So here we are on week 9 of my weight loss and week 6 of my 5k training program! I have now gone from 321 lbs to 300 lbs.! I have dropped down to a smaller size pants and I am wearing shirts that I have not worn in a while! Not only that but I feel better and want to do more activity, which is great because I have a youth group that wants to do nothing but run run run! I am thankful for those who have kept encouraging me in this and who are checking up on me!

So I am about 3 days late on putting this post up but here we go! I am in week 5 of the couch potato to 5k and I am going to say that I never thought that I would be able to say that I intentionally got up at 5:30 to go run and run on a schedule without the incentive of having a coach busting my tail about running. I have now lost a total of 19 lbs. since Feb. 1st and keeping it up and pushing through. I would like to give props to Brent Phillips for keeping after me to post on my blog at least once a week!

Week 4

I am now on week four of my get healthier plan! So far I have lost 17 lbs and and have kept up with the Couch Potato to 5K program that my church is doing! It sucks that I have to get up at 5:30 MWF of each week but it really makes my days go by much easier with more energy. Along with the exercise that I have added I have also started watching the stuff that I am eating. For one I have cut down the amount of carbs that I intake during the day! Also I have cut down on the amount of food that I eat. This is my attempt to blog my progress! I still suck at this but eventually I will get better.

I hate running!

I was reminded this morning at 5:10 why I hate running so much! Most people want to go do it before the sun wakes up! That is not cool, I go to bed after the sun and then choose to get up before it rises, not cool at all! But on the plus side I increased my distance by 1/2 mile from day one to day two of the program. Also I have had more energy these past few days. It really is funny how you work you body out and some how or another you have more energy during the day. Only God could come up with a concept like that! Now I am off to impact team with my youth.

Couch Potato to 5k!

Last three weeks I have been in the Biggest Loser at FBC Tifton! So far I have lost 13 lbs. and I have had to get smaller pants! I am super excited! But tomorrow I will be starting something that I have never tried before. I will start training for a 5k. That is right Jacob McGhee Russell will be running in a 5k not walking but running the whole thing! There is a program called "From Couch Potato to 5k" that will help me progress at slow intervals to where I am able to run the 5k. I really am not to for sure about all this because it starts a 5:30 am (for those of you like me that is in the morning and I am not a morning person). Just thought I would let you know about that stuff!

Humble Pie!

Tonight I had the privilege of serving some very special kids in Tifton! They were our Backpack Blessings kids. If you do not know what backpack blessings is let give you a short run down. The schools in Tift Co. have identified students in their schools who are not getting enough food and so on the weekends our church partners with other churches in the community and we pack food in small backpack for them to take home and bring back after the weekends. Tonight we FBC Tifton's annual Backpack Blessings Christmas Party!

While at the party the kids and their families fed a full Christmas dinner of Turkey, stuffing, rolls, sweet potato yummyness, and a table full of cookies and other really "healthy" stuff that only comes at Christmas. Then there were games for the kids to play while the church hooked the parents up with some awesome things for these kids. First they got a full turkey dinner boxed up for them to cook on Christmas day. Along with the dinner each child received three weeks worth of backpack food since the kids were out on break! Then each child had a bag pack specifically for them with new clothes and shoes and PJ's and a jacket and a toy

for their parent to give them on Christmas Day! In addition to those thing SANTA and Mrs. Clause came to visit and they gave each child a stocking full of goodies and a toy for each of them!

Then after all of these things had been passed out our Sr. Pastor Bro. Wayne gathered all the children around and read them the story of the very first Christmas! While he was reading the story some of the kids had the opportunity to dress up as some of the characters and act it out! Now there were 125 children who were served tonight along with many more who were parents or aunts and uncles or grandparents. It was a very special night because the smiles on the kids faces were of pure joy and it was over some of the simplest things. It really cause me to stop and think about all that I have and how I take all of it for granted.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

John 21:15

Happy Birthday Jesus!

So tonight was our church's "Happy Birthday Jesus" party for the children's ministry. It was a pretty rockin' time. I was asked to play the part of Joseph , aka I was Jesus' daddy for a couple of hours. It was a really cool time to get an opportunity to just really interact with people from church that I don't normally get to. But while we were getting the last second stuff set up I had the mom of one my 8th grade boys come up to me and tell me how much she appreciated me be his Sunday school teacher. Because one Sunday on their way home she asked him what he had talked about in class and he really grasped the concept we had covered that day and took it to heart. When I heard this I was really taken aback, because in SS we have a group of boys who are really rambunctious and I did not know how much they were paying attention. That just made me more thankful to God that I was able to be apart of their lives and invest in them.