Charlie Lehardy

That’s something I like to say a lot. That I learn something new every day. The other part is that I tend to forget 4 or 5 things, but that’s another story…

However, this past week I think I’ve learned at least 20 new things each day. With this new diabetes thing I get to work with, I have all KINDS of things to learn. How to check my blood sugar level (I’m getting really good at that since I’m doing it 4-7 times a day :-), how to give myself insulin shots (only done that 5 times so far, so I’m not as good yet) and what kinds of things I can (and can’t) eat.

For that eating thing, lets just say I’m finding more foods that I CAN’T eat, than I can so far Actually, that’s not really true, there’s a lot of food that I can eat, I’ve just gotta be fairly careful. See, I’m trying to avoid carbs since diabetes (for those that may not know) is a condition where your body doesn’t make enough insulin (or no insulin at all). Insulin is used by your body to break down sugars and of course, carbs are sugars (complex or no, they all break down to sugar eventually).

From what the doctors can tell so far, I’m obviously not making enough insulin, but I am making some. What this means is that my body has a hard time breaking down sugars and making them usable to me. And THAT makes my blood-sugar level go up. Right now it’s hovering around the 200-350 range, depending upon what I eat and such. So, I’m taking insulin to help my body out some and get that level lower. Exercise will drop it more, so I’ll be starting on some sort of a routine soon (I hope) too.

But, I’m also having to watch what I eat and try and get things more under control that way too. Mostly I’m trying to keep the carb intake to a minimum, so bread, potatoes, rice, most fruits and anything sugary is all “bad”. Obviously this rather limits my diet a bit, and I’m supposed to have some of that to keep a healthy diet, so there’s lots of experimentation going on too.

For instance, pizza isn’t bad at all as long as I don’t eat the crust because there’s not too much bread. Well, that’s the theory anyway. The reality is that Papa John’s pizza isn’t very good for me, at least no the hand-tossed crust. Thin might, but we’ll have to see. However, most canned soups are just fine because there’s very few carbs, but there’s tons of sodium, so I’ve gotta be careful of that (never good to have tons of sodium in your diet).

Anyway, the main thing is that I’m doing MUCH better. I have energy, I’m able to work again, getting my diet worked on and this is all treatable. The insulin is annoying, but do-able and it may not be for that long anyway, it just depends upon how my body does with this as we go on.

Lastly, I do want to thank everybody for your prayers and notes. It’s been great to know you guys are out there, praying for me. I know that God kept me safe on Monday when I was doing so badly and I know he’ll keep me safe as we go on. So thank you.

But I figure it’s about time for me to write again, especially considering what has been going on with me the last couple weeks and culminated yesterday. For the last couple weeks, my mouth and eyes have been very dry and as time has gone on, it was getting worse. I also was urinating a LOT (6-10 times per day), but because of my dry mouth, I was also drinking a lot so I figured that’s all that was.

Well, I found out I was wrong. On Sunday, I realized that I’d lost a bit of weight lately (15 lbs or so), which is not good. I had a doctor’s appointment set for Tuesday (today) at 9:40 AM, but I was feeling pretty bad on Monday (couldn’t eat much and was very weak) so I called my doctor and asked to get in Monday if possible, which they agreed to after hearing what I said I was feeling like.

I left work at 1:00 PM because I was feeling so bad and went to the doctor at 4:30 (after sleeping some) and after they asked some questions, they decided I probably had diabetes. So they ran some blood-work on me and gave me a quick test for diabetes (one of those little portable machines). The machine just came back saying my blood-sugar level was high, but wouldn’t give a number. But from that, the doctor knew I had diabetes and so now things have been going quickly to get me stabalized.

Apparently the weight loss was from losing fluids and me drinking juice (orange juice) didn’t help because it’s so high in sugar (VERY bad for a diabetic). So in the end it turns out that my blood sugar level was 949. Basically, 150 and higher means you’re probably diabetic. Over 400 isn’t very good and 949 means you’re in VERY bad shape (maybe even hospitalized).

But now I’m in fairly good shape, I’m working on a diet to help things get more stabalized and am now taking insulin once a day. I’ve also gotten my blood sugar level reduced by half or so (460 vs 949). Plus, I’m taking a lot of sodium to help me retain water better. So yeah, things are doing better now, but obviously not great. I was in such bad shape that it’ll take a while to get this taken care of.

So, what’s what’s been up with me these last couple weeks. Great fun! Certainly something new that I’ve never had to deal with before, but the good news is that I’m OK now and am getting better.

I’ve been reading this stuff on Saddam Hussein and how he was sentenced to death. Great, wonderful, he deserves to die in my opinion. However, I’m now reading about people in the Middle East, Europe and even here in the US who are OUTRAGED that he was sentenced to die and are now complaining about the trial, procedures, etc, etc.

First of all, any of you remember how everybody had a FIT about the possibility that the trial would be held here in the US? Remember that? Everybody said “no… I can’t be held in the US, we need it held in Iraq. It’s better to be held there.” So, we did that and this is the outcome. But now that we had THIS as the outcome, oh my gosh! We can’t kill him, no… that’d be wrong!!

Ok, explain this wise guy? How is killing a man who had a fair trial (despite his countless attempts to taint it and make it grind to a halt) and killed hundreds himself wrong, when going to war with (for instance) al-Qaeda is not? Are we not killing members of al-Qaeda for even less than what Saddam Hussein was just convicted of?

Yes, many people are against the war too, but many are not. For instance, Tony Blair, constant friend of the White House, has now decided that capital punishment is wrong and that you can’t put someone, even Saddam Hussein to death. Despite the fact that he condones the war in Iraq. Oh, and what about the other countries that have troops in Iraq, members of NATO, etc, etc? They certainly don’t think that killing someone while at war is wrong, but after a fair trial determines that someone deserves to die, THEN we’ve got a problem with it.

So, you might ask, “Well, what would Europe do about this problem instead? Surely they can’t just let him go…” No, you’re right, they wouldn’t. Spain has the perfect solution instead of killing the convict outright: Madrid: 38,000-year jail terms sought. 38,000 YEARS??? Ok, how is that different than capital punishment? Really, I would like to know. I mean seriously, isn’t that even worse than capital punishment since they have to spend the rest of their lives in prison? Why not just kill them and be done with it?

Anyway, I’m not sure I understand, and not sure I ever will. But if you’ve got some insight, I’d love to hear it.

No, not really for me, my weekend was fine. But for Christians, it was certainly a sad weekend. In case you’ve been under a rock for the last few days, I’m talking about Ted Haggard and the allegations against him that came up on Wednesday of last week. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say allegations since Ted Haggard confirmed a good portion of what Mike Jones was claiming he did.

However, I’m not really wanting to talk about that. Obviously Ted Haggard did stuff he shouldn’t have done and there’s going to be a lot of fallout from that. What’s more to talk about? What I DO care about though is how we, as Christians, handle this situation and the blow that’s been dealt to the Christian Church.

This is the time to realize that our Christian leaders are people, just like we are. They make mistakes, just like we do and sometimes, like now, those mistakes are revealed to the general public. But really, can you say that what Ted Haggard did is any worse than anything you’ve done? I know I can’t. Yes, it affects a LOT more people and yes, it’s a lot more public. And sure, you’ve probably never done the things that Ted Haggard has done. But when you really get down to it, how much worse is Ted Haggard’s sin in the eyes of God than ours?

I’d say it’s no worse. I’d also say that our own sins are no worse than Ted Haggard’s. In God’s eyes, we’re equal, assuming we’ve all accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior anyway. We’re ALL sinners, and that means that we all deserve death. But oh my gosh, Ted Haggard broke the big one. He had relations with another man. SO WHAT?? It’s still a sin, like everything else. Even more interesting to me are the people who are shocked by it. That they never would have expected it.

Well, ok, I guess I never would have expected it myself. I had the opportunity to help on the back-end of some of Ted Haggard’s ministries (World Prayer Team and his personal site) by helping create those sites years ago and helping with the administration of them. During that time, I saw the passion that Ted Haggard had, the leader he was and the plans that he had for God’s people. He’s a great man and truly loves God and wants to do what God wants of him. But because of that position, the influence he’s had in the Christian Church, the influence over Christians, he’s also been attacked over and over and over.

And so it doesn’t really surprise me that Ted Haggard fell because he IS just a human. He’s not perfect. Even less surprising is the manner in which he fell. He’s been a huge proponent against homosexuals and so it makes perfect sense that THAT’S the way he’s brought down. But what I know, and I hope others know, is that he doesn’t have to be out for the count. He CAN rise again and I will be praying that he will. Because Satan didn’t win the war, he just won this one, tiny, little battle.

Think about it this way… Peter denied Christ THREE TIMES, just as Christ predicted he would. I’m sorry, but that’s pretty bad. Or even worse, David had Bathsheba’s husband killed so he could cover the fact that he had an affair with her. Even worse. However, in both cases, they were forgiven and rose again to be even greater. I will be praying that the same will be true of Ted Haggard and I hope you’ll do the same.

Because really, he’s done nothing worse than what I do every day, or what you do every day. And if we can’t forgive his sin and help him move on and grow in strength from it, then who can?

But I REALLY like this video. It’s like a sickness, I just can’t stop watching!

Hope you enjoyed it too!

Ok, I know there’s a lot of amazing animals around the world and all that but… HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???

By the way, make sure you watch the whole video. It gets more and more amazing as you go along!

I’m not sure what to say other than WOW. I mean, I suspected most of this and much of it may not be true but… the source is amazing enough! What am I talking about? Well, this article: Hezbollah or Israel, “Dooms Day” For Which One?

This really is an amazing article to read. I do wonder how much of it is true, but if even just 1/4 of it is true, then the regular news services need to get their butts in gear and start reporting this kind of stuff. Because this is the kind of thing that will show the world why we’re fighting this fight.

Then again, that’d mean they would be in effect condoning the fighting and maybe even approving of it. Which would be beyond anything I’ve EVER heard most of them speak of (even FOX News). Guess we’ll see where this all leads us!

So I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve been going to this Wednesday Night Bible Study. I’ve tried the group out a number of times before and just never really have found that connection. I guess it’s mostly because I was an outsider trying to get in and that’s not always easy. Especially for me since I really AM mostly an introvert. Plus the fact that this is a Casas group and I don’t go to Casas.

Anyway, so it’s been hard to get that connection going but in the last couple months I’ve REALLY felt like I have it now. Well, no… it’s not 100% there, probably not even quite 70%, but it’s over 60% and that’s a heck of a lot better than the 10% that I’ve felt before. See, the main problem has been that over half the group is girls. Normally, that’s not been a problem for me. But in the last couple years, it’s proven to be an issue.

See, I’m a fairly flirtatious person around the girls (yeah I know, shocker!). Generally all I’m looking for is friendship, but I think that I try hard enough to be friends that it backfires. This is going back to my other comment that I’m a mostly introverted person. Don’t believe me? Well, I’d truly prefer to have a small party with some trusted friends than a big one with a bunch of people that I only know halfway. And if it’s a party that I hardly know anybody at, I generally just sit somewhere on the side and watch people. Basically, feel quite uncomfortable until I finally leave.

Ok, so that’s all very interesting, but how does that affect me now? Well, since most of the people in this Young Professionals group (the Wednesday Night Bible Study) are single girls, I think I’ve managed to convince most of them at some point or another that I’ve been interested in them. So we come to the issue, getting them to trust me. Some do, some don’t. Just a matter of working at it I guess. But it’s all necessary since I need to re-build a good portion of my group of friends (just because life happened, nothing else). This all means that there’s a lot of hard times coming in my life I think, I just hope they don’t last too long!

The truth of the matter is that the entire YP group is awesome. And that’s not just because they’re cool people, but they’re really forcing me to think about the Bible, God and Christianity in general. There’s a VERY wide range of Christian experience represented in the group and so that makes for some very good discussions actually. Because we get the “easy” questions from the newer people that really force us to think about things from the Bible and God that we might not have thought about for many years and then there are the bigger questions that force all of use to look up a lot in the Bible.

To top it all off, nobody in the group is really the “Leader” and nobody has all the answers. It’s ALWAYS a group effort and lots of people speak their minds. Again, makes for good discussions. For instance, on this Wednesday night that just passed, we tried to answer a big question that Christians sometimes get asked. We started by voting on a number of questions that some of us had submitted for a possible topic and then talking about the most popular.

The one on Wednesday night was: “I’m not into organized religion. Can I still be a Christian without going to Church?” This seemed like a pretty easy answer to me (YES!), but some people really insisted the structure of the Church being required. Also, some people had a Catholic background and depending upon the person, that either meant that they were deeply in favor of doing the weekly Church thing, or that they were very much in favor of NOT doing it. Anyway, lots of VERY good discussion about it all (hurts in the Church, reasons to leave, etc, etc).

Again, because of the very wide range of backgrounds and Christian Maturity, this is a group that really challenges my faith and makes me THINK about things and not just take them at face value. Good stuff for sure and certainly a group that I’m hoping to hang out for a long while longer!

Yep, I actually had a good Friday night! Really, it was a lot of fun. Started out with me watching “Good Night, and Good Luck” at 6:30 by myself. I’d been meaning to watch it for quite some time, just had not gotten around to it and man! I liked it a LOT. It’s one of those slower, thinking movies that has a moral to it. Plus there’s quite a bit of political things to it, but not Liberal/Conservative political (in my eyes anyway). More about the power of the press and how much good it can do if it’s used properly. Anyway, highly recommend that movie.

Then David called (I’d called him not long after I watched the movie) and we went to Fox & Hound to play some pool. I had done that a couple weeks ago with this Wednesday night Bible Study I’ve been doing (it was our monthly get-together), but I hadn’t played much pool. Man, I was just NOT doing all that well. But you know what? I didn’t care! I found a table in Yvonne’s section (one of the girls there that I used to talk to a lot) and just had a lot of fun. Chatting with David (and beating him at pool some, him beating me some), messing with Yvonne (we typically have at least once where we pretend like we’re gonna go outside and duke it out, she’s feisty and therefore a lot of fun

Overall, it was great fun. I got to unwind some, relax and not worry about ANYTHING. Just gotta hang out with people that I know and trust (IOW, David) and not worry about what anybody else thought because quite frankly, I didn’t care. It felt like old times at the Fox & Hound, which was great. Well, except that I didn’t drink anything but Coke (and Yvonne of course kept those coming… I must have had 7 or 8. Yikes!).

There WERE some guys that came over to our table during our first or second game and after watching us for a bit, asked to challenge us (I’d figured that was coming). Should have messed with THEM too (like you know, saying yes on the condition that they give me their number ;-), but I just said no and ignored them from there. They did stay around for quite a while wanting to play, but since we were paying for the table by the hour and having our own fun, there was no way I was going to let them ruin that.

Oh yeah, I forgot the part that put me in a great mood as I was driving over to the Fox & Hound. I put a CD into my car that said Christian & Soundtracks on the front. Wasn’t sure what it was, but I thought I’d check it out anyway. Know what the first song was?? Adventures in Paradise by Ace of Base (from their Cruel Summer album). Next song? Always Have, Always Will. And then it went on from there. It was AWESOME!! I’d not listened to Ace of Base for a long time (years?) and have always liked them in moderation. But for some reason, it just made me laugh the whole way there.

And so guess what? It made me laugh the whole way back too! And so here I am now at 1:00 AM listening to Ace of Base again because I am just weird. What can I say? But I’m loving life right now so that’s all that matters

Ok, enough for this post and subject. Next!

My car is NOT going to be totaled and they’ll be repairing it instead. Of course, I’ve got a $1,000 deductable, but that’s just money so it’s ok. I’ll have to talk to the body shop to find out how long it’ll take to get done and what they’ll be replacing (I’m curious about that). But yep, I’ll be having my car back in better shape than ever (maybe) fairly soon. So, not too bad!

Now just have to make sure that the other vehicles and people are taken care of…