W3 (Women Who Worship)

Well here I am again. Still working at incorporating all the new foods into my diet and enjoyng the journey. Brewing my own Kombucha a.k.a. K-tea has been fun. I’ve been trying different ways to flavor it. So far I like adding Pomagrante or Tart Cherry juice the best for the second ferment. The Tart Cherry juice has many healing properties to it and helps to reduce inflammation. I think the K-tea made with raw honey instead of sugar and the Cherry juice has helped me in the last week with the inflammation in my hands. But enough about K-tea…

 I have now lost 14 pounds and I’m happy to say I’m only 12 pounds off of my lowest weight in the last 10 years! Don’t have the muscle tone yet, but Sunshine and I are starting to talk about walking together a couple mornings a week as her schedule allows and the temperatures are rising. My sister also wants to start walking  a few mornings. As we do this there will be weight gain as the ratio of muscle mass to fat changes. Muscle weighs much more than fat so that is a good thing. And all the while we will still be slimming down.

So, this is where I am. Eating my fats and losing weight.

 I love the Most High God of the Universe! Cat 

There are two L-shaped darker wood office desks. Built by steelcase, very beautiful, slightly worn. They are $150.00 a piece.

Also there is a lighter wood computer desk, very nice for a bedroom or an office for $100.00. It has 3 drawers on the left and a larger door on the right, plus a shelf unit on top of the desk.  It is about 60 inches long and 22 inches wide.  We put one in our son’s room and he loves it. He uses it for homework and computer work.

If anyone is interested please call Kyle at 517-403-5179 or Ellen at 517-265-9653.

Well not technically, but this was the first year that Crossroads put on an egg hunt that the children actually had to hunt for the eggs. Determined not to cancel, a small number of volunteers waited 2.5 hours in white out conditions to serve the community. If you weren’t there, you missed out. WLEN was broadcasting live that we were still a GO right up til the start. (Thank you Sweetheart, I love you Radio Guy!) I know that the community was blessed because my husband who is, the Radio Guy, told me of the several calls he recieved from people who attended the hunt and had a blast!

It won’t likely be forgotten anytime soon. I mean seriously, how often do you get to dig for colored eggs in nearly ten inches of snow? One little boy where I was stationed with the 3 and 4 year olds, began to cry the minute he he heard the word fire. He didn’t care that the rest of the word was truck, he was upset and there was no calming him. As much as dad or I tried. Our tape broke early and the orderly group flooded the field. Well, not little Derrick, he stood frozen and crying as his dad collected eggs for him. Our orders were to pay particular attention to any child who was crying. I did my job and attended to Derrick. Derrick ended up in my arms for the majority of the hunt and I’m glad for the chance to have been there for him, even if my arms are a tad sore from holding a preschooler in a snowsuit a little longer than I physically should have. Maybe his dad will remember the caring concern shown for his child, and one day when he needs to be consoled, he will choose Crossroads as the place to meet Jesus for himself. 

Serving Him… Cat

This night was phenomenal.  I have watched the Passion several times, but it is nothing like watching it with a bunch of people who KNOW what the sacrifice of Jesus was all about.  The sobs, and sniffles, and covered eyes, and watching teenagers hold each other and watching men slump over in their chairs while Jesus was being tortured and hung.  I cannot describe the intensity of what it was to be in that room.

Today, Good Friday, the day Jesus was hung on the cross for your sins and mine.  As I sit here writing, and as I watched on Wednesday, I think, who am I?  WHO AM I?  What right do I have to just sit here?  The very punishment Jesus had received was what should have been for me.  It’s not fair, but I am completely grateful that I didn’t have to endure the torture of the lashes, the mockery of the crowds, the humiliation of the cross, the burden of sin that is more than all of us could bear together.

Thank you Jesus is not enough to describe how forever indebted I am to Him.  Praise the Lord he allowed me the opportunity to turn from my sin and into His arms.  Praise Him that I lived long enough to make a decision for Him.  If you only knew my sin, my deliberate choices against him, if HE only would have judged me before I repented.  Thank you Lord, you did not.  He is SOOOO worthy.  He is amazing and unchanging.  His love endures forever.  Jesus is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!!!

Anyone want to shout Praises to the King here?  Comment… Tell the world that He lives.   Shout to the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  I’m praying for you this Easter weekend.  And am excited to hear your praises!!  Keep ‘em coming, dear ones.

Sunshine

This Wednesday W3 will be meeting with the rest of the Crossroads family in the CFC auditorium to view the “Passion of the Christ” and to pray for our community to be impacted during this holiday season.  Please use your complimentary ticket and come or contact the church office at 266.1919 to get one and come at 6:30pm at the auditorium.

Hope your Bible Study is going well.  Comment here with questions or thoughts or concerns….

In His Name, Sunshine

I have kept up! I am not a statistic of those who make a new year resolution and quit in a couple weeks. My quest for a healthy lifestyle continues.

I have lost a grand total of 13.5 pounds since January 5!! I haven’t bought new jeans yet, but I tried some on and fit (although quite snugly ) into 3 sizes smaller than what I started, but my loose fitting jeans are just gonna have to work for now… I reached my 10% goal and am going for 15%, why not?!

The best part is I did most of this weight loss by diet… And now I am finally working in the exercise. At first I walked at the mall with my girlfriend a couple times a week, but she has since moved to Florida, so my walking buddy is gone! But, I now have broke out my old THE FIRM video tapes to do strength training and aerobic exercise. I have worked out 60 minutes at least 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks… I think that is a good start!

The bad part about all this is… My sagging skin. HELLO!? I am still in my twenties, I am supposed to have taut, wrinkle free skin. My belly looks like a 100 year old ladies face! I guess the bikini I was hoping to get into is out of the question…. But, I suppose that is the evidence of my dear son… He leaves a ’stretchmark’ on my life!

Thanks for your support and for those who are noticing my weight loss. I challenge you to a quest for health! PS… I found some great ice cream treats that are full of fiber so it makes up for the sugar! But, I haven’t figured out how to get the cheese in daily.

Sunshine

So… I’m sure some of you are wondering how I’m doing. I am going to admit that over Valentine’s I fell miserably. Not because I was hungry, but because the cookies looked so BEAUTIFUL! However, each time I ate one, I was greeted with a wonderful headache smack between my eyes, and the overwhelming desire for a nap. At least this time I didn’t get sick. I must also admit, that I had to scrape the frosting off of all the cookies or be made nauseaous by their very sweetness. So as you can read, I really was trying to eat the cookies, it wasn’t an accident, they didn’t just fall in my mouth.

I’ve been back online for the last ten days or so with a modest loss of three pounds bringing my total to nine pounds in about seven weeks. My brand new jeans prompted me to step on the scale this morning as they were bagging in the thigh last night.  Both a good and a bad thing as I’m happy to lose the fat, but don’t have the money to buy new jeans just yet. I might go back to what I’ve done during transitional phases in the past, buying my jeans from consignment shops until I reach my goal, but finding the right length at my height is always a challenge.  What’s a girl to do?

As Always, In Christ… Cat

I struggled with a question on the first and second day homework.   On page #117, “what did Christ die to do (see Rom. 5:8)?  It’s multiple choice, but I think two might be correct.   Is ‘making us perfect’ the same as righteousness?  I know WE are not perfect, but Christ is.  I thought ’save us from sin’ could also be correct.   I might be OVERthinking it too. 

On page 120, What was Moses’ explanation to Aaron for God’s action in verse 3?  All three seemed like good choices, although the third “God will be worshiped only in holiness” seemed to fit the scripture??  Maybe I’m just tired and need to sleep on these questions. 

I was surprised to read ‘we never have the right to simply chat with God’ but understanding the role of Christ as intercessor was enlightening.  I still stumble when praying, and learning this connection has been very good for me.  I didn’t grow up in church, and it’s still a little muddy at times.   I am unable to answer “Can you sense when God is pleased with your worship, and if so, how?”   I am just not sure.    Does anyone else struggle with this? 

Overall, this study has been SO good.   I love seeing the Old Testament connect with the New Testament and am in awe of how this book really is a living word!!  The more I learn,  I realize how much more I have to learn about God and I am excited and inspired and completely humbled!!  I’m glad to be on this journey with so many delightful ladies in my group. 

Debbie S. 

Opportunities are available at every step we take.

In two weeks, Crossroads is taking the opportunity as a church body to view “The Passion of the Christ” and have a time of corporate prayer for the upcoming Easter holiday season.  We are hoping to impact the community and the most surefire way to do that is to pray, pray, pray for them.  If you care to join us, please stop by the WHC on Sunday to get your free ticket to reserve your seat, because only 700 people will be allowed due to fire regulations.  If you are in Motherwise or A Woman’s Heart this season, there will be NO CLASS Wednesday, March 19 so we may support this event.  The event is 6:30pm-9pm in the CFC auditorium.

Another opportunity is to serve the community by serving their children during the Easter holiday.  Crossroads is having 4 identical experiences for Easter; Saturday, March 22 at 4pm and 5:30pm and Sunday, March 23 at 9:30am and 11am!  Each experience will have opportunities for us to serve the children.  How else can we impact the 2500 people we hope will attend?  Of course this means you might have to volunteer 1 more hour that week.  That’s ok because God says we are the Light of this world, we are to show our fruit that we bear.  If you are interested in this opportunity and can spare your time, please email your name and phone number to srplato@yahoo.com and I will sign you up!

Thank you God for letting us live in a country that allows us to pray, worship and proclaim your name!  You are holy, worthy and magnificent.  Thank you in advance for the abundance of volunteers that you will have prepared for service on Easter, and the families of those who do not yet know you but will soon come to meet you through Easter weekend at Crossroads.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

You have an opportunity to write a short prayer of thanks to God right here.   Just click on the comments button and type away!

Sunshine