September 2019 - LPNI

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September 2019

LPNI Devotion

In Training

Since I will be going back to Bethlehem and area in November, I decided that I had better get into shape for all of the walking up and down hills and on cobblestone streets. There is a challenging little hill in front of my house, since I live at the bottom of the street. Actually the street runs right down into my driveway. Walking up the hill going west to the cross street which goes north then to the west end at the other block of my street and finally south and back to the middle before walking east down the hill makes a perfect Greek Cross and is one mile. When we had our son’s dog, Yogi, while Jonathan was deployed to Iraq, we made that trek up the hill with some regularity. Jonathan is now married, and Yogi has passed on. While making this walk each day I have thought about what else do I need to shore up for which to be “in training”.

A month ago while taking the regular ‘first Sunday’ Blood Pressures, two friends roughly my age came to my station. Both have lost weight; one has lost 85 pounds and the other has lost 35 pounds, with 30 more to go, according to her physician. The one who has lost the most said she didn’t do anything special, just “common sense eating” and some exercise. The second said she is on the ELMM diet that she made up, Eat Less and Move More. So, while training by walking, I decided I could eat less, too, and hopefully accomplish two goals at once. So far so good.

While walking I have decided to pray, thanking God that I live in a very nice neighborhood in which I can walk without fear. I have a number of friends with health problems, family issues, and other serious concerns. As I reach a different mailbox I add another person to my prayer list. Also there are people on my route who need prayers, so as I pass their mailboxes, I pray for them, too. In our women’s Bible study a month ago we talked about praying for others and then being mindful and telling them they are in our prayers. So after I get home from walking, I either call or email the relevant neighbors that they were in my prayers that morning. As expected, several have said they have seen me walking (without a dog) and thanked me for including them in prayer.

As I walked I have considered that I could thin-out, downsize, and eliminate several generations of family memorabilia and “treasures” in my house. As I picture things that I could do without, I think of who or what organizations could use these things. I come from a very small family and am at the end of the line except for Jonathan who is an only child with no cousins. Since he is in the military he is not interested in having family heirlooms. I once drew out a needlepoint pattern for a wall hanging that says, Happy Memories: A Family’s Finest Heirloom. What more or better can we do than to create healthy, God-fearing lasting memories? While doing this we are “in training” to become our best selves with God help.

Jamie Spikes, PhD, RN

Parish Nurse, St. Luke’s Lutheran

Manhattan, KS USA

Member of the Parish Nurse Council of the LCMS