BEING HAPPY

Obese Child (google)

     Once Upon a Time (signifying fiction), there was a boy named Felipe. His mother would say, "That boy came out eating and hasn't stopped." When friends would comment about his size, she simply responded with, "Oh, but it makes him happy." His mother was a little overweight, but his father was a board. When his mother was young, she was thin, cheerleader at her high school. But after her third child, she got a little depressed. She kept the 20 lbs she had gained during pregnancy, and decided to just be happy with herself. After all, she was only one size bigger. A size 8 is nothing to spit on when most of the nation's women were at least a 14.
     When Felipe was in Kindergarten, he made friends with a little boy who had struggled with weight too....couldn't keep it on. He had Celiac Disease, but it had taken a long time for it to be identified correctly. Complicating that disease was Crohn's Disease. To say that eating was traumatic for little John, was a major understatement. He hated eating, and he pushed his hunger to the limits. His parents went to great lengths to adjust their lifestyle to accommodate for their son's illness.
      As the boys grew, Felipe found out that he was limited in physical activities due to his weight, while John was limited in the same activities due to "stomach issues." Both of the boys began to notice how others, their age, played, laughed, sweated, and had experiences that they....couldn't ? They decided that they should be happy too, and, well, there's all sorts of ways to be happy. They decided to be game people. Felipe could eat, and John could always have access to the facilities.
      As teenagers, they were total nerds. Felipe had a mind for business. He had straight A's in school and was president of the FCCLA (FBLA for us old farts). John was an artist. He not only drew on paper, painted on canvas, but he also, created on line. One day, both of them decided that they were old enough to have a job, but they didn't want to leave home. They decided to develop a website that would help home-bound people to earn a living through technology. At first, there wasn't much of a demand, but overnight, it went viral. The rest is history. The boys dropped out of high school, got their GED's, got their degrees on line, and they were happy.

Fat to Thin (google)

     When Felipe was 28, and weighed 320 lbs, he had a heart attack. He almost died. He could no longer ignore the fact that being overweight had wore out his heart. His recovery was so long and hard. The exercise was excruciating. However, as he began to see the evidence that the weight was coming off, he began to experience a new kind of happiness. He could walk, normal....without losing his breath while walking up stairs. Felipe, had a new look, a new life, and a kick-ass body for finding a wife. He thought to himself, "So THIS is happy. Wow, I didn't know."
       John began to notice that in the late 90's, Celiac and Crohn's Disease where on the rise, to the point that the availability of gluten free products were appearing on shelves at the General Store. That peaked his interest, so he began to do some research about the causes behind the increase in the disease. What he found astonished him. He thought to himself, "How could we ever eat plastic fruit on Grandma's table and be nourished?" He found his love for his shared business, waning, and his interest peaking on how to develop and bring quality food to his country's people. He sold his part of the business to his partner, and became a farmer.
       As John worked the land, touching the soil, the seed, and the fruit, he found his love for nature and nurturing the land, growing in his heart. As he cooked food in new and fun ways that never caused a problem with his digestive system, he found himself writing an illustrated cookbook for those suffering from Celiac and or Crohn's Disease. It was a best seller. He opened up his own store that was full of  organically grown, gluten free, peanut, and allergen free products. He said to himself, "Wow! THIS is happy! I didn't know life could be this good." John began to put on a little weight, finally. He found energy to work hard and no longer feared embarrassing incidents.

Finding Peace (google)

      John was 35, when he died in a car accident. It was a tragedy, and horribly traumatic for Felipe. Felipe fell into a deep, dark depression. Even though he had a wife and a new baby, John had been his best friend since kindergarten. They knew each other, saw the good, the bad and the ugly in each other. He just could not imagine his life ever being "happy" without his best friend. Rosa encouraged him to go to a grief counselor, but every time he got close to the door, he returned to his car, and found himself in the parking lot of a known drug dealer. All it took was one trip of "Meth" and he was hooked. In a matter of six short months, Felipe turned into a monster he didn't recognize. He came to himself as he held a knife to his wife's neck....because she refused him money, to go buy his drugs. Something in that moment, matched a moment he had when he was 4. His father had lost his job. His parents began to fight. He watched in horror, as his father held a knife to his mother's throat....but then, he caught sight of Felipe, and let her go.
        John called the police, explained the situation, and went to jail...for an evening. Rosa refused to press charges. John asked to go to drug rehab. He spent six weeks in the program. While he was there, he discovered that his mother used food to silence him. Every time he began to reveal the great sorrow they lived in, she would say, "Here, Felipe, Mama has Twinkies for you." All of his happy was gone. He felt like such a fake. Like the feeling of happy was a mirage, meant to keep the judges away from the home. He could feel his heart; it was broken. But there was a glimmer of light that would catch his eye when his son looked at him. He decided one thing: Happiness is shifting, but peace is profitable.
       The moral of this story: The way you experience love is intimate and personal. It is not about rather or not someone, who doesn't know you, care about you, or has anything to do with you, approves. If you are a sinner, the very least you could be, is authentic. A sinner is someone who needs Jesus, but can not recognize their own lack. A saint is someone who is very aware of their need for Redemption, and KNOWS Jesus is their only hope of Righteousness. Saints who act like sinners, are in process. Sinners who act like saints, are lost. End of story.