{Just Us Kings} » Andy

Thoughts for a Thirty-Something

Andy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:29:40 +0000

As I sit here, thinking about my life and thinking about this goaling process which I have been going through over the last year, I was reminded of this post I came across a while back.

Give it a read. See what you think.

http://adamellis.blogspot.com/2010/01/34.html

I’ll be your Prince Charming…

Andy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:57:33 +0000

E – “Who will be my Prince Charming?”

Mommy – “I don’t know sweety, who?”

E- “Daddy will be Prince Charming!”

Me – “Oh, Sweety, I’ll be your Prince Charming until another Prince Charming comes to take your heart.”

That’s it fellas. She’s looking for a Prince Charming. Who is it going to be?

It better be you. Because if it’s not, someone else will step in to fill the gap. Who knows what they’ll be like. How they will treat your little princess? What they will say to her? How they will make her feel?

These are all important questions that you need to ask. Of yourself. How are you treating her? How are you treating her Mom? What kinds of things to you say to her? How do you make her feel?

You will be who she compares every other boy to. Good or bad. She’ll either want someone just like you or absolutely NOT like you. That’s going to be up to you and how you handle this precious little girl God has given you.

So… Treat her like a princess. Build her up. Tell her how much she is worth and where that worth comes from. Show her how a lady should be treated and spoken to. Love her unconditionally.

Leave some big shoes for the next Prince Charming to fill…

Pain in the ash…

Andy — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:52:34 +0000

A group of people from Bloomington/Normal are on a missions trip to the Basque Country with Jon and Bekah Berry. Jon is my excellent counterpart in ministry here with the FCA.

Here is the story of their trip over seas. It’s on a site called EyePulp written by Andrew Hughes. It is a beautiful website with great content. I may be in love with it.

Introducing…

Andy — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:49:27 +0000

It's my birthday!

This is a great day. Kristie and I headed into the hospital at 5:15am this morning. Around 7:15 we headed into the O.R. for Kristie’s 4th C-section. It went really well and at 7:34am Briar Brooks King was born.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and measured 19 in long. She’s a cute little thing. We’re not sure who she looks like yet, although first thoughts are more on my side of the looks with blond hair. Mom and Baby are doing fine and we’re set to go home on Saturday. We hope to see some of you soon.

Be sure to follow at twitter.com/thefatrat for current updates.

Getting there..

Andy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:28:37 +0000

In January I started eating better and working out. Last week I stepped on the scale to see 306. That’s down 16 lbs from where I started just a few weeks ago. I’m getting there, headed in the right direction. I’ll probably check weight/body fat one more time before I go on hiatus Wednesday for the rest of the week (more on that later). I’m hoping that my body fat % is closure to 20% than 30% this time. Its been a good feeling working out. I feel better and Kristie says that I’m looking good (which is the most important reason)! The goal is to get under 20% body fat again. It is very obtainable and will be a very good place for me. I’m thinking that I’ll be in the 280′s when that happens. I haven’t been 280 since high school! WOW. I keep thinking of this verse as I go through this experience.

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 25:28

In other words, VULNERABLE. It has been hard the last few days. Kristie has been baking. Cookies, granola, puppy chow… I mean, come on! Help a guy out. I am blessed with a tremendous chef and baker. A blessing and a curse for the big man! Plus people have brought meals, which contain foods that look and taste better than my chicken breast, fish fillet or ground beef with vegetables. HELLO PASTA!

Speaking of Kristie, this Wednesday is the day she goes under the knife one more time for her 4th C-section. Stay tuned here for updates. Also check out my twitter feed on the right. Emails, birth announcements and phone calls will find their way to some of you. Can’t wait to share our joy with ya’ll!

Gettin’ Skinny…

Andy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:40:32 +0000

Two weeks ago yesterday I started actually doing something about my weight and how I felt. As of today, I’ve lost 10lbs and dropped 4% body fat.
I’m pretty excited about this. I already feel better and I can tell my middle is thinning out.
My buddy Jon Peacock challenged me to drop 14lbs by February 14th. I think I’m going to hit it. Watch out buddy, I’m coming for you!

Getting Healthy

Andy — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:52:07 +0000

It has now been almost 5 years since I have played football, and I’m still at my playing weight. You may think, “Hey, that’s great. You haven’t gained a bunch of extra weight.” The truth is that 322lbs is not a healthy weight for a 31 year old man, husband, and father of 4 (5 and under).

So, I recently started working out again and today I begin eating a better diet with a Protein Sparing Modified Fasting Diet (PSMF). 350g of protein a day and no carbs. I’m doing this with the help of a nutritionist and it only lasts a few weeks. After that, we will modify accordingly. The goal for me is two fold. First, I would like to lose weight, but really cut body fat. Getting back to about 17% would feel really good and probably put me at a weight somewhere in the neighborhood of 275, a weight I have not seen since my junior year of high school!
Second, I want to be functional in day to day life. I want to be able to get up and down to play with my kids. I do a pretty good job of this right now, but if I’m not careful I could end up with some real problems.

If you see me around, ask how I’m doing. I’m going to need some accountability on this one. It should be interesting, but much needed.

Rebuilding the walls

Andy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:19:57 +0000

Today I was frustrated. Frustrated that my Bride had a different agenda in mind for my morning that I did. Frustrated that expectations were put on me that I didn’t necessarily know about or agree to.

I was frustrated.

Then I realized, as I talked it out with God on my way to the office, that maybe my frustration was not with other people or agendas or expectation that were put on me. Maybe I brought all that on by not communicating well with my Bride. Maybe I need to be presenting realistic expectations for other to be able to count on. Expectations of when and where I will be. How long a task will take. What time I’m going to get up in the morning and what type of things I’m going to get done that day.
All these things seemed to be at the heart of my frustration in what I thought was someone else’s issue. In truth, it’s my issue.

So. What next? I have to start presenting realistic expectation for the people in my life. This will be difficult at first, I am a very ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ kind of guy when it comes to me. That’s selfish. I have more that me to take care of. I’m going to need to be deliberate in what I do and how I plan.

It all comes back to self-control and discipline. Two things that I am continually working on.

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. – Proverbs 25:28

A city without walls is vulnerable and open to attack, like my frustration this morning which tried to lead me into anger. I want to avoid that at all costs. Becoming more purposeful in what do and showing self-control will also set a good example for my kids whom I desperately want to teach excellence to.

Time to start rebuilding the walls…

It’s good!

Andy — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:53:35 +0000

I felt the baby kick for the first time tonight. It never gets old. It’s an amazimg thing, to me, that a little person grows inside of our wives. Amazing!
Oh, in case you didn’t know… Kristie is pregnant again with our fourth. We are due in early March, well….. she is.
We just had a really good ultrasound this week and the kids got to see the baby moving around. They were pretty excited. Being a new Daddy again is pretty cool.

New beginnings, Moving on, or Let’s get this thing started!

Andy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:32:09 +0000

As most people now know, I have taken a full-time position with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Bloomington/Normal, IL as of October 1st.
We also just bought a house in Normal. hopefully we’ll close around the beginning of November. Timing will be tricky though, we have several things floating around the weekends end of October and beginning of November. We can’t wait to move in though. It’s a little ranch with finished basement space big enough for a family room/play room and Kristie’s business office. Oh, you hadn’t heard about JustSoSmitten.com? Check it out. Kristie has been hard at work filling orders and making gifts. She absolutely loves it and it gives her a creative outlet she has been missing.

I’m going to keep this updated on how we are doing and how God is using us in BloNo (yes, that’s the official term for Bloomington/Normal. You heard it here first). We’re still deciding on a church home and looking for ways to get plugged in. Kristie is already in a moms group and I just had lunch yesterday with some good friends that I hadn’t seen in probably 10 years. It was great to catch up and I’m looking forward to starting those relationships again.

We’ll talk again soon…