Last week we watched Session one from the Beth Moore Study:Stepping Up, the Psalms of Ascent. It touched on the role of music in worship. About the song our lives sing to the ones we rub elbows with day in, day out. Are we moved by the music, but does it end there? How does it become true worship?
Beth spends a good chunk of time reading an excerpt from her book “Get Out of that Pit”, relating a story about a night at the Kennedy Center, taking in a symphony. She decsribed with her characteristic humor how she became Cinderella at the ball–she dressed up, was moved by her surroundings, the music and the atmosphere and enthusiastically took on the role as a patron of the arts for an unforgettable evening. Once back in her room in her jammies, her old self returned.
Her point? To challenge us to think about our own worship experiences; If we are ONLY moved by the music to an emotional experience, but our hearts, our minds and feet are not moved to obedience in response to our encounter with God, it is NOT true worship. The Psalms, Beth says in this video, are God’s compilation CD to US.
Have you ever read through them? They run the gamut in range of human emotions expressed–from fear, to praise, to depression, to anger; just read through a few and jot down the range of emotions expressed there. All of the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Psalm 142 invites us to pour out our complaints and emotions to God. God knows our hearts. If we are not honest with Him, telling Him only the things we think He wants us to say, it keeps us from moving closer to Him. We are dressing up for the symphony, but turning back into pumpkins when back in real life.
During our discussion we touched on the question “how can expressing these emotions become avenues of worship?” Could pouring out our honest emotions to Him help us? If obedience is the desired response, how can recognizing and expressing our true feelings and emotions help move us to a response of obedience? Once we recognize and express them, what is the next step we need to take? Share your thoughts and post a comment. Deb
Another week has rolled around and Sunshine and I are still exersizing. This last Saturday we broke out our bicycles and rode the Kiwanis Trail as far as Gady Road. From my house that’s a seven mile ’round trip. It’s a little further for Sunshine. It was chilly but it was a beautiful spring morning and since we were out early, there was little traffic, foot or otherwise. My apprecitation for God’s creation is a constant source of wonder for me. I love his choice of colors he paints each flower combination with. I love the breathtaking bursts of color in the birds that dart before us. Cardinals always remind me of the Blood of Jesus, I absolutely love to see them.
My weight loss thus far is 22 pounds. I’m quite happy with one pound a week at this juncture in my life. Besides, if I lose weight too fast some folks might think it is because I have cancer. Which of courses if you know me, you know I do. But other than that minor speed bump, my health overall is better than it has been in years.
Speaking of health…. I have been experiencing a bit of a sore ankle. Sort of feels like a shin splint, but then today there’s some swelling lower down near the heel with a tiny bruise on the top of my foot that looks susupisiously like a strain or sprain. I’m thinking it might be from a of a turn of the ankle in my new “too cute” shoes with the 3″ heels. I’m doing the R.I.C.E thing tonight and drinking a second glass of K-tea with Montmorency Cherry juice to take down the swelling. Sunshine and I have precious little time left before we have to part ways at least for the summer as my work situation will change. I don’t want to miss a day of her company while we have time so tonight it is rest, ice, compression and elevation… then biking tomorrow.
God desires to speak to each of us individually!He wants to meet us where we are , despite who we are and reveal Himself to us in a personal way.“He Speaks to Me” is a 7 week study by Priscilla Shirer for women designed to show how God speaks to believers today, how to position ourselves to hear what He has to say, how to understand it and how to experience it’s practical application in our everyday life!
He Speaks To Me:Preparing to Hear from God by Priscilla Shirer
May 14 thru June 25th6pm-8pmCost:$ 12.00, payable with registration
Sign up in the Grand Lobby at the Whats Happening Centre
We often associate stwardship with money but it goes beyond that. We are stwards of the temple of the Holy Spirit (our bodies). On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your stewardship of your body?
As parents its important to remember that our children are watching us and they will take on a lot of our habits both good and bad.
Ask God what is one thing you could change today to be a better steward of your body. God loves you and wants the best for you!
Christie
2 John 1:2 Dear friends, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
Well Sunshine and I have now walked 5 days together. Today was our first outing in the Spring weather and it was a lovely morning save for that one of my dogs decided to bite Sunshine, ripping her brand new jacket. It has been decided in our home that the dog will be going to the next available Obedience Class.
Anyway… in the five days we’ve walked we’ve logged close to 20 miles! As I suspected my scale stopped moving but today after increasing my calories a bit the numbers finally moved. In all I have now dropped 18 pounds. Praise God! After the many years I’ve struggled with the low fat mentality, I finally have found a way to lose weight that is not leaving me hungry and tired all the time.
The health benifits have been rather astounding. I stopped using Advair for asthma about two months ago. At first I needed to use my rescue inhaler 2-3 times a day, but as time has passed, I have been able to go without using the inhaler but once in the last ten days. Last night I made the mistake of turning on a dusty ceiling fan so I needed the inhaler but only needed one “puff”. What has truely suprised me is that Sunshine and I have been walking 15 minute miles and the exersize has not produced an attack. The whole reason I started using Advair is the exersize induced attacks. In the book “Eat Fat, Lose Fat” they go over several physical conditions brought on by lack of good saturated fats in the diet. Seems our lungs need saturated fat to function properly and asthma can be caused by a low fat diet.
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.
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.
