurt him.

"My child," He said, "if you trust Me, I will renew your strength, if you allow Me to fill you with My Spirit, I will give you patience."

Then He took some pebbles from my burden. "Yes, Lord," I said with a sigh. "those are small. But, they're important. I hate my hair. It's thin, and I can't make it look nice. I can't afford to go to the beauty shop. I'm overweight and I can't stay on a diet. I hate all my clothes. I hate the way I look!

"My child, people look at your outward appearance, but I look at your heart. By My Spirit you can gain self-control to lose weight. But your beauty should not come from outward appearance. Instead it should come from your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in My sight."

My burden now seemed lighter than before. "I guess I can handle it now," I said.

"There is more," He said. "Hand me that last brick."

"Oh, You don't have to take that. I can handle it."

"My child, give it to Me." Again His voice compelled me. He reached out His hand, and for the first time I saw the ugly wound.

"But, Lord, this brick is so awful, so nasty, so... Lord! what happened to Your hands? They're so scarred!"

No longer focusing on my burden, I looked for the first time into His face. In His brow were ragged scars-as though someone had pressed thorns into His flesh. "Lord," I whispered. "What happened to You?" His loving eyes reached into my soul.

"My child, you know. Hand Me the brick. It belongs to Me. I bought it."

"How?"

"With My blood."

"But why, Lord?

"Because I have loved you with an everlasting love. Give it to Me."

I placed the filthy brick into His wounded palm. It contained all the dirt and evil of my life; my pride, my selfishness, the depression that constantly tormented me.

He turned to the cross and hurled my brick into the pool of blood at it's base. It hardly made a ripple.

"Now, My child, you need to go back. I will be with you always. When you are troubled, call to Me and I will help you and show you things you cannot imagine now."

I reached to pick up my burden.

"You may leave that here if you wish. You see all these burdens? They are the ones that others have left at My feet. Joan's, Paula's, Debra's, Ruth's... When you leave your burden here, I carry it with you. Remember, My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

As I place my burden with him, the light began to fade. Yet I heard him whisper, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you.

A peace flooded my soul.



by Louise Gouge

__________________
06-17-05 Lap-ROUX-EN-Y
BMI 41.1 / 21.9 /24
224/219/120 /131 -104 lbs ...... 11 lb Below Goal.... Made Goal on April 21. 10 Months and 4 Days post-op!
consultation/pre-op/current/goal



COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, MEN...SOME THINGS ARE JUST BETTER RICH!



Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me."