Month / September 2013

by tessbrennan

Why I walk…

I AM SO HAPPY, I CAN HARDLY SIT STILL.

My minimum for my 2013 Tampa 3-day, 60-mile walk has just been met!Goal_Met_2013

My order for my nutrition and nourishment supplies have just been ordered, so I should be able to finish my blog series on the 3-day in 2-weeks at the latest, and it is time to ramp up the training since I haven’t done a training walk in 3 weeks.  oops.

I wanted to share my blog from my 3-day site that explains why I do walk in these events.  Cancer does not discriminate, or does it?  There are ways that each person can drastically reduce their chances of acquiring cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and even knee pain, believe it or not.

Even though we can reduce our chances, there will still remain the need for a cure for those who still acquire the disease:

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So, almost 13 years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a radical mastectomy along with chemo & radiation and all that goes with it!  Today, she is still with us! I am proud to say my Mom IS a Survivor.

AnniversaryMom_&_Dad_Prom

I had planned to work as a crew-man this year.  Still be involved, but not train as hard for it and just be a part.

This past week, everything changed.  Friends who were crewing with me had “life” happen and will not be able to make it. Pair that with the fear and feelings of helplessness as I opened my email from the radiologist last Sunday morning before church.

On_Boat

So, its Sunday morning, I can do nothing to schedule anything, talk to my doctor, etc.  I FREAK out! Memories of my mom.  Thoughts of the ER trip with my hubby from that very last Friday. How quickly everything changes.  Literally, in the blink of an eye! My thoughts were everywhere.

About half-way through Sunday school a peace came over me as I realized, I had more IN my favor than against and that it was just a more complete diagnostic needed.  (This wasn’t my first mammogram, I’ve been having them for the last 12 years, since mom was diagnosed. It was, however, my first request for further studies.)

Fast forward to Monday: A friend assisted me in getting my follow-up testing done and all came out clear. (Thank you, Traci, you always come through and are such a help in medical “crisis” even if the crisis is mostly in my head at the time.)

It was at this point I determined I NEEDED TO WALK this final Tampa 60-mile.

20121026_073959                20121026_074225

I ask you to help me to reach my $2300 minimum so that I can walk this GREAT event!  This organization assisted my mother in many ways as she was undergoing treatments and since, when she has needed follow-up care, but did not have insurance to cover the costs.  (I thank all my family and friends and Rotary friends who helped push me over that threshold as of today, 9/26/13)

I thank you for your time and for your support and prayers in this endeavor! (Prayers for my feet and no blisters.)

(By the way, I still believe we need more attention to prevention…so not as many people NEED the cures that are being researched!)

~Tess

2012 WALK HealthyGreaseMonkey.com

by tessbrennan

Globesity and Nehemiah..

For those of you awaiting the completion of the 3-day, 60-mile series, it is coming… I am awaiting a shipment of things for my photos for the blog.

RebuildingHealth

Today, 1 in 3 adults is overweight or obese. 1 in 4 is ineligible to join our armed forces or to apply for Public Service positions. This means we have fewer people available for these services, potentially very good candidates, except for their weight. (Weight of the Nation Series – HBO)

Heart disease, Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes, and other degenerative diseases are on the rise and the percentages of people being affected are increasing too. We are in the middle of a perfect storm of health crisis for our country and our world with this horrible Globesity issue. It seems as if it has spiraled out of control and there is no way to correct it. In an ancient, well known, text there is a story of a man who took on a monumental task of rebuilding a protective wall around a city.

There was a LOT of work to do, many of the citizens in the area had no idea how to repair a wall, yet they banded together, worked together, prayed together and replace the ENTIRE wall around the city in a mere 52 days.

The Globesity issue isn’t just about being overweight, it is about the disease and discomfort that accompanies it. This isn’t about being sexy or beautiful, because WHO you are makes you beautiful, its about being healthy and enjoying life and not suffering with disease, and reducing your susceptibility to those diseases.  Here are a few thoughts I jotted down over the weekend, while on a retreat.

Text of my monologue is below.

For more information on the class, Temple Maintenance, Wellness based on Biblical Principles, or for a personal consultation, contact me.

Text:

We hear a lot about the globesity issue, of the decline of the health of America as a whole. It seems like a monumental task: almost as if the sanctified city of health and wellness has been broken down. There is a monumental task ahead of us to rebuild our nations’ health. To begin reducing the numbers of those being attacked by degenerative diseases, we need help, big help, but the task isn’t as monumental as we may think… if we count on Him for assistance.

I would like to parallel this with the story of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was one man, with a vision of the revitalization of Jerusalem. Just as Nehemia used many to rebuild the City of Jerusalem—we need many tribes to rebuild the health of our country and world.

The system you choose to use (tribe you work with) isn’t as important as completing the work, one brick and choice at a time, one gate at a time, one step at a time.

If we each do our personal part to improve our personal section of the wall, our own health, we become a wonderful example for those around us, it becomes contagious and doesn’t seem as daunting a task. It doesn’t seem as impossible to attain when we see others we know doing it and succeeding. Others begin to realize that, they too, can have success and join a different pool of statistics. (We are all a statistic – just a different group).

The globesity epidemic isn’t something that one person can change. This epidemic is domething that needs cooperation from one house to another to the next until the walls of good health and quality of life are rebuilt stronger than before, and our children will then understand the importance of maintaining this wall of health.

The recurring theme throughout Nehemiah is that each person in Nehemiah rebuilt a section of the wall adjacent to their home. THEIR HOME. ~Be the change you want to see.

In Nehemiah 4 we see opposition to rebuilding the wall. VS 2B “Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are?”

I hear: Will they restore their health? Will they trust in His Sacrifice? Can they restore their health in one day? Can they regain health when they’ve spent years and decades tearing it down and failing before?

Not everyone in Nehemiah was as “excited” about rebuilding the wall, but they did their part.

(MY PARAPHRASING BELOW)

NEH6:12-14 (paraphrase)

“Wherever we turn there are easy choices to attack us and cause us to fail. 13 Therefore we station people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them as families to support each other and build each other up. 14 Don’t be afraid of those tempations. Remember the Lord, who is great and Awesome, and FIGHT for your families, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and homes.

We are fighting a war against obesity and pour health. The Air Force tells its airmen that Wars are won by 2 strategies, Hope and Belief. This is true in Spiritual Warfare AND Nutritional Warfare.

We build communities, tribes and families to support each other and build each other up, to celebrate even the smallest of victories together and to support each other in the difficult times.  Together, we can fend off those who try to destroy our health.

(Think marketing, cheap “food”, fast “food”, and other products that tear down our health as opposed to building it up.)

~Tess