Tag: Apple watch

Posted in birthday, food, life, pride, priorities, Scripture

I’m Not Believing It

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

In my opinion, it said more than it knew.  A while back I enrolled in the program to send me down the path to a medicine and diabetes free future. As part of the deal (paid for by my health insurance) they sent me a box full of treasurers.  The box contained several gadgets that would monitor me, my body, and my health.  Most of them I found helpful and even engaging but there was one…there was one that I did not like.

I am an Apple guy…well, not necessarily the kind you eat but the kind you use for work and information.  I own an Apple computer, an Apple iPad, and an Apple Watch.  One of the things I like about owning the same brand in my work and life tools is that they talk to one another.  Well, when my box of treasures arrived, it included a Garmin activity tracker.  It kinda, sorta does the same thing my Apple Watch does but with a different platform.  It certainly is not an Apple Watch, but I figured I might as well give it a try.  Not willing to give up my Apple friend on my right wrist, I strapped the Garmin on my left wrist.

I know, I know, that sounds a little wonky and honestly it probably was but the Garmin looks and works very differently from my Apple Watch, so most people don’t think I am wearing two watches.  In fact, they probably don’t think anything about what’s on my wrist.  While the Garmin device itself is not much to talk about—it is small, hard to use and blah—the app it talks to on my phone is very cool.  In fact, somehow it provides much of the same information as its big cousin.

One day I was going through the App, checking out the different screens and all the information it had gathered and analyzed.  I was impressed…until I wasn’t.  You see, there was a screen that listed about ten different areas and measurements—all about me and my body.  Most were fine, most were informative but one—one was downright offensive.  It is called, “VO2 Max.”  According to the app, the VO2 Max is a direct indictor of my level of fitness and apparently my “body age.” How this wimp, too big for its britches, something that doesn’t even know me (you can tell by now that I was personally offended by this useless chunk of plastic), I am out of shape and, get this, physically almost a decade older than I really am.

That’s right folks, according to the Garmin I am physically in the bottom 30% of men for my age and my body age was not 69 but 78.  Ok, I’m still mad and here’s why.  This out of shape, “ten years older than I am” guy, on the day after the assessment, took a brisk (as in pretty fast) two mile walk, walked 11,419 steps, burned 2,451 calories, and climbed eight flights of stairs. Now from where I sit that isn’t too bad…certainly I am no couch potato.  I mean what does this thing really know about me anyway?  And just for the record, my Apple Watch has another opinion about me…and so does my Dearest Daddy.

When I read those words, I knew I was faced with a choice.  I could believe what it said or believe what I know to be true.  I could believe what some formula, probably written by some guy in a faraway land, or believe what my reality says.  I am choosing the latter.  Now let’s be honest…I’ve got lots of room for improvement, but I am not some physical loser.  I just don’t believe it. The Garmin caused me to take a look, a close look, at where I am physically but it also caused me to take a look spiritually.  It caused me to ask, “So what do you believe about you—what others say or what God says?”

On the surface, it is a no brainer—I choose to believe my Dearest Daddy.  He calls me (and you) a masterpiece…no, really, He does.  In Ephesians 2:10, His Book, the Bible, says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Now, how about that?  Trust me on this one.  There are plenty of people and plenty of things that are just waiting to tell you what you are or are not.  But you remember this—there is only one opinion that matters and that comes from the One who made you.  So, while I wore the Garmin thing for a while I never owned its opinion of me…I’ll leave that with the One who loves me more and perfectly.  He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in communication, gratitude, life, priorities, Scripture, wisdom

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

 “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25

It just didn’t seem right. So the other morning I was up and at ’em early trying to do some yard work before it got incredibly hot. We have a lot of flower beds and a lot of flowers but along with those flower beds come a whole lot of weed things. Now these are not the standard “pull ’em up” weeds. These things are tangly vine and small tree-like things that like to grow into long vines and big tree-things. All of that means it is an on going battle–man vs weed things.

My main weapons of choice in dealing with these evil green things are a pair of hedge clippers and a pair of lobbers. Again, the goal is not to dig them up but rather to cut them off as close as possible to the ground. So, I dive in and start whacking here and whacking there–lobbing here and lobbing there. Before long I had several piles and at least I could tell I was making progress. But it came with a price. The longer I whacked and lobbed, the hot I got and before long two things were very apparent.  First, I was sweating up a storm–if storms sweat. Second, I was literally exhausted. All that bending over and whacking and lobbing made me feel ever one of my years.

Well, eventually, the job was mostly done–or at least as done as it was going to be that day. Now I wear one of those know-all, tell-all Apple watches. It has three rings that measure my movement, my exercise and how many times I stand.  The goal is to close all three rings by the end of the day. If you don’t, it is kind enough to remind you of what a loser you were that day. So, I decided to take a glance at my watch and my three rings to see how close I was to closing them–especially the exercise one.  Well, guess what?

Believe it or not, after all that work, after all that sweating, after all that whacking and lobbing, it gave me credit for a grand total of three minutes of exercise. Now folks, that is just wrong. I just about died from heat exhaustion and hard labor and all I got was a lousy three minutes. Talk about injustice. After pouting a while, I came to a conclusion. You see, the watch’s definition of exercise and my definition of exercise were totally different. In order to get credit–I had to exercise according to the watch’s rules. Fair or not–that is the deal.

Somewhere along the road of discovery, I thought about how that is like when I read the Bible–God’s Word. You see, sometimes some people think as long as they read the Bible they get some sort of credit. As long as they are reading, it is supposed to magically change them. In fact–that’s mostly just not true. You see for the Bible to change us we have to apply what we read.  Application is the change agent not just reading. 

Just like my watch will only give me credit if I am working according to the rules, so God’s Word can make a difference in our lives only if we are willing to apply what we read. So, let me encourage you to take the next step in your Bible time. Let’s move from just reading to applying the powerful truths of His Word. It is a game changer. Your Father in heaven is just waiting to help you so don’t worry.  He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in life, priorities, Scripture, Trials, Uncategorized

What Time Is It?

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

“Teach them Your Word, Your Word is truth.” John 17:17b

It was the 60’s and 70’s. The novel, “A Tale of Two Cities” starts with “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and that pretty well describes those two decades.  Out of those somewhat crazy times came some of the best music ever written—at least modern music.  I know that is true because people from all the other decades seem to come back to the 60’s and 70’s. Some, ok, maybe a lot of it, was kinda crazy but that is what made it so cool.  There was a song that was released by the group Chicago in 1969 called, “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is.”  It was a quirky song, in fact, that is how the guy who wrote it described it.

What is kinda funny is that it is a song that my wife Judy and I live daily.  If you read Grits, you might remember that I like clocks a lot. It all started a long time ago and is one hobby or obsession that has stuck with me through the years.  I am intrigued because of the design and engineering that went into each clock.  Some of my clocks are babies, only sixty or seventy years old.  Some though are well over a hundred.  Some were bought at a shop somewhere, one special one was built by a couple of friends and two were built by me…with a little help from my friends.

In today’s world, so many clocks are engineering marvels and keep time very accurately.  But some of the older ones tend to be a little less accurate.  So that is where our song comes in.  You see most rooms in my house have a clock or two or three and often they are the older mechanical types.  So, you go into the room and look over there and there is a clock.  It says it is, oh, let’s say 2:13 pm.  Then you look over there and there is another clock, and it says it is 2:20 pm. Then on the wall going up the stairs is another clock that declares it is 2:05 pm.  What?

Well, all of that is not a problem until you are about to leave, and you need to know if you are on time or late.  And trust me, more than once, Judy has said, “So what time is it, anyway?”  Well, I know my clocks pretty well and I know their habits as well.  I pretty much know who runs slow and who runs fast and who doesn’t run at all.  So I can usually tell her just about what time it really is.  It can be a bit confusing…but in a pretty good if not quirky way.

The bottom line is if I really need to know the time, I have three good choices.  First, my trusty Apple Watch.  It is very accurate and if it is strapped to my wrist…it is an obvious first choice. The second choice is my phone which is married to my Apple Watch.  The only problem is I’m not married to my phone which means it may or may not be close by.  The third choice is the kitchen stove.  It always tells the truth…but it still depends on me setting it correctly. And if the power goes off, well, you get the flashy thing until I get around to setting it.

I was thinking, which is always a dangerous thing, that where we go for truth is a lot like trying to find the correct time.  Similar to the question in the song you might ask, “Does anyone really know what truth is and what it is not?”  Well, the answer is…wait for it…the Bible.  For millennia this most ancient of sacred writings has stood the test of time.  It has made the best seller list forever and while there are many different translations and reading styles…there never has been a version 2.1.  Do you know why?  It is timeless, changeless and without error.  I know, I know you might think differently or maybe heard differently but let me encourage to check it out for yourself.  Do some honest research and you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did—it can be trusted because it is the real deal.  And trust me…these days we need the real deal.

When you find yourself running around and asking everyone you meet, “Hey, does anyone really know what’s true and what’s not?” I hope you will turn to the one source that is spot on, right on and always on target. Jesus said it best when He said, “Teach them Your Word, Your Word is truth.” I like that…plain, simple truth. And, when you have a question, when you are stumped, just ask the One who knows and always speaks the truth—God.  Oh, and don’t worry, He always has the answer because He is the answer.  In other words, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, gratitude, life, Scripture, sovereignty of God, thankful, wisdom

What Time Is It…Really?

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Teach them Your Word, Your Word is truth.” John 17:17b

It was the 60’s and 70’s. The novel, “A Tale of Two Cities” starts with “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and that pretty well describes those two decades.  Out of those somewhat crazy times came some of the best music ever written—at least modern music.  I know that is true because people from all the other decades seem to come back to the 60’s and 70’s. Some, ok, maybe a lot of it, was kinda crazy but that is what made it so cool.  There was a song that was released by the group Chicago in 1969 called, “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is.”  It was a quirky song, in fact, that is how the guy who wrote it described it.

What is kinda funny is that it is a song that my wife Judy and I live daily.  If you read Grits, you might remember that I like clocks a lot. It all started a long time ago and is one hobby or obsession that has stuck with me through the years.  I am intrigued because of the design and engineering that went into each clock.  Some of my clocks are babies, only sixty or seventy years old.  Some though are well over a hundred.  Some were bought at a shop somewhere, one special one was built by a couple of friends and two were built by me…with a little help from my friends.

In today’s world, so many clocks are engineering marvels and keep time very accurately.  But some of the older ones tend to be a little less accurate.  So that is where our song comes in.  You see most rooms in my house have a clock or two or three and often they are the older mechanical types.  So, you go into the room and look over there and there is a clock.  It says it is, oh, let’s say 2:13 pm.  Then you look over there and there is another clock, and it says it is 2:20 pm. Then on the wall going up the stairs is another clock that declares it is 2:05 pm.  What?

Well, all of that is not a problem until you are about to leave, and you need to know if you are on time or late.  And trust me, more than once, Judy has said, “So what time is it, anyway?”  Well, I know my clocks pretty well and I know their habits as well.  I pretty much know who runs slow and who runs fast and who doesn’t run at all.  So I can usually tell her just about what time it really is.  It can be a bit confusing…but in a pretty good if not quirky way.

The bottom line is if I really need to know the time, I have three good choices.  First, my trusty Apple Watch.  It is very accurate and if it is strapped to my wrist…it is an obvious first choice. The second choice is my phone which is married to my Apple Watch.  The only problem is I’m not married to my phone which means it may or may not be close by.  The third choice is the kitchen stove.  It always tells the truth…but it still depends on me setting it correctly. And if the power goes off, well, you get the flashy thing until I get around to setting it.

I was thinking, which is always a dangerous thing, that where we go for truth is a lot like trying to find the correct time.  Similar to the question in the song you might ask, “Does anyone really know what truth is and what it is not?”  Well, the answer is…wait for it…the Bible.  For millennia this most ancient of sacred writings has stood the test of time.  It has made the best seller list forever and while there are many different translations and reading styles…there never has been a version 2.1.  Do you know why?  It is timeless, changeless and without error.  I know, I know you might think differently or maybe heard differently but let me encourage to check it out for yourself.  Do some honest research and you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did—it can be trusted because it is the real deal.  And trust me…these days we need the real deal.

When you find yourself running around and asking everyone you meet, “Hey, does anyone really know what’s true and what’s not?” I hope you will turn to the one source that is spot on, right on and always on target. Jesus said it best when He said, “Teach them Your Word, Your Word is truth.” I like that…plain, simple truth. And, when you have a question, when you are stumped, just ask the One who knows and always speaks the truth—God.  Oh, and don’t worry, He always has the answer because He is the answer.  In other words, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne