My daughter turns 8 today. One of the things we get our kids on their 8th birthday is an email account. This will be the first emails she sees. I’m including the picture I attached:

Hey Mercy! Today you turn 8 years old. I remember clearly the day you were born. Even before that, I remember finding out that we were going to have a little girl and being so excited to get to know you. I think your Grandpa might’ve been the most excited we were having a little girl. He loves spoiling little girls! It seems like just yesterday you were sleeping on my chest without me having to hold you at all you were so tiny. It’s hard to believe that you’re growing up so fast. I can tell you this; I love everything about you, Mercy.

I love your quick wit and full laughter. I love the way you get my jokes and are learning to tell your own. I love your determination to figure everything out. I love your creativity and that you’re always trying to “sell” your art. I can already see some of the ways that God has put His special stamp on your heart. I love that you’re still a snuggle bunny and it makes my day when you give me one of your sweet kisses and hugs (And you’ve been doing that for a long time. You’ll see what I mean when you see the picture.).

It’s difficult to describe how you make your Daddy’s heart come alive. You are a precious gift from Jesus and I’m eternally grateful that He gave you to me and Mommy. I’m praying for you that God will continue to form His heart in you. Happy 8th Birthday my precious gift. Thanks for being who you are, the joy you bring to our family and always being my Cinderella.

I love you Mercy bird and I always will.

Love…Daddy

A couple of weeks ago I wrote to you about an opportunity that had come up for me to go and share about the outreach/evangelism/discipleship possibilities of social networking with a group that works primarily in a country closed to the Gospel. Your response as been very encouraging so far. We’re halfway to our goal. I’ve recently lost 40 make that 45 pounds and am asking you to help me celebrate by having 40 people donate $40 to make this trip a possibility. So far we’re right at halfway there. Any donation you give would be a big help. I’m booking my flight early next week and putting the rush on my passport tomorrow. For any of you interested in how I’ve lost weight, in need of some accountability there or just want to join my growing accountability team in that area of life, feel free to hit me up with an email at adam at adamherod dot com. Thanks so much for any help you can give. I appreciate you all.

Fourteen years ago today I married my best friend. To say we’ve been through a lot since then would be an understatement.I remember silly details about that day. I remember being as happy as I’ve ever been and being a little loopy with happiness during the pictures. I remember changing in the bathroom of the church I grew up in into my honeymoon clothes. I remember having my breath taken away when I saw her in that dress. I remember the song her Dad “sung”. I remember the song I wrote and standing upstairs at the church teaching it to the pianist while trying to get my tie on right. I remember crying when she read her vows and just trying to make it through mine. I remember taking pictures of our hotel room because it was the biggest one I’d ever seen.

She was 19 when we got married. I was 21. Since that glorious day we’ve fallen out of puppy, pretty love and have settled into what I’ve come to know real love is. Love that is gritty and raw. Love that tells the truth even when a lie would be easier to manage. Love that refuses to give up on the other person even when they (meaning me) deserve it. Love that can lose its white-hot intensity at times but never loses its fire. Love that wakes up in the morning and chooses to love and be loved. Love that clings to each other when the rest of the world falls apart. Love that never fails.

We’ve got our bad days just like anyone and sometimes love has been hard work. But God has used Misty in my life to show me what it means to be loved. He’s used her to teach me things I wouldn’t have learned without her. He gave me the gift of my children through her and she has been my “Jesus with skin on” more times than I can count.

We’ve grown up together and now I’m looking forward to growing old together. If you’re reading this babe (and I’m sure you are) thanks for being my confidant, love and joy. You’re still the joy of my heart and your smile still makes my day. You’re still my “precious, perfect gift”; my angel.

So far this year I’ve lost 40 pounds. Technically 40.8 as of this morning. I’ve had several people ask me what I’m doing. It’s kind of a long story. The funny version of my “plan” goes like this:

1. Get really, really fat.
2. Make small adjustments and watch the pounds fade away

Truthfully that’s how I put myself in position to lose that much weight is having that much to lose. I lived as undisciplined as one could live. I had a nasty Coke habit. Not that coke…the soda. I would throw down 60-100 ounces a day. Sounds crazy right? I’d start the day with a large Coke (28 ounces) then have two more at lunch (56 ounces) and two or three more at dinner.

The first step in my weight loss process was slaying that glaring problem. I haven’t had a soda in at least 4 months. I can’t even remember the last time now. Do I miss it? Yes. Will I drink again? I hope not. That first 15 pounds was easily the soda calories peeling away. But that really wasn’t the first step. The first step came through the nagging (in a good way) of my wife and a hard conversation with a friend.

Misty (my wife) had been concerned with my health for some time and we had a “come to Jesus” conversation about it earlier this year. The next day a close friend called and I decided to tell him about Misty’s insensitivity and garner some guy support. As I told him about it he uttered the sentence that marked the beginning of my transformation. He said:

“You’ve played the funny fat guy long enough.”

You know that Scripture that says “faithful are the wounds of a friend”? Yeah, that’s where that comes in. After I got over that shock my friend gently said (OK…not too gently), “Is Christ the Lord of your life? Have you ever given Him Lordship over the foods you eat?”. Through that conversation I realized I’ve never really given Jesus Lordship over what I eat and the decisions I made when it came to food. I always said the heart wants what the heart wants. And that excuse catapulted me to where I found myself this year.

My friend challenged me to pray that God would change my appetites and that I’d view food and diet as a spiritual discipline. So that’s what I’ve done. I’ve been using an app on my phone LOSE IT to track my calories and exercise. It’s been an invaluable tool in helping me manage what I eat and make healthier decisions. You can jump on there and be my friend. The accountability it provides (weekly email reports, friends on the app) have been another huge support.

One of the biggest eye openers on this journey is seeing how I was leading my family without even knowing. You’d be amazed to see how the family’s eating habits have mirrored my own. My son is trying salads now and the vegetable complaints from both of my kids have zeroed out. It’s been an encouragement to find what other ways I’m leading my family unintentionally and be more intentional about those things. I’m so thankful for my wife and friends that aren’t afraid to tell the truth. I’ve got longer to go on my journey to optimal health but we’re getting there. Forty pounds is nothing to sneeze at!

So now we’ve come to how you can help me celebrate my weight loss.

For those of you that don’t know me I have a passion for the Church; specifically the persecuted Church. I’ve done some work over the last couple of years talking about the viability of social networking as it pertains to spreading the Gospel in closed countries. I received a call a few weeks back inviting me to go overseas and share with believers ministering in a closed country about how they can utilize Facebook, Twitter and blogging to reach people who wouldn’t otherwise hear about Jesus with His Truth and Love. This is a trip that I believe can have long lasting, viable impact and could lead to people who don’t yet know Jesus coming to know and love Him. And isn’t that what it’s all about in the end?

It’s been a dream and prayer of mine to see find a way to be a contributor to the Church in places where the Gospel isn’t welcomed.  I’d love to invite you to help me make this dream a reality. You can donate to this trip by clicking below. If 40 people (one for each pound, see?:) gave $40 that would cover the expenses of my trip and provide some extra training for me so I can be as ready as possible to make the largest impact I can. 

quick update: A donation in ANY AMOUNT would be welcomed and extremely helpful.

Please click below to donate and thanks in advance for helping me celebrate!

I know it’s not a news flash to anyone that our world is broken. The theologians among us will quickly point out it’s sin that’s broken our world. And I’d quickly agree with them. My heartbreak is not a theological one but a sympathetic one. We’re not breaking new ground here but sometimes we have to give voice to the agony in our hearts.

My heart has been tweaked and cracked over and over again in these last few years. It wasn’t that I was oblivious before it’s just that brokenness just seems to jump out at me now. I recently had a dinner with a young friend. He had just lost his job and has two family members desperately without hope and direction. Another friend’s Dad starting drinking after 20 years of sobriety. His marriage is over. Someone very close to me had their Mother do the same thing. Her family is losing hope that she’ll recover this time. My best friend called me today; right before he had to go and lead worship at the funeral of a 6 year old little girl.

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