warning shot

The other night, Wendy was in the kitchen checking her blood sugar level, as she normally does. I had demolished what was left of a half gallon of moose tracks ice cream about an hour before and for some reason asked her to check my blood sugar level too. I routinely like to humor her with such requests to dispel any fears she might have about my health. My blood pressure, blood sugars, cholesterol, heart rate, etc., are always text book perfect. I think because she's struggled with her own health, she is expecting me to suddenly drop dead from my terrible eating habits.


She willingly poked my finger and squeezed a droplet of blood out and soaked it up with a test strip. As I whined at how brutal she can be when drawing MY blood, the little machine bleeped and a number came up, "175". She looked at me in disbelief and stammered .... that's ... not.....good! My normal number is around 99 and even with eating a bunch of ice cream an hour before, my body should be able to metabolize the sugar much better than that.  Evasive measures were taken and I was instantly put on a diabetic diet and given an exercise regiment sufficient for training an Olympian and talks about making doctor appointments boiled to the forefront of conversation.


The next day my blood sugars returned to normal, even after eating, but a small amount of concern remains. It's the first time I've shown any hints of abnormal health. So, now, my eating habits will be adjusted a little to keep from over taxing my insulin production. That's what I'll have to do to remain healthy. It's nice to have my wife readily available to help encourage good eating habits. 


Most of the people living on the streets of Miami don't have that luxury. They don't have anyone that will nudge them when habits start affecting their spiritual, physical or mental health. They are all alone and can only see the needs they have in the moment and strive to satisfy them however possible.


Please pray that we can be that loving, encouraging person in the lives of the people that we are reaching out to on the streets. Please pray that God will give us wisdom in everything we say and do to help turn them towards God and not away from him.