Things on my prayer list:

*Beth's lost co-workers (This one is fresh on my mind because Beth just called me with it.)

*Exercise Your Faith

*several lost family members

*some friends in a financial bad-habit

*friends of some friends in marital trouble

*friend's grandmother with pancreatic cancer

*a family I know has had some dissension

*Jared's trip to Turkey in a couple of weeks

*Baby Girl (possibly Claire) and Beth's continued health

*Michael in doing his best in school

*Valarie as she is teaching high school for free and going to school (which is NOT free)

Thought some of you might need a few things to pray about. I love you all!

2 Posts in 1 Day!

My first "Official" Exercise Your Faith was last Wednesday. I had about 20 ladies in attendance!!! We had fun sweating and laughing at ourselves. We were in cramped quarters though, so we finally will have a permanent and much larger meeting space this week. I have been searching for the right literature to use as a weekly devotional in the class. I wanted to find something that was relevant to our bodies/exercise/spiritual health. Last Wednesday I came across a sermon done by the president of Southeastern Baptist, Dr. Daniel Akin, called "Spiritual Exercises to Make You Strong." Its based on the scripture written by Paul in his final instructions to the church in Thessalonica. (Thess. 5:16-22)

"Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

Dr. Akin has broken down this passage into 8 specific disciplines. http://sebts.edu/president/?p=448 (click the link then click manuscript) In Exercise Your Faith, we are going to be reading 1 discipline each week and finding out what Dr. Akin has to say about applying it in our lives. I'm very excited and praise God for allowing me to find this sermon in print! I made copies and gave them out to everyone there last week. If you would like to join us in class, we meet at 6:15 Wednesdays in Room B-301 at FBC Sevierville.

I would also like to thank God for blessing us with the Smoky Mountains. Ben and I were privileged to go to Mt. LeConte on Sunday after church. It was a beautiful day with perfect views and fresh almost fall-like air! I asked Ben on our way up, "Do you get kinda giddy when you hike? Cause I do, especially today." He said its endorphins and fresh air and I agree, but God made our bodies release those endorphins to make us "giddy." I just felt so close to Him while we were out there. Jesus "withdrew himself to a mountain" several times in the Bible. It was when He was feeling overwhelmed and needed to talk to His Father. We should do that more. Maybe your mountain isn't a literal mountain like mine, but we should all retreat to a quiet place where we can just enjoy God's presence. YAY GOD!!!

Jesus wept...

Most of us have read John chapter 11. (If you haven't I suggest that you do so). Lazarus is dying and his sisters, Martha and Mary, send word to Jesus asking Him to come and heal their brother. (Aren't siblings a blessing?) Jesus had already been preaching in their town but had left for the unbelievers there wanted Him stoned to death. After receiving word from Martha and Mary Jesus waited two days before He and the disciples went to Bethany in Judea. In John's account there is no explanation as to why Jesus waited, but I learned yesterday that it is most likely because the Jews in that day believed that the spirit of a person hovered over their dead body for two days after death and could possibly take up residence again and the person would live. I love what the disciples say when they realize they can't stop Jesus from returning to Judea and learn that Lazarus has died: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." They've been so humbled at this point in realizing that Jesus let Lazarus die for their lack of faith. Jesus had told them in reference to Lazarus's death, "For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe..." So they get to Martha and Mary and find them both in deep sadness. They each exclaim to Jesus that they believe their brother would not have died had He been there. Even when Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise again she thinks that Jesus is talking about "the last day" when all in the dead in Christ will live. Here's where it gets interesting: When Jesus sees Mary and Martha and all the "professional mourners" weeping for Lazarus my NIV Bible says "He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled... Jesus wept."

Now, why do you think Jesus wept? Yes, I do believe He was sad for the death of His beloved friend, and He did not like seeing all of those people mourning. But He had already decided that He was going to raise Lazarus! I believe that Jesus was weeping for their lack of faith. Jesus reminded Martha, "I told you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God."

It is so convicting- that my Jesus weeps for my lack of faith in Him. I wonder how many miracles and opportunities I miss because I'm not believing. I pray that I start expecting miracles, not just asking God for them. I want to thank God for the miracles that I will experience each day before they even happen.

Just like the miracle of my little niece. I am so excited to meet her and I'm so excited about how God will use her. She may not know how special she is right now, but I sure plan on letting her know. "Whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

Exercising Our Faith

Well, I've been officially leading an exercise/devotional class for 3 weeks now. So far, I have had at least 5 in attendance each week and I know more will be coming next week. (Our meeting time will be later so more people can come.) I cannot begin to describe how excited I am about this! As some of you know my life verse comes from 1Peter 4:10: "As each one has received a gift, let him minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." About a year and a half ago, this verse picked me... I didn't pick it. I was reading some verses about wives/husbands and came across it. It was like it jumped off of the page; I was able to understand what it implies right away, but I wasn't sure how it was going to apply in my life.

I was struggling for a while about being content in my day-to-day life. I was grasping for the future (read previous blog "So I'm Selfish") and missing out on what God was wanting me to do here and now. I asked a couple of friends to pray for me in that situation and I cannot tell you how the Lord has responded! Wishing for the "next big change" in my life is not on my mind much at all anymore. I am being used where I am and I PRAY that I can impact others lives through my new "ministry" that I have named "Exercise Your Faith." Here's our Mission verse:

1Corinthians 6:19 & 20 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Oh, and please pray that we will be granted a big enough room for our meetings. Our meeting place thus far was only temporary and yesterday was our last day there. Have a blessed day!