Happy Birthday to me

Happy Birthday to me Happy Birthday to me Happy Birthday dear C Leigh Happy Birthday to me!! I've hit the ripe old age of 31.

Happy Birthday - Belated!! I'm also 31 yrs old. Gala

Happy belated birthday to you. I actually turn the big 31 tommorow. I am six months post op now. I have been kind of inactive on and off my whole life. I think my biggest problem now is coffee. I just love it so much. I drink about 3 cups on most days some days less some days more. I just have not been back to church because i feel that if I can't live the word of wisdom I should not go. I do not want my son growing up to think I am a hiprocrite.

Turkeybird ( I wish I knew your real name), Thanks for the birthday wishes and right back at ya!! I'm glad that you replied to my post and I wanted to get back to you sooner, but I was busy getting ready for Thanksgiving (I hosted 30 people) and then left on vacation the next day. It was a bit crazy around here last week. Anywho, I wanted to respond to you because you sound like you have some internal conflict going on. I think you have a "rose-colored" view of the members in your ward. If you really knew what was happening behind the closed doors of your ward members, you would feel silly about your own short-comings. The church is like this message board. It is filled with imperfect people who are looking for support from other members going through the same struggles of life. Drinking coffee, in the grand scheme of things, is a very small glitch in your eternal progression. However, inactivity is not. You are also changing the course of your childs life by not giving him the chance to have a testimony and you will be held accountable for this. I kno that was harsh, I didn't mean it that way. You obvoiusly, as the rest of us WLS patients, have an oral fixation that causes us to eat or drink or consume at a level that is unhealthy for you. Over-eating is also against the Word of Wisdom, but there are plenty of over-weight people in the church!!! I am one of them!!! Unfortunately, there is not a surgery that will help you with the coffee issues. Believe me when I say that I am talking to myself too as I'm writing this as I usually skip out of church about once a month. I certainly have my own short-comings and have found a few ward members who like to present themselves and their families as the picture of perfection. I always assume that the bigger the facade, the bigger the imperfection they are trying to cover-up!! Just ignore them and find a few "real" people in your ward that you can connect with. If this doesn't work, you can always turn to your freinds here. We are all here to offer you support. The more that you attend the greater your desire will be to fix the wrongs in your life. As far as I know, nobody in the church has been "translated" on account of their perfect attendance record or perfect lives. It's hard to avoid comparing yourself to other members, but just remember that every single person is fallable and imperfect including me, or maybe especially me!!! Take care, C Leigh

I agree that if the only problem you have is coffee, that the worst thing you can do is not go to church. Our children know our shortcommings and they know our weaknesses...no matter what they are. If you are honest with your son about it and that it is not right to break the word of wisdom, but that you are working on it....he'll respect you for trying. But if he doesn't have the opportunity to learn the gospel, then ultimately he will reject Christ, have no opportunity for a testimony and be lost. I have issues with money....tithing is killing me to pay it, but I do. I fudge a little at times and rationalize my behavior, but I will always go to church. It is the place that gives me the motivation to try and do better each week. As for the coffee, try replacing it with postum or decaff at first. Then start changing that out for something else. You do know that coffee isn't just against the word of wisdom, but as a WLS patient, coffee impedes your WLS progress. But in order to change the desire and the behavior, you must replace it with a more desirable behavior. Give it a try and most of all....go to church. Heavenly Father loves you and would rather you be there then sitting at home. Christy