A Passage to Live By

This is the title of Henry Prater's sermon that you can read here.

Henry is a minister in the North Alabama Conference and in this sermon, he shares his personal story of becoming healthier. I can't say enough about how I admire Henry for being painfully honest.  This is not the kind of thing that we all

The pictures here are from Henry's blog post. The one to the left  is from 2010 and the one below is from the end of Spring 2013. You can see his transformation. The sermon tells more about how this happened. What I wanted to share and highlight are a couple of things about Henry's story.

First, in a very honest fashion, Henry shares the pain of being told by others that he needed to become healthier. Part of his story is about the Board of Ministry coming along side and encouraging Henry to engage a healthier lifestyle. Although, it most certainly must have been painful, I appreciate that the Board was encouraging someone in the beginning of their ministry to "start out right."  Ministry is not easy work; and the stress of it can often encourage unhealthy habits. As we get older and more set in our ways, it is so much harder to change those habits.

But, the decision to do something was all Henry's.  Henry made a decision to change.  He decided that he wanted to do something different in his life with his health. For so many of us, we float along in life and wish that maybe things could be different.... maybe we could exercise a little more, or maybe if we would just eat a little less or more healthy, than our lives would be different. Wishing that things would be different, does not make it so. We all make choices each day about what we will eat or whether we will take a walk or go to the gym. The choices are ours to make. We can blame our churches for too many meetings at night or too many potlucks, but in the end, we are making a decision about participating in those things.
Henry made a choice to live healthier!

One last thing that I would highlight about Henry's story is that it was and is one of faith. Because of Henry's desire to serve God, he decided to take better care of himself.  Near the end of his sermon, Henry says, "We should honor God’s gift, His presence, His sacrifice by loving ourselves enough to take care of ourselves." 

Henry's example of faithfulness is inspiring. Henry's story inspired me as I struggle with my own choices and I hope that he inspires you as well!