I have a very interesting exchange that really affected me yesterday.  I was out on a job and a security guard came up to let me know where I could return the water key that I had borrowed from the Security office.  The guard was going out of his way to explain that I could return the key to one of the other guards or I could return it to the parking guard.

This is when I explained that I had gotten the key from the Security Office and the guard said, “Oh, when I thought that you might want to return it to the office seeing that it’s upstairs…I guess you could stand to loose a few pounds at that…”  Of course, he did say it with a smile and a chuckle.  I didn’t laugh.

I remember thinking…”Yeah, and you could stand to read a book.”  But I didn’t want to insult his intelligence.  Why is it acceptable to insult people who are over-weight.  

Why is the assumption always that people who are fat are lazy and worthless?   To say something like that to someone like me was unbelievable.  

You can’t always read the book just by the cover…

By way of some back story, I have been blogging here, at JohnCDonahue.com, for several years.  I wrote about all sorts of things that I love: Disney, running, leadership, my faith, serving others, and food.  And for a long time, I wrote a lot about my work in ministry.  About 3 years ago, I stepped out of full time ministry and entered the “secular” world and my blogging pace slowed to almost a crawl.  And then my website crashed…and I lost everything.  So this is the first post on my “new and improved” website.

It is often easy to answer some simple questions and re-introduce myself.

Hi…my name is John.  I have a lovely wife and 2 really cool dogs…no children, yet!  I work for an audio/visual company and I do websites and graphics on the side.  I am an avid Disney Blogger and podcaster.  I am a classically trained musician and can often be found playing at a church that I attend when I am home.  I love Jesus, but I wrestle with what we have made of the church.  I work too much and I am over-weight.  But I have been running more serious lately and have become much more knowledgeable on healthy lifestyles.

I want to inspire you to be better: a better spouse, friend, leader, follower, athlete, and person.  I want to be inspired by you through the comments and conversations we will have here, and on Twitter and Facebook.  I need you and I hope that you come to rely on me.  I am, at my very core, a minister.  I ALWAYS want to leave people better than I find them.

So this is the new beginning.  It’s eclectic…sort of like me.  It’s not perfect, but it IS a start.