Several months ago, at the urging of my son and daughter-in-law, I began attending a new church......NorthPoint Community Church. I really like it and look forward to Sundays and the new sermon. My son and his wife have since moved which has left me attending alone, but that has not curbed my enthusiasm nor my determination to better myself. Sooooo.... I joined a small group. We don't have small groups in the Catholic Church so I'm not sure what to expect, but I have been told that it is a wonderful thing to do.
We had our first meeting, at Le Madeleine, last Tuesday evening. There were were.....about 12 of us, staring at each other, hesitantly sharing little tidbits of information about ourselves. Only one of us has ever been in a small group before and the rest of us looked like fish out of water!! We loosened up as the evening went along....until someone mentioned that we needed a leader. That was a touchy subject. Nobody wanted to volunteer. Okay.....why not me? Well....I'll tell you my big hesitation......... I am totally new to this church, know NOTHING about the Bible, and since this is going to get faith-based after out next meeting, tomorrow night, it would be like the blind leading the blind!!! That's why!!!! I think that's a good enough reason. But....I'll think about it.......Baby steps for me!!
My second Beginning this past week took place yesterday, before church, when I went to my first Starting Point Class. This is a class/group that is supposed to answer any questions we have about God and religion and introduce us to the Bible. I am very excited about this group. I am so anxious to know about the Bible and how to start reading it. Did I mention before that I was raised Catholic? We don't read the Bible......so it's not as if I have been lazy, it's just not something we are encouraged to do.
As with my other group, we went around and were encouraged to answer questions about ourselves.....where we were from, how we were raised, how long we had been coming to NorthPoint, and.....if we could as God one question right now, what would it be? That was easy...and painful. "God....why did you allow my grandbaby, Adrian to die?" I would really like to know why he took a 7 month old baby who had his whole life ahead of him, when there are so many older people who are sick and have no future. Okay, I know that is selfish, but I just don't understand. It doesn't make sense to me. And I want my Adrian back...... I guess I'll just have to wait for that answer and trust that God knows best.
WINNING..........This is a big one for me. I have been on blood pressure meds for quite a few years now. After Adrian died, my bp went to 165/125!! And that was on my meds!!! It finally came down, but it has never been normal. Actually, for years it has been 135/85......140/90...... and the drs never seem overly concerned. "It's a little high but it's okay." Seriously???? Those are my arteries that are feeding my heart, brain, and all my other organs and it's going to be MY STROKE!!!!! So........ I started reading Suzanne Somers new book "Bombshell". It's not about her being a bombshell, it's about the bombshells in the medical world when it comes to aging. It's a really good read!!! Anyway... she recommends the Life Extension Foundation or lef.org for information. I went on their website and looked up hypertension and read all about supplements.....herbs, vitamins, amino acids, etc......that could be taken to reduce high blood pressure. Some I was already taking, but I made a list from each group and purchased some (not all) of the recommendations. I have been taking them for a month. I noticed a decrease right away. Slowly, it started to go down and.......TA DA TA DA.........this morning my blood pressure was 117/78!!!!! Hooray for me!!!!! Yes, I am still on the meds, but it is a start. If I can lose some weight, maybe I can go off the meds, stay on the supplements and keep it down. By the way, I do take a lot of pills, but I feel terrific!!!!
