not an enjoyable time.  I did not fit into the cookie-cutter mold of being a certain body weight and even though I regularly went on 20 mile-long hikes high in the mountains (elevations over 10,000 feet), and I could out-lift 99% of everyone I knew, I was still harassed constantly during my entire 20 years of service.  Retirement could not have come sooner.

After 20 years in the Air Force walking on eggshells because I did not want to play the politics, or be dishonest or back-stabbing to get ahead, my wife and I settled in central Oklahoma.  We both started our own businesses and loved the freedom.  In February of 2006 we decided to start going to church.  Both of us were feeling drawn to the same church we had driven by many times, The First Baptist Church of Lexington, Oklahoma.  So we decided to check it out.  We couldn’t have felt more welcome.  After visiting with the Pastor we decided to join.  Every Sunday we heard great messages and singing.  Since I came from a musical background, I decided to join the choir.  My wife and I enjoyed talking for hours after each service reflecting on the message and how it affected our lives.  It always seemed we needed to hear exactly what was preached that Sunday.  Things were going well for us.  We felt welcomed to the area, loved our new home in the country, and although our finances were tight, both of our businesses were picking up speed.  Both my wife and I started working out again.  I had always liked bodybuilding and had actually entered a contest when I was 18.  I didn’t have any aspirations to compete again, but I joined a local gym and started my routine.

Throughout my life I started working out, would go at it hard for 6-12 months and then other interests would take over and I would drop the working out.  This time I vowed to continue for the rest of my life as well as incorporating more cardio for fat burning, to exercise my heart and control my ever increasing high blood pressure.  As I started to lift, and because of my second muscle memory, I started to quickly gain muscle mass and strength.  When I started back, I weighed a heavy 280 pounds.  I’ve got pretty wide shoulders and therefore most people always guess my weight at 60 pounds less then I am.  In the past, once I got to a certain poundage in a particular movement, such as 405 pounds for 12 reps in squats, I would drop the fat off fairly quickly.  This time, and I think it was because I was older, the fat didn’t drop off.  So, before I knew it, I was up to 320 pounds.  I had already surpassed most of my personal bests in poundage’s in most of the exercises I was doing, and after a few months, my belt size started to decrease.

At this point, our lives were going great.  Laura’s interior design business had many clients and she was pumping work out at an amazing pace.  I helped her with errands, supply runs, scheduling clients, pick-up and delivery of projects, installs, tearing down furniture for upholstery, fabric cutting and as much other stuff as I could.  My business was picking up and I was getting many images and articles published.  We were completing many projects in, and outside our home and we had a great routine and were loving life.  Then without warning, our dream-life was abruptly halted.

It started when I went on a mission trip with others from my church to the South American country of Suriname.  We went to a remote

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