A bit overdue, but I’ve shot a video for this Visalus Challenge Update.

Click here to view it: Day 74 Visalus Video Update

I am maintaining at about 190 lbs. Still struggling even this many weeks in with old habits and cravings. Disclaimer: While I talk in the video about my continuing commitment to healthier food choices, I ate a 12 inch Subway sandwich tonight. That is the second week in a row!! I need to go back to saying NO more often.

Saying NO daily is something I think you have to do when making lifestyle changes.

I make a mistake in the video too … I say 76 days at one point …. and it is Day 74! It was done in one take. That is miraculous …

So there are just 16 days left. I will make one more update before the finish.

To begin your challenge, join me here: Visalus 90 Day Challenge

Begin losing here: Visalus Challenge Info

Sending Happy Easter wishes to friends and readers of the blog from an 85 degree day in Phoenix.

The difference Smile for a Lifetime makes with a kid is only matched by the pain and humiliation felt by those kids. The embarrassment people often feel about their teeth is painful, especially for kids.

My friend Steve Garufi has chosen Smile for a Lifetime as the charity he is hoping to raise awareness for as he bikes across America this spring. At this time, he is still trying to put the funds together. I can vouch for him as I’ve known him for almost 10 years. If you can make even a small donation to either his efforts or the Smile for a Lifetime Foundation, I encourage you to join me and do so.

Steve has put up a site about his trip and the charity. Check out his 6 Ways to Help Smile for a Lifetime!

I also connected to the foundation on their Twitter feed … and look forward to meeting the founder, Aimee Spencer, on her next visit to Phoenix!

Here is Tim Hughes’ Be my Everything. First heard it a few weeks ago when it was played at Vineyard Church in North Phoenix. I hope to get that recorded as the worship group there does this song really well.

This is Casting Crown’s Voice of Truth. A friend told me this song reminded them of me. I’d say it is does represent where I tend to have been.

If you lived here in America, you probably had listened and enjoyed Paul Harvey’s news or The Rest of the Story on the radio.

His appeal truly extended generations. When I was teaching 8th grade, I would read his Rest of the Stories (which happen to be written by his son, Paul Jr.) on Fridays. The kids loved them. Shortly after reading a couple of them, it never failed that one would blurt, “Hey, my Dad listens to him on the radio!”

Interestingly, the books I had that contained his stories were always being taken to be read by the students. When Friday would approach, one of the students who had read the book would say, “Read the one about … ” If you know anything about an 8th grade classroom, seldom would you see 25 or 30 14 year olds so intently listening as you would when I read these to them. Even more so, these kids would look forward each afternoon to hearing Harvey on the radio, in the cars with their parents, tell the stories in his wonderful voice and unique style.

I was watching an interview with him on Larry King tonight. It first aired in 2003. He shared a great number of insights and stories from his life. At the time of the interview, he was 84. He expressed his disdain for technology. When asked what his favorite rest of the story was, he answered the one on the birth of his son. He shared about his belief in God and his decision to be baptized after hearing a preacher in a small church in Cave Creek, Arizona. He lived in Phoenix during the winter months and Chicago the rest of the year. He called these two cities the most beautiful places in the world.

Harvey noted that this world had become an uglier place in his life time. I am afraid his perspective, gained over the last 90 years, is closer to the truth. And with his passing, we lose a most inspiring man who truly made the world a better one while here.