Pigeon

I just got done swimming laps at the gym for an hour followed by some relaxation time in the jacuzzi. I swam laps yesterday too at 6am for 45 minutes. I cancelled my follow up with the Diet program I was doing this morning, because after the writing I did yesterday I felt like I needed to treat myself to Mod Pizza after church last night. And with that cheat meal, I still lost 4.2 pounds in a week. I can do this eating healthy and exercising thing on my own. The program I was doing in my opinion is too strict. I should not say their name so I do not get sued for slander. I am going to go back and edit it. I want to lose weight and be healthy and look bettter but I need to do it the healthy way so I don’t gain it back when I stop a strict diet. Anyway, I went to the 5:30pm AA meeting last night and it was really good. There was a girl there for her first meeting ever so I felt so blessed to have been able to give her my card and number and hopefully didn’t scare her off at all. I then rushed to Pantano Church which I actually really do like. The pastor is cool! I got there right at 7pm and walked fast to go give my friend Julie a hug. She was volunteering as a cashier at the food service but wasn’t staying for the church service. On my way to see her I saw two firefighter friends who I hadn’t seen in awhile from my EMT days. One of the guys I actually saw at church a few weeks ago but I didn’t go and say hi. Well this time I said hi. And as I was saying hi, I saw my supervisor from my EMT days who I was talking about in my previous blog. She is the sweetest but she was far away and I didn’t get a chance to talk to her last night. The guys asked me how I was doing and I said it’s been rough, but I’m good. They said they are retired now and I told them that’s awesome and congrats! When I went into the service it was pretty crowded cause I still needed to use the bathroom before I went in to find a seat. So I just ended up sitting in the bleacher section up top. I was thinking to myself, why did I tell the guys it has been rough. Why did I not tell them I am doing really good and have my own website and blog and am starting my own foundation. Just like when I saw the lady at the other church. Oh well I figured. Maybe I will see them again sometime. The service was really good. The pastor insisted people take notes and so I did on my phone. One thing he said was “Pain isn’t the end of the story, it’s just part of the picture.” After my blog yesterday and thinking about my past trauma, that just hit hard! He said God won’t waste your pain. Share with other people that God sustained you through it. Stop praying for only an escape, pray for endurance through the pain. Lean back and trust again. Walk with people when the miracle hasn’t happened yet. Delay is denial. He wants to have a church that holds hope in the darkness. The cross wasn’t the end of the story, it was part of the picture. Don’t freeze the frame. God is still writing your story. God does his best work in the valley and not at the mountain tops. Those are the notes I took. Such an amazing service. I will start going back there next Sunday. This Sunday will be the same service as last night and I am meeting with my new AA sponsor after an AA meeting anyway. So as I was walking out of the church, I just happened to see my two fire fighter friends and was able to tell them about my website and blogs and a little bit about my foundation I am working on. They were very supportive and said keep it up. They asked if I usually come Thursdays and I said no, usually Sundays. They said they usually come Sundays too and said they will look for me next time. So I went to Mod Pizza after church and there was this funny cute older lady there. She was just complaining about how long it takes now and then when she ordered she proceeded to ask for extra of every topping and it was a lot. Ha ha! But I didn’t mind waiting. She was cute. When I got home and pulled up to where I park right outside my house, there was a big pigeon sitting right where I park. I was like, Is that a bird?! It didn’t move as I pulled up so I thought it was injured. I pulled around it and parked a little farther up. I got out of my car and heard and saw it closer to my front door and then it flew off over my house. What a cool sign! I usually see butterfly’s during the day, but it was dark out now. My Uncle Scotty used to own the house I live in. It was one of his rental properties. At his celebration of life my Uncle Mark, who has a lot of pigeons, let us hold pigeons and let them go for Uncle Scotty!! So amazing!