One of my friends, who had a baby a few months after Elias [her son], mentioned that she and her two young kids are going to go swimming at the country club with her parents, but that she probably wouldn’t go swimming because she felt too fat.

Of course, I can relate to how she feels. My body is far from what it was prior to having a baby…. Her candor about not going swimming because she feels fat made me so sad because she is missing out on creating memories with her kids! There is nothing like lifting Elias up into the air and having him giggle as we splash in the water. I would rather feel a little fat in my “mom” suit and enjoy Elias than not create those memories because of my self-consciousness.

Ugh. I can totally relate. Can you?

I read this post about two weeks after we returned from a fantastic family vacation in Florida. After I read it I thought about all of the pictures that we took while we were there. During that week we went to the horse stables, spent a day at Disney, swam with the dolphins at Discovery Cove, spent a day riding the waves in the ocean and flying kites on the beach. It was a great vacation.

And I’m not in a single picture.

Here’s the deal, I’m robbing my children from having lasting memories of me. I’m robbing them because of my vanity and my shame for what I have allowed my body to become. They deserve to have pictures of our life together when they’re older, or when they have kids, or when I’m gone… even if I think I look fat in them. And the truth is, I doubt they even care! It makes me so sad to think about all of the times that I’ve cropped myself out of memories together.

And I’m robbing myself too.

I cannot continue to sacrifice our memories any more.

Is there something that is robbing your family from having a piece of you? Weight? Work? Ministry obligations? What’s robbing you?

If you recall, a few months ago I wrote a post that appeared both here and on the People of the Second Chance site. It was a post about being fat. Which I am. While I have never written a post about being lazy, that should have been implied. And it’s true.

I’m fat and lazy.

So, as my ministry opportunities continue to grow and are being shown an almost obscene (and certainly undeserved) amount of favor and blessing from God, I have felt increasingly convicted about living in my sin. If I want my blessings to continue, I need to be real about my weight and do something about it (and using the Lose It app isn’t enough).

While I was out of town for a work conference this week, I mentioned that some friends were running/walking the Detroit Free Press marathon in October. One of my staff members (who is both a marathon runner and skinny girl) told me I need to do it too.

Say what!?

Yeah. After a lot of conversation, countless words of encouragement, and a drink at the hotel bar, I agreed to do it.

I’m walking the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon.

Those are words I never, ever, ever, dreamt I would say (note: I did say WALK and HALF. I’m not totally crazy).

We decided to walk in memory or our friend and coworker who died last month after a two-year battle with cancer. And really that’s the reason I want to do it. When I visited her in the hospital a week before she died, I told myself (and God) that I never want my children to see me like that. It was devastating to me to see her and her three young girls in the last days. So I am taking my life and my body back. Training starts tomorrow.

Goal 1: Walk a mile in under 15 minuets.

Holy crap… prayers appreciated.

Have you ever done a marathon or half marathon? Beginners training advice appreciated!

Have you ever pushed yourself to do something you thought you couldn’t do?

I. Am. Sick.

And I love bread.

I wrote a post about a month ago for POTSC about the sin of being fat. The encouragement and support that I received was tremendous. I also just recently shared via Twitter that I am taking my weight back and have launched into a healthy eating regime complete with nutrition, exercise, and accountability. Again, tremendous support. So with that in mind, my first question in the “Tough Questions for Christians” series is:

Is gluttony a less serious sin than others? Or more to the point, is there an unwritten Christian point system for sin?

I recently saw this quote that Kelly Osbourne gave in a magazine interview about her post-Dancing With the Stars weight loss: “I took more hell for being fat than I did for being a raging drug addict.”

I can identify with what she’s saying. Being fat in the secular world is a major issue, especially for women. But I think that the opposite situation is happening in the church.

I talk a lot about addiction on this site and on my XXXChurch blog. One of the common themes is shame. I encounter people all the time who are afraid to share the truth about their addictions because they are ashamed of their sin. Even worse, they are afraid to share their struggles with people in the church for fear of how they will be treated. This is especially true if the addiction is related to sex or sexuality. It breaks my heart to read all of the emails and comments I receive about how much easier it is to keep hiding the addiction than to confess it to another person.

And, let’s face it… being secretly addicted to internet porn, or even worse in the unwritten point system, gay porn (gasp!) is way easier to hide than being 100 pounds overweight.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about sexuality. I was expressing my concern (I’m putting this very mildly) with the way in the church treats the GLBTG community. My argument is that I am obviously an unhealthy weight for my body and have struggled with my weight for many, many years. It is also obvious that I am actively engaged in the sin. Despite that, unlike many members of the GLBTG community, I have never been denied opportunities to serve in the church, or even to lead. And I have most certainly never been denied membership due to my weight, or told that I couldn’t become a member until I achieved a healthy BMI. While I truly appreciate the grace, I wonder if this is fair.

So, what do you think? Have we used up so much of our grace on the fat folks (or the folks who spend too much money, or the folks who gossip) that there isn’t enough left for someone who’s gay (or what ever else we associate with ‘higher rated’ sin)?

And what about that point scale for sins?