Hope Disguised as a Greeter

The satisfaction one gets from offering another individual a ray of hope in something you have found victory on is worthwhile. As a greeter, I don’t remember how “Darlene” and I started talking about our commonality of Type 2 Diabetes. 

I could see the same look of fearful resignation in her face that I had once had. Before Darlene spoke, I knew her diabetes continued to get worse as her sugar numbers got higher (200-300’s), and her appetite continued to rage out of control.

Being diagnosed with the illness of Binge Eating Disorder turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It explained so many things about my erratic food consumption patterns as an adult (see It’s B.E.D. Time and The Diagnosis).

The nationally recognized solution for Binge Eating Disorder was Vyvanse. (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also so helped with B.E.D. in conjunction with the medicine.) Vyvanse was taking away the majority of my desire to go on crazy eating rampages. I ate less.

My wife, Bobbi, said our groceries were lasting longer, my clothes were becoming looser as my weight dropped, and my daughter, Allena, was happy I was no longer eating (on a regular basis) as much of the food she purchased for herself.

Food was present all around me, but my thoughts were no longer consumed with how to get more of it or getting full. I got satisfied rather quickly on what I ate. (There were leftovers all the time now.) There was hope I could lose the weight I needed for my health without resorting to bariatric surgery as my wife had.

By the time Darlene left me, I could sense she was encouraged by me. There was now a smile on her face as she could see a positive bright light at the end of her dark tunnel.

What can you do to bring a glimmer of grace into someone’s life? It doesn’t take much. If you have conquered something you thought was unconquerable, please share that with someone who is weighed down with that burden.

(Don’t resist to share that with others as God leads you.) Emotionally, they me be drowning, but you could be the buoy that makes them come up (for the last time) as a winner in their eyes.