First Fridays: 259.4

The month of June was a good month. Going into June was a little rough because I realized that I had gained more weight then I thought. But praise God, I have lost a total of 8lbs. for the month!
Ashley and I have made a better effort of holding each other accountable for what we are eating and for what activities we are doing. Moving forward has been our theme and if any of you follow us on twitter, you how these two words have become a standard in all that we are doing! One of the highlights of the month has been our epic return to Zumba class. Let me just say, that if you have never been in a zumba class, you need to go! Not only is it a great workout, but you can walk out with some great stories. I think my next blog series will be about our class.
Of course you have to understand that for any person wanting to lose weight, there is this small amount of vanity involved. I think we were a little more motivated to shed the pounds because of our upcoming trip to Oklahoma. But for me personally, the idea of living sloppy, like I have been, is just not appealing, and it is not who I am. And I know it is not who God called me to be. As I am working through this sloppy revelation, being appealing and attractive for the Kingdom takes on a whole new meaning. When I say these words, appealing and attractive, I don't mean it in the pretty christian people way. What I am trying to say is that, if I, personally, am going to do ministry for the Kingdom-and do it well- I have to be willing to tone up all areas of my life. It also means cleaning up the messes of life and refocusing on His will for me. It could me less time on Facebook and a fewer tweets. In my last entry, I talked about having this fear of succeeding. I think i was and at times still afraid, because God is going to require me to give up some things and maybe some people, that do not fall into his plan for my life. In our daily living, I know and believe that God reveals more and more of himself to us. Though his layers are vast and different, our response should always be the same...obedience.

Finding Patience and Strength in the Everlasting God

Recently, our congregation sang the song "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown. I have to say that this is one of my favorite worship songs today! It comes straight from scripture, the tune is catchy and congregational friendly...but mostly I like it for the what the text is saying to us, at least what it is saying to me.

I love when the Lord leaves you small messages throughout your day. The past couple of weeks, the words to this song have kept playing in my mind. As I sing these words in my heart, I am reminded of two of many things we can find in the Lord; Patience and Strength. I may have mentioned it in my previous post, but lately I have been feeling sloppy, and I am not just referring to my eating habits... actually I am. But what I am trying to say is that I have become extremely lazy and sloppy in all areas of my life, including the spiritual needs. That is really hard for me to say out loud especially since I am in ministry, but I need to be completely honest.

As I was sitting in my small group last week, I was so inspired about moving forward with our weight loss journey and with moving forward and doing better with everything else in my life. It was as if God had removed the over sized blinders covering my life and revealing in full detail just what was happening. I guess that is why I have not blogged in a while or even completed some journal entries. But the questions remain, how was I going to do this? How was I going to move forward and not go or look back? How was I going to dig through the slop and get back to where God wants me to be? Then Brown's song and those words came back to my mind....Patience and strength.
As I was studying the word, two passages of scripture held my attention. The first was found in James 5:8-12 and it states:

"Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the LORD. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the LORD is near.

When I read that passage, God was reminding me that all good things take time. And of course we always say that God's timing is better then our own. So in my desire for healthy living, and all that it involves, I am having to remind myself that this is in no way a quick fix. Plus, I have to remember that this is so much bigger then what I am eating and how I exercise. For me it was trusting and obeying. It is trusting that God will indeed see me and my friends through this journey! In turn we need to be obedient to His voice and be prepared to head down the road he may take us. Which brings me to the next word: strength. Isaiah 40:28-31 says it all

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall run and not faint. "

Yes this process will be hard. There will be challenges along the way. But I rejoice because I know my strength is coming from Him. Everyday and everything of my life has to begin with him. During these past few weeks I have found myself becoming weary. Like most people, our responsibilities and our schedules can leave us feel depleted, exhausted, and well, weary. No matter our positions and responsibilities in life, we can all agree that there are times that we can grow tired in our day to day tasks. If you are reading this blog, I pray that you are encouraged and reminded that no matter where you are in your life, we take comfort in knowing that our God is faithful, and as the scriptures says "never grows weary." He is the God that gives us the patience to endure and that he is indeed our strength!

RG

First Friday: 263 and down on my knees

You get out of it what you put into it! This is the shortest, quickest way I can sum up this weight loss journey. I discovered that I was putting up this wall to success in this area of my life. Why can't I see myself at the finish line of this journey? This past month I found several opportunities to move forward both spiritually and physically...and yet, I did not act upon it. Instead, I chose to lay there on the couch with crumbs on my face watching gobs of season and series finales!
Well, June is upon us and I have reason to celebrate! I am thankful that my wife has not given up on me. She has been a constant encourager and support! The bad news...I don't think I have done a good job of encouraging her on this same journey. So we began this month anew with more drive and determination. One of my favorite songs is "Moving Forward" by Israel & New Breed. I close this post with the chorus.

"I'm not going back, I moving ahead. I'm here to declare to You my past is over in You
All things are made new, surrendered my life to Christ. I'm moving, moving forward!"

As we begin our next study, I am looking forward to moving forward with our small group...not just in the area of weight loss. But in our relationship with each other and our relationship with Christ!

Remembering the Journey

A few weeks ago our church celebrated its 50th Anniversary. It was a huge event with moments of reflection and praise for our congregation. It was a humbling experience for us to take stock of all the blessings God has bestowed on us as church. Over the course of the anniversary weekend, there was a passage of scripture that the Lord revealed to me.

"I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.

I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; I will remember your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God is holy. What god is so great as our God?"

Psalm 77:5, 11-13

As we were celebrating this milestone in our church history, I found myself reflecting on God's work in my own life. I realize that I have so much to be thankful for. So much praise is due to God...and I am not quite sure where to begin! The song "We Will Remember" by Tommy Walker was one of the songs that we used over the course of the anniversary! I love the last two verses of the song:

"When we walk through life's darkest valleys, we will look back at all You have done.

And we will shout, 'Our God is good and He is the faithful One.'

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, to the One from Whom all blessings flow.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, to the One who's Glory has been shown."

"I still remember, the day You saved me. The day I heard You call out my name.

You said You loved me and would never leave me, and I've never been the same."

Hopefully, you have heard this song. If by chance you have not, I recommend you download it as quickly as possible. Obviously, we as Christians know that musing about the Lord makes us grateful for his hand in our lives. It also reminds us that we are not meant to go through life alone, nor do we because of His faithful presence. Maybe the hard part for us is taking the time to truly stop and reflect upon His goodness.

I encourage you to take a moment-myself included-and recall the first time you heard Him speak to you. Remember the day you heard Him specifically call you by name and be embraced by His love.

RG

First Fridays: 262.0...taking small steps

Ihave to be honest and say that accountability is hard! In this case, I feel like accountability is very embarrassing! I have to keep reminding myself that this journey is not just about the physical results. Of course this month was harder then usual because of all the extra events happening like Easter, 50th Anniversary planning. Let alone the normal events of my life...work, children and so on. But the problem has been that I have not set up a routine for living...this includes my spiritual life as well. So this week, I am creating a new routine for my daily living that will be better balanced. I know that sometimes my work can be consuming at times. And knowing my personality, I will keep working until something is done and completed. But I am going to take the small victory that was achieved this month. In the past, during high stress times, I would find myself eating very poorly...and a lot of fast food. But this time was different! Even though there were moments we had to eat out, I was aware of the amount of food I was eating. Also during these times, I manage to gain more weight.But asu can see there were a couple of ounces lost. So I will keep this small victory with the reminder that in our shaping and molding by God will always take time!

My Mishaps Part II: Worship with "Holey" pants!

I love corporate worship! I love the energy that comes from the Holy Spirit when God's people gather together and glorify His name! Again, for those that know me, know that I like to make myself look presentable in any situation...including Church. And of course I try to stay up with all the fashion do's and don'ts. Everyone says that you should have a black suit. After this story, I have learned that I may need to keep 2 black suits on hand!
Picture This: Sunday Morning Worship for Church Anniversary! There I was running around getting all the last pieces together for the service. As I was going out on the platform, I noticed something on the floor. So of course I bent down to pick it up. In the process of bending was aware that my suit was not fitting like it once did (read FF Blog Post). When this happens...you make adjustments...use one less belt notch, lighter shirts, etc. Anyway, as I was bending down, I heard something snag or pop! I just assumed that it was one of my belt loops that had give way...because it was already hanging by a thread.
So there I was leading worship with no idea what had taken place in the seams of my pants. After the worship set was completed, I sat down on the keyboard to wait for the next segment in the service. The bench is leather and can be a little cool...especially if no one was seating there before me. When I sat down, I noticed the extra coolness of the bench. Naturally, I chalked it up to me being extra hot....the sweat was rolling off my face this day! Since it was now time for the next worship moment, I slowly slid across the bench. Once again, I noticed how cold the bench was...but of course did not have time to ponder what had happened. As I was getting up, I heard the snagging noise again. For a split second(haha), I thought my pants had ripped, but I could not stop and look.
It wasn't until the church dinner that I realized the reality of the situation. As I was loading up some decorations for the dinner, a gust of wind blew in behind me revealing the giant hole in the crotch of my pants. I felt like Marilyn Monroe standing on that man hole with the steam...except I am not wearing a white dress, blonde hair...well you get the point! So I quickly ran into the bathroom to survey the damage! It was bad! So I immediately try to replay the morning to determine when this could have happened. And yes all those snagging moments were not my belt loops...it was in fact the hole getting larger! But I am grateful the Lord still received my offering of worship...even with "holey" pants!

My Mishaps Part I: Insert foot in Wal-Mart Door!

This past weekend was the 50th Anniversary of Venice Church of the Nazarene! It was a most wonderful weekend as we celebrated the blessings of God and how He has touched so many lives! But we also looked to the future with great expectations and anticipation at what and how the Holy Spirit will direct us. But you can read more about the spiritual impacts of the weekend in a future post! Let's get to the funny with the first post in "My Mishaps" series...
Picture this: Sunday morning...early: I was pretty much a hot mess from the beginning of the day! We had just spent have the day on Saturday working the Family Fun Fest and then we did our concert of worship with the symphony that evening! So needless to say, getting up the next morning was going to be a miracle. I managed to get myself together and out the door. I had to go to Wal-Mart for some last minute items. Of course everyone knows my love relationship with that store...or lack thereof. Anyway, I thought to myself "how bad could it be? It was almost 7am on a Sunday. No one would be there and therefore nothing crazy could possibly happen right?" WRONG.
I jumped out of the car and started walking toward the front doors of the store. I noticed that the greeter was unlocking the exit side of the doors. Some people would have walked in through those doors...but I have a policy about walking through the wrong side(read previous post). I waited for the enter doors to open, which seemed like an eternity. At last the doors open and I start heading in. In my rush I dropped my keys and quickly bent down to get them. What I did not notice was that the greeter was still messing with the key remote to the door I was walking into...and my foot was stopped right in the entrance. Just as quick as i picked up my keys, i felt this sudden pressure on my foot. I look up only to discover that the entrance doors have closed in on my foot. The good news is that there was no pain...in fact I started laughing because of how funny this must look to someone passing by! With a few colorful metaphors from the greeter, the doors were finally released and my foot was free. I quickly ran into the store to get my items...and then it hit me. I hope i am not on that people of Wal-mart website! Knowing my luck, it will probably show up...which means I am one step closer to being a star!!!!! hahaha

RG