​Oh gosh!!  Donuts for my birthday?  Well...uhm...ok! Don't have to twist my arm! It has been literally about 7 or 8 years since I've eaten donuts!?! It was not even an option or consideration for my current standard of life.  Let me think this thing through...

Years ago, I realized that my body wasn't bouncing back from the daily wear and tear of society like it used to.  Once into my 40's, I started getting migraines with intense vomiting.  Let me tell you that there is nothing macho, cool or hip to be curled up in the fetal position with eyes and ears covered and a "throw-up" bag next to your face!  I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy! 

Life wasn't just headaches and pukes, though.  I also had every injury I sustained (from years of contact sports like football and martial arts) flare up all at once.  Imagine waking up in the morning and your legs aren't working like they should.  You walk like an old man for 30-45 minutes until you are "warmed-up".  Imagine being fine until you sit down again for any significant time and then try to stand up.  Not so easy some days.! 

Now, imagine getting out of bed one morning and completely collapsing to the floor!  This all was happening while I was working out heavily, eating clean foods, taking supplements, and bearing the major stress of managing a multi-million dollar fitness facility!   Why, at only 40 years old, was I the one who'd "fallen and can't get up"?  This really frightened my beautiful wife!  

After rounds and rounds of specialists and blood work, I was given the clean bill of health!  Yippie!  Yet...I felt like I was dying.  I met a with a friend who knew a chiropractor that did a simple muscle test on me.  He told me to hold my arm straight out in front of me and said "don't let me push your arm down."  The first time, he couldn't move my arm at all (thanks to all the heavy workouts).  Then, he did the unthinkable!  He grabbed a piece of bread and had me hold it in my other hand.  Then he said again "don't let me push your arm down."  I held tight and he easily pushed it down...I bent my knees and braced myself...he pushed it down again... and again... and eventually with just ONE FINGER!!  

Ok...What?  My body's response completely changed just from holding bread!?!  If that's the case...What happens when I EAT IT???   He and other doctors agreed that I have a severe sensitivity to gluten.  In fact, you probably do too!  It shows up differently in each individual, but one thing is for sure: wheat today is a completely different substance than it was when I was a kid. (More on that at another time!)  My beautiful wife, Mie Ling, completely removed gluten from my daily routine and my health has been increasingly better through the years!  

WHAT ABOUT THESE DONUTS???   I decided to see if my system had been restored or at least if there was a way of counter-acting the effects of the gluten, since it had been years since I regularly ate it.  Well...let me tell you that the day before my birthday, I loaded up on raw, dark, green, leafy vegetables, because they have an abundance of digestive enzymes. This was important to me, since I had learned that today's wheat lacks the enzymes to break it down, thus causing a myriad of issues.  Would this work for me?   I DID eat the donuts and felt fine.  The next day, I had a headache for a few hours, but the migraine never manifested. The greens paved the way for my body to be equipped and empowered to handle gluten! Hallelujah! 

Listen!  I'm not saying to start eating donuts or to start subscribing to the Standard American Diet of too much of all the wrong things. I'm definitely NOT going to start eating bread again. However, I am saying to start eating more dark, green, leafy vegetables, especially if you plan to continue eating junk food.  My two cents.  There is power in the greens!  Power, I say!!   Revelations 22:2 "...and it's leaves will be for the healing of the nations." 

My palms were sweating and my blood pressure was up!  I was anxious about the consequences of something my oldest son neglected to do.  As a dual credit high school student, Ayri (16 years old) is home-schooled in one of the most challenging curriculum in the world as well as being enrolled in college courses.  What were we thinking?  

Well, I know exactly what you're thinking.  How does he have time for both?  Ayri is my reluctant athlete.  He has all of the ability in the world, but lacks the desire to play organized sports like football and basketball.  He can run like the wind and does about 500 to 1000 push-ups and sit-ups a day.  He also plays the drums in our congregation's youth band and has a part-time job dangerously disposing of mold in commercial buildings.  When he's not sleeping or eating, he is studying.  This is all for a good purpose, because he wants to be able to get a decent job and provide for his future family in whatever way God leads.   

Although the Ayri literally means nice, good, happy and pleasing in Jamaican vernacular, this season is all but those for my determined son.  He's learning many lessons right now that will carry him throughout his life.  Okay, back to the story about my sweaty palms!  All semester, my son worked very hard to get an A in his course.  He had a 98% and then IT HAPPENED!  Today he tells me that the final exam that he thought was on Friday was actually yesterday!!  The semester was over and he was given a ZERO for the exam.  His final grade would be 78%, a C.  

Now, there is nothing wrong with getting a C unless you had an A+ in the bag.  We checked to see if there was a way to take the test late.  There was absolutely no option.  Ayri thought it was hopeless and that there's nothing he can do.  I immediately thought of the parable of the persistent widow in the Bible!  You know, the one in Luke chapter 18 where the widow wanted justice from an unjust judge.  He denied her, but she kept "bothering" him until he eventually gave in just to get her off is back.   

My wife and I both agreed that Ayri should email the professor and beg for a chance to at least take the exam, even though it was Ayri's mistake that he assumed the wrong date.   We encouraged him to be persistent even if it meant that he only got partial credit for the exam.  Partial credit would most likely get him to at least a  B.  He reluctantly gave it a try and sent two emails, because the professor denied the first.  Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....

The suspense was horrible, but we were willing to keep asking until we were completely shut down.  Waiting, waiting, waiting...  As we moved on to other things, Ayri comes up to me and says "Hey dad, the professor said that the class is closed. So, I can't take the test, but he said he'll give me the same grade I got on the last exam."  Well, his last exam was a 97%!!  Hallelujah!  He get's to keep his A+!!  God has shown us His favor!  The professor was not obligated to help Ayri in any way, because it was my son's carelessness that caused him to miss the exam.  I'm so thankful that the professors heart was moved to help Ayri learn two valuable lessons: 1) Pay attention to the schedule, and 2)  Persistence and perseverance pays off, especially when God is on your side!!!