I'll Pray For You

You know the scenario.  You and a friend are talking and you end up saying something or they say something and the response is, “Oh, I’ll pray for you.”  We Christians do it all the time.  The visit ends and you part ways.  Hopefully you remember and say a quick prayer for your friend.  But have you ever had someone stop right then and say, “Do you mind if I pray for you right now?”  It means a lot doesn’t it?  I have a friend like that.  It doesn’t matter if it is 2 am in a motel room at a conference that we have to be back up for by 6 am or on the phone, Robbin has just stopped and prayed for me right then and there.  And it has always meant a lot to me, it wasn’t just a Christian phrase or platitude, it was sincere.  Since then I’ve started noticing times when I could do the same.  But so often I don’t.  The other week at the jail a lady came up to me after the service to ask for prayer.  I did stop and ask her if I could pray for her right then.  I grabbed each of her hands in my hands and just started praying over her.  It was all Holy Spirit, it was awesome and definitely not just me saying words.  She and I could both feel the presence of the Lord and I think I would have kept praying for quite a while if the guard hadn’t come and rushed me out of there.  But more often then not, I let an opportunity for both me and another person to be blessed, pass me by.  Well apparently God is trying to get this into my head because it has come up several times lately and then yesterday there was a small article about it in the February 2010 HomeLife magazine.  It states almost exactly what God has been telling me. Allow me to share:

Prayer Farce

“I’ll keep you in my prayers.” Have you offered these words of comfort to someone and then failed to follow through with your commitment? This means you’ve missed an opportunity to meet with God on someone’s behalf. For Christians, prayer is not optional and should not be taken lightly. Casually telling others you’ll pray for them and not really meaning it is counterfeit Christianity. And telling others you’ll pray for them just so you have the right words to say is a farce of faith – and an abandonment of God’s provision. When you offer prayer – and follow through – you unleash the power of God Almighty against adversity. The book of James reminds us that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16b, NIV). Prayer changes lives. It sustains the hurting through tough times. It provides hope for restoration. And prayer battles the enemy. This is why prayer is not a casual promise. If you’re not going to pray for others, zip your lips. But know this: When you intercede for others, your own walk with God goes to a deeper place. So get real. When you make a prayer promise, mean it. And then do it.

On the next page in the magazine under a section titled, Prayer Unleashed, this suggestion jumped out at me:

The absolute best time to follow through with a prayer promise? In the presence of the person in need. Simply ask, “May I pray for you right now?”

Wow…so right there in print, was almost word for word what God has repeatedly been laying on my heart.  For me, it isn’t so much the fact that I don’t pray for them…I do.  I actually keep a post-it note on my work computer monitor of people to pray for by name each day. But was more the concept of praying for them WITH them, right then and there.

“Dear God, may I not pass up on the opportunities You present for me to unleash Your mighty power.  Please don’t let pride or fear stand in the way of what You would have me to do.  Give me the boldness to come before Your throne, with confidence that as Your child I can come with requests and You are always available and there.  No matter the location or time of day.  You, who know the number of hairs on our head, care about our every worry, no matter how great or small.  Forgive me for the times that I’ve felt something was too small to come to You about.  Thank You for all You have taught, and continue to teach me, despite my stubbornness to learn.  I love You Lord!”

Changing the World - One Person at a Time

Today at church the service was on Nehemiah (session 3).  I have to admit, I was zoning in and out pretty badly during church.  But Nehemiah is one person, who changed his world.  At the end of the service they had a family come up and share about their recent adoption.  They just adopted a son (they already had three children of their own) from Ethiopia.  The mom was talking about how there are 147 million orphans in the world.  147 MILLION!!  That number can seem so overwhelming.  And as often happens when things are overwhelming, we end up choosing to do nothing at all.  But this family knew that they couldn't change the lives of all 147 million, but they did have the ability to change the life of one.  They showed some video of them at the airport bringing their new little son home.  Plus it just so happened that they sat two rows in front of us during church so I had already sat there making faces and grinning at this little fellow.  To then imagine him orphaned and starving, suffice to say, it was moving.  Everyone in the family, including the little guy, had on t-shirts that said "147 Million" on the front and on the back they said, "Minus 1."  He told us it might not be adoption for all of us, it may be something entirely different.  We were encouraged, that though we may not be a person that changes the whole world, we CAN change the lives of at least one.

 Fast forward to this afternoon.  LeAnne and I headed to the mall to get out for a bit since there wasn't much else to do with all the rain.  Afterward we stopped to get some gas.  I pulled up behind this guy who was pacing, on his cell phone and had his gas cap open.  I get out to pump my gas and hear God speak to me.  Not audibly, but very clearly.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't like I've never heard Him speak to me, but typically it is in a more generic fashion.  Help someone today, don't do that, you get the idea...  But this time it was specific.  "That man is out of gas and I want you to go over there and put some in his car for him."  My first response was "Uh God, I only have enough for half of what I normally put in my own vehicle and if you don't know, I don't get paid again until NEXT weekend."  But it was way to clear and specific for me to ignore.  While I'm pumping my gas I watch him walk over and talk to a younger lady and she just shook her head and turned away.  He continues pacing.  I finish pumping my gas and close my gas cap.  With a deep breath I say "Ok God, not sure why or what exactly this is about, but I'm going to obey."  As I start to walk over to him I shout out, "hey, do you need some gas or something?"  Not very original, but I'm a little out of my comfort zone at this point.  He starts desperately trying to tell me that he lives in Athens and accidentally left his money home and can he borrow some money.  I tell him that I don't have any cash, and before I can explain I see his face just fall.  Quickly I explain that I will, however, go put some gas into his car.  Walk over to his car, swipe my card in the gas pump and I began pumping gas.  He profusely thanked me and I told him to please just pass it on.  He said he would, hopped in his car and drove off.  I probably should have taken the opportunity to tell him about the Lord and that God told me to put gas in his car, but I didn't.  I pray that he was able to see God work through me through my actions, even if I didn't say it.  Got back in my truck and had the great opportunity to explain what had just happened to my daughter, who had sat in the truck watching the whole time.  She may not be able to change the whole world either, but now she knows it IS possible to change something for someone around you.  Even if it is for a stranger that you will never see again.

More Than a Membership...

My relationships with gym memberships has been a nearly constant thing for most of my adult life.  During my late teens I never really saw the need for one.  I was very active, fit, tall and at times bordered on scrawny.  When teased at times with names like "String Bean" or "Pole Bean," I never considered that one day I would really miss being called that! Doing commercials via magazines, newspapers and TV (all local level) and even getting stopped once in Orlando by someone wanting to know if I was interested in modeling runway looks, I never really saw the need for a gym membership.  That, however, all changed after the birth of my son.  Within a week of my six-week post natal check up I was signing up for a gym membership.  I had always lost weight super fast with just slight changes but most of the time could eat anything I wanted, whenever I wanted with no problem.  A whole bag of Doritos, washed down with 20 oz of Mountain Dew while watching a movie at night had never been a problem.  Now, suddenly, I was faced with the realization that this time it was going to take some work to get off my baby weight.  Went to the gym faithfully until one day there I broke my foot.  Then not long after that I got pregnant with my daughter.  To make a long story short, ever since then I have been a member at one gym or another, and though at times I would really put a lot of effort into it, most of the time I quickly ran out of steam and then I just "showed up."  Meaning a nice stroll on the treadmill or a few lunges, not enough to do much of anything, but enough to say I went and make me feel better.  Though at times I bemoaned the way I felt and looked, for the most part I became complacent.  With excuses like well I just don't have an athletic build or it's in my genes. But recently I was faced with the fact that being healthy and losing weight is more than a membership at a gym!  On November 23, 2009, I went to a new doctor who did a complete blood work up on me.  A week later the results showed triglycerides over 200, cholesterol at 196, pre-diabetic sugar levels, as well as very low B12 (under 200).  Nothing like black and white to get you motivated, especially after my Dad's heart attack in July of 2009.  They say numbers don't lie, and mine were yelling at me to make some serious changes!  We made arrangements for weekly B12 shots and I found a program where I can keep a detailed food/exercise diary on my phone.  My phone is always with me, so no excuses as to why I didn't log something.  Started interval training, weight lifting and to throw some fun into it, tried some new things like yoga and pilates.  On January 11, 2010, I went back for more blood work.  Now keep in mind that that six-week period covered the major "food" holidays!  Yesterday I got my results back.  My triglycerides are now at 85 (down by over half!), cholesterol is at 161, blood sugars are in the normal range and my B12 is up to 783.  As a really  nice by-product I'm also down about 15 pounds.  I love that, but seeing those numbers typed out really siked me up!  Could go on about nutrition tips, work out tips and the like, but that is not my point to this blog.  The point is that a gym membership alone did NOT change my health or my weight.  It took work, effort, consistency (even when frustrated at not being able to see changes), and determination to change.

How about your relationship with Christ?  Is it more than a membership?  Does your Christianity consist of saying, "Yes, I'm a member of ___________ church and I show up faithfully!"  Christianity was meant to be more than a membership.  It is meant to be a relationship with Jesus Christ, with each of us being a part of the body and having an important role to play.  I Corinthians 12:12-27 talks about that.  Our Christian walk is more than a membership, it is a growth process.

Paul wrote, "I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God." (Ephesians 1:16, 17)   

"Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Ephesians 4:16)

For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God. (Colossians 2:19)

So how about it?  Is it time for you to have a spiritual fitness check-up? (to help you get started on testing your spiritual fitness and growth, read Galatians 5:22-26 and see what the fruits of the Spirit are) Is your walk getting sluggish or stale? Have you gotten complacent about where you are at spiritually?  Feeling like it is unattainable or seeing someone that you admire and just thinking, that is them, no matter what I do I won't ever be a Beth Moore, or a Billy Graham, or whoever you admire? Are you going to let your relationship with Jesus just be a membership or are you going to do the real work to grow and learn?  It isn't an exclusive thing, it is for EVERYONE.  Dig in and discover the benefits of being a healthy, growing Christian!

Glasses, Esther, Writing and a New Perspective

The ladies Bible study group I'm in met tonight, the first time since before Thanksgiving.  Boy, was it good to be back!  "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  (Proverbs 27:17, NIV)  We each individually learn things from our study, but as we come together and share, we learn even more.  We are continuing with the Beth Moore Esther series.  Beth said something that really stuck out to me, even though it wasn't even a statement actually about the story of Esther.  I sometimes wonder why I bother taking the time to write some of my thoughts, observations and things the Lord is teaching me.  Don't get me wrong, I write some things just so my kids will have some written history as well as for myself to be able to go back and see how He is working and changing and growing me.  But why in a blog and why post it where others can read it? Granted I have been busy during the holidays and haven't taken the time to write, but I also was feeling a bit of 'why bother.'  So how does this tie into what Beth Moore said?  She said when she was first asked to write homework for Bible studies she really didn't know how.  So she just took what she thought was interesting, wrote it down and hoped others would find the same things interesting.  That is kind of like my blog, I'm not writing for anyone in particular, just what I find interesting or thought provoking and hoping maybe someone else will benefit from it as well.  Then after the DVD one of the ladies in the study said something encouraging about my writing.  She had no idea my thought process about what Beth had said earlier in the night.  So it was like confirmation to me to keep up with my writing.

Over the holidays, I had an eye exam and ended up with glasses.  Sunday I could actually read the screens during the praise and worship time!  It would probably help if I wore them all the time, but alas, vanity along with the thought that I don't really look good in them has been keeping me from wearing them as much as I should.  I wore them home driving tonight and was able to read some signs on the side of the road.  It just really hit me how much clearer I was able to see and how they brought things into focus.  Reminded me of the verse in I Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (KJV) The New Living Translation words it this way: "Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now."  This tied into more of what we learned tonight.  We saw how God's hand is throughout the entire Bible, the "scarlet thread" that connects it all.  Esther couldn't always see what the outcome would be.  She was simply obedient.  But her job was not the "how" of the situation.  So often we think we have to figure out the how of a situation, when that is actually God's job.  While Esther slept, God kept the king up and set up a sequence of events that become a pivotal turning point (Esther 6).  What Beth Moore called the "Reversal of Destiny."  She said that "these reversals are part of the literary tapestry that will open our eyes to see..."  Often we can't see exactly what God is doing at the moment, but as we trust in Him, we can be assured that whether we can see it right now, or in the future, He IS at work! May I realize that though I can immediately see clearly in this earthly realm with my glasses, that there is more to it than the here and now.  That one day I will see ALL things clearly, that I will see the beauty and tapestry not only in Gods' Word but the reversals of destiny in my own life and the amazing hand of God in the midst of every detail.  That I am not responsible for the "hows" of life, but that the One who sees all things completely is in control.

2010 Resolutions

I have got to be one of the worst at New Year's Resolutions.  Not only do I seem to make unattainable goals, I make them broad, generic and with no real plan on how to accomplish them.  My first inclination at curing this was to just simply not make any this year.  Problem solved!  However, deep down, I'm too list orientated to not at least come up with something.  So this is what I have so far, in absolutely no particular order, but at least they are attainable and most have some sort of plan on how to accomplish them.

1. Renew my concealed weapon permit. I pulled it out while riding to Savannah only to realize it has been expired for three years now.  If I wish to carry my .380, I really need to do so legally.

2. Do 30 minutes of cardio at least four times a week.  Just saying I'm going to get healthier has been too broad for me.  This gives me a definite goal.  Plus it is a weekly goal, so if I mess up one week, I can start new the next week.  Unlike year long goals where it takes you until the end of the year to realize you didn't quite make it.

3. Sign up, train for and finish a 5K race.  I don't have to run the whole thing, have a great finish time or anything like that.  I just want to do it, and not be the last person to cross the finish line.  So to this end I am planning on participating in the Atlanta Track Club's Women's 5K Run on March 27, 2010.

4. Have another couple over for dinner, at least five times, this year.  We are good about casual hang-outs, pizza delivered, rent a movie and just chill out.  But we never have sit down dinners.  Got some place mats, "real" napkins (my poor kids didn't even know there was such a thing as cloth napkins!) and am aiming at having a dinner every other month.  This will not only help with my hosting skills, but will teach the kids hospitality and hopefully expand their table manners.

5. Claim a new church home.  We have been visiting New Community since October and pretty much like it.  But still in that stage of saying "we are visiting."  If we are going to keep visiting there indefinitely, I'd like to make it a permanent decision.  Though this isn't entirely up to me.

6. Incorporate more family time.  We, as a family, got several new games for Christmas.  I'm not ready to declare any one particular day every single week as game night, but am thinking more along the lines of having two per month, with each one being on or around each child's date of birth, and that child getting to pick the snack and games we play.  So the 14th of each month would be LeAnne's, while the 26th of each month would be James Stephen's turn.

7. Continue to look for God speaking to me in the little things of everyday life.  I've been so caught up in the busyness of the holiday season that I haven't really taken the time to be quiet, watch and listen to what He might be teaching or showing me.

8. If I don't have the cash for something, I don't buy it.  This is kind of self explanatory. Which in reality, for the most part, is learning more of what is a need, versus what is a want.  Extreme emergencies aside, the credit cards are going to take a hiatus for a while.

9.  Put some money in savings each pay period.  I don't care if some weeks I can only put $5 in, baby steps are how most things start.

10. Continue to learn how to respond instead of react.  Ok, so this one is a bit more broad without a definite "thing" I can grasp or measure progress by.  But felt it was an important goal to continue to strive to do better in.

There are several other things I want to work on this year...some big, some small, some only for God and I to know about.  But at least these 10 are for the most part something concrete and doable that I can aim for.

Ringing in the New Year in Savannah

Thursday, December 31 - New Year's Eve
After I went to the gym, we headed to Savannah to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with Ron's dad and Sherry.  It was drizzly and foggy and a horrible day for travel.  Before we even got out of Atlanta we got rear-ended on I-75.  A lady hit an old man in a minivan who then hit us.  Thankfully no real damage done and we just decided to not waste time calling the police, but to just keep traveling.  The traffic was horrid and right in front of us that person had to swerve to keep from hitting the car in front of them. And then as we got over the hill there was another three car wreck, only they weren't as fortunate as we were and they had a flat-bed tow truck there.  We finally got to Savannah around 6:00 pm.  Freshened up a bit and headed to the Market Place downtown for some pizza at Vinnie Van Go-Go's.  It turned out to be much warmer down there and was a beautiful night.  They had a DJ, music and people throwing out party beads and shooting t-shirts from a t-shirt cannon.  People, including lots of families and children, were dancing in the square to the music, under the light of the full (and blue) moon.  Most of us got beads thrown to us and I caught a t-shirt.  Went back to the condo to ring in the new year.  Jonathan (Ron's brother), Melissa and their son, Alexander came up from Jacksonville.  It was really pretty low key, we walked out to the dock, then stayed up until midnight and toasted in the New Year.  This was the first year we let the kids have a glass of champagne.  They disliked it as much as I do.  It's more of a tradition than anything else.

Friday, January 1 - New Year's Day 2010
Wow, this decade has flown by!  Seems not long ago everyone was in a tizzy about Y2K and whether all the computers would still work.  Big Buddy and Sherry cooked us an awesome breakfast...Eggs Benedict. I went and checked out the neighborhood gym.  Then Ron and I went shopping at one of the two malls and I got some new sweaters and a new scarf.  Then our highlight of the day was finding a Blockbuster that was going out of business.  All the DVD's were $2.99 each.  We bought about ten of them.  They were pretty new ones too, like Gran Turino, Spiderman 3 and Mall Cop.  For dinner we had all the traditional "fixin's."  Greens, black-eyed peas, ham plus corn, cornbread, fried okra and potato salad.


Saturday, January 2
Started the day with another great breakfast...pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs.  Then headed to downtown Savannah.  We were going to tour the Juliet Lowe house and LeAnne even had her Girl Scout vest on, but it turned out they were closed until January 15.  Big bummer.  We did go to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  Boy, was it beautiful!!  Plus it was a great chance to explain about Catholics some to the kids.  They had questions about the candles, holy water, confessional and kneeling bench.  James Stephen thought it was cool they had foot rests, so I showed them how to flip them down and use them as kneelers.  LeAnne bought and lit a candle and said a prayer for someone, never told me who.  It was still decorated for Christmas and had the most detailed Nativity scene I have ever seen.  I took a lot of pictures, but none really show the true beauty of the place, or the quiet, peaceful feeling inside.  We just sat on a bench for a while in quiet, just soaking it all in.  The kids (ha, who am I fooling?)... I wanted to cross the bridge over the Savannah River into South Carolina.  So we did that and it was an incredible view of River St. and downtown Savannah.  Came back to the condo just as Chris, Melinda and their boys were arriving.  For dinner we had a low country boil.  Didn't realize that my kids loved crab legs, but they ate them up!  After dinner, Sherry, Melinda and myself went to the other mall and I bought a couple more shirts.

Sunday, January 3
Got up and went to the gym.  Came back in time for grits, sausage and biscuits and gravy.  We hung around for a bit then headed back home.  Couldn't believe how quickly our "long" weekend seemed to fly by!