Just Rick: No. 1

Sunday, June 5, 2011

No. 1

It can be difficult explaining the concept of a Charlie Daniels Band song to a nine-year-old child. The song features line after line like, "Ain't a cowboy hat in Dallas if I ain't in love with you." Adam remarked, "There ARE cowboy hats in Dallas." I replied, "Then he loves his wife/girlfriend." "Huh? That doesn't make any sense." It was at THAT point I knew I was in trouble.

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Why Just Rick?

Jeanie said one of the nicest things she's ever said to me recently, and out of that came the title of this blog ... Just Rick.

I spoke at a local church, and during the presentation, used some personal pictures from a few years ago. My weight-loss journey was not the topic, so I just showed the photographs and moved on without mentioning it.

Later, while we were driving home, she mentioned the photos.

"They were amazing," she began. "I don't think I'd realized how much weight you'd lost until I saw them."

I laughed. Really? I've been busting my butt for more than four years now, and you didn't notice? Geeeee ... thanks.

"No, that's not what I meant," Jeanie said. "I never saw you as being fat. I always saw you as just Rick, and that's the way I see you now, as just Rick."

I wish I could say the same, that I saw myself as just Rick when I looked in the mirror once upon a time. Instead, I was the fat kid who loved sports but couldn't play any very well at all. As an adult, I was the fat guy who'd been embarrassed by my weight more times than I could ever begin to count.

Even now, the memories stick with me. They're motivation to keep going, even when a run is getting really, really hard or I just can't imagine doing another rep in the Body Pump and boot camp classes I'm taking.

Come on, Fat Boy ...

Just Rick.

At my heaviest, my worth was not determined by my weight.

Today, my worth is not determined by how much weight I've lost, although I'm glad it's gone. My worth is determined by who I am as a husband, a father and most importantly, as a child of the One True King.