A visiting leader last week left a lasting impression on all of us. He has lost 50 pounds and kept it off for ten years. Once you've lost weight, whether 10, 50 or more pounds, it is easy to forget what that extra weight felt like. Many people know that 4 sticks of butter are a pound so visualizing 10 packages of butter when I'm in the dairy aisle as a representation of what I've lost is one thing, but let me tell you what Tom did.
Once upon a time newspaper carriers used a canvas contraption that went over their shoulders with a hold for their head. There was a wide pocket on the front and back that held newspapers while they walked or rode bikes on their route. Tom put one on, looking like an older version of this boy.
In each pocket he placed (with assistance) two gallon jugs filled with water. A full milk jug weighs 8.3 pounds for a total of 33.3 pounds now on his body. If he could have balanced two more on his shoulders it would have equaled the amount he has lost. Nobody would be comfortable carrying that around for long, yet all of us do be accustomed to the extra weight because it doesn't appear suddenly.
If I go to the store for milk and two other items and skip taking a cart, milk is the last item I grab because I don't want to lug it around for long, but I just lost more than a gallon's worth of weight, and I've carried that (and more) for years.
We all have different Aha! moments (as Oprah calls them) and this milk jug demo is one of mine.
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