New Fall Session Begins....Next Week!

Every new session of Faithfully Fit starts with a "light bulb" moment! We never know where or when the light bulb will light up in our head, but when it happens...watch out! We start spinning off ideas, coming up with scripture, music, theme ideas, new logos...the works! This Fall 2013 session is

All Stitched Up

And like all new sessions we kick it off with a PARTY!
This party just happens to be our 3rd Birthday Party

All ladies are invited to:

Calvary Baptist Church Fellowship Hall

1405 Bolling Road, Roanoke Rapids NC

Tuesday, September 3rd 6-8pm

Fun, Games, Prayer, Devotion, Fellowship, Finger-foods

 

AND in case you are wondering why an exercise group looks more like sewing group this fall, here's why:

The Importance of the Knot

I cannot sew. OK, well let me expand on that. I can sew on buttons, I can sew up holes in stuffed animals, and I can make a mean pillow; but, I cannot sew. My grandma could sew anything and I do have lots of memories of standing in her kitchen, cutting out patterns, marking things with pins and trying things on over and over again. She always had her tomato pin cushion nearby and she would hold the pins in the corners of her mouth and tell me not to move or I would get stuck. Of course, we liked to play with the chalk line puffer thing – I think it was to mark a hem line? - all I know is that I could blow chalk on stuff! Grandma did teach me to make pillows one day, but that was about the extent of my sewing “career”. I even took a class at the community college with one of my dear friends after we both got married and well, that was the ugliest dress I have ever seen! But I did learn one thing, if you do not have a knot in the end of your thread, the stitch will pull right through. I found a saying while we were brainstorming for fall session and it goes a little something like this: “The stitch is lost unless the thread is knotted”

So, why all the talk about sewing? What exactly does that have to do with Faithfully Fit or with the Bible? Hmm, I am glad you “asked”!

Ephesians 4:4-6 says this:

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

One.....One! One Body. One Spirit. One Lord. One Faith. One Baptism. One God. One Father. One. Unity. Together. Purpose. See we have a lot of different churches/religions in this world. But what we need to know and stand on is that there is but One God! Faithfully Fit brings together all those churches for a purpose...to spread the gift of Jesus. The gift of eternal Life that was given for the whole world – John 1:29 says:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus is the knot! When we try to repair or “stitch” a lost and dying world without the knot then the whole stitch is lost. When we try to “stitch” with multiple knots, it becomes a tangled mess. But when we come together as ONE and focus on making sure that the knot is tied and is the same, then at the end we have a beautiful “dress”, if you will. We can reach people for Christ without a line drawn of backgrounds. We can love the sinner but hate the sin. We need to stand up in unity, make our voices heard as the people of God.....One Body. One spirit, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. One God. One Father. One KNOT.

Looking forward to becoming ONE with you!

Donna

 



 

Wednesday's Challenge

A challenge.
Sometime life itself is a challenge.

A challenge to see the joy, the great purpose.
...

But recently I learned that our eyes must be searching in order to see.

Eyes that are fixed on the pain of this world are destined to be disappointed. We do, after all, live in a fallen world.

But with eyes open to see joy, expecting the unexpected....

We see. We feel. We experience life...life abundant.

We taste. We see.

Our hunger gives way and we are full, when we look to see the blessings.

Blessings poured into our cup.

Fill me up Lord, Fill my cup;

Fill it full to overflowing!

Fill me up Lord, Fill my cup.

Fill it full to overflowing so when I pour out your blessings others may see

Joy

Pure Joy

Your Joy

Your Love


Today, I just challenge you to walk with eyes wide open, looking for the joy amidst the pain.
The four leaf clover tucked in the weeds.

The flower still blooming.

The sun peeking through the clouds.

The coolness of the breeze.

The sweetness of life........taste and see........that the Lord IS good!



Blessings spilling out, fill your cup,

Jodie

...my cup overflows... psalm 23:5

Serving Grace = Becoming Grace

Satan has been on me lately. Telling me that I am not beautiful, that I cannot change my eating habits, and that I am just not good enough to run a half marathon. Despite my daily posts of joy and thanks, Satan has been stealing my joy a little at a time and I know it. He wants me to doubt me, to doubt God and to not give thanks....he wants me not to be or feel blessed.

Why? Because if I do not feel blessed then I cannot bless others. In Genesis 12: 1-3, God speaks directly to Abram and was telling him to go simply stating “leave your country to a land that I will show you” and then, God said “I will bless you...and you will be a blessing”. God did not tell Abram where he was going, just to simply leave and go. An endless possibility of locations but with a promise that he would be a blessing, a “father of nations.”

In her book “One Thousand Gifts”, Ann Voscamp recounts once again the mess that she comes home to, the piles of laundry and the thousand endless jobs that she has to do day in and day out. But, she counts them as gifts to serve, chances to become grace, and turn the endless into gifts a thousand times over. She says “ I look into the reflection in the splattered mirror and whisper to those eyes; yes, today, again, yes, you can bless!” We need to become “a current in the river of grace that redeems the world.” The way to be a blessing? To accept the Blessing. To accept the grace. To reach out to those who have blessed you. To become grace. Becoming the love of God and blessing those He loves.

Today, I got “nothing” done....well “nothing” that I was planning on doing. But I did a lot. See God has blessed me and because of His blessings, I was able to bless another. To be a friend, a support, a gift of grace that I had not planned on being today for someone plus more! But becoming grace is not always about doing, but by our being we can show that we are the beloved of God. I pray today that in thanks for all the gifts that God has given me, that He will continue to make me a gift, because becoming a blessing is what deeply blesses. In order to serve grace, we simply must become grace.

Donna

Green Seeds of Grace

 

So today our Joy dare is 3 gifts green. At first I thought, "I don't even know of anything green", and then I went to get breakfast and "remembered" (ha!) that my kitchen was green - there was the first gift right there! So of course, thinking about my kitchen made me think about food (along with everything else in life making me think of food! lol!) so I named off a few of my favorite "green" foods. And then, I got to thinking about gardens and how much fun it was to till and plant the garden with my parents when I was growing up. Which then got me to thinking about seeds, which led me to Ann Voscamp's devotion on "Seed Grace." I need to write one of those "If you give a mouse" books with this! But none the less here it goes...

Genesis 1:29 says "Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." This was done on the sixth day of creation. And then on the seventh day, God rested. Seeds. I remember planting that garden and looking forward to putting the seeds in the holes that my parents would make. Cucumber seeds were some of the smallest, especially compared to lima bean seeds. But they were all small relative to the plants they would grow and the crop that they would give. Seeds. God gave us the gift of seeds during creation and said that they would provide food. Small things that seem pretty insignificant that would grow to feed families, communities, and the world. Seeds. At times, it is hard to believe that one can take something so small, stick it in the ground and have food! Because sometimes the seed does not look like near enough. Seeds. Grace.

Suppose you were starving (which I know nothing of) - belly swollen starving - and you were handed seeds and told to believe in a feast that was within? It would seem that someone was trying to fool you? But is that not what faith is? What grace came to do in our lives? Ann Vosamp says:

"Behold! for those who have learned to see - He gives, He gifts. He gifts with seeds as small as moments, grace upon grace, and the unlikely here and now, it shall sustain you, feed you. Do not disdain the small. The promise of feast is within the moments. Our enough is always in the now, because He never leaves us."

You see we easily forget that our God is bigger than anything and that He is bigger than any problem we have. Our God not only made the feast but He made the seed to start it. From beginning to end, He is there and it is only when we stop and appreciate the small "joys" in life that He gives us that we see the feast of thanksgiving that is awaiting us. Seeds. Grace. Feast. Praise. Thanksgiving. Eucharisteo. One Thousand Gifts...and more!

 Donna

Earnestly Listening

More and more I look to God and His timing and try to listen and answer when He calls. Earnestly I listen to hear His voice and when He says, "they need you", I try to respond. Sometime not even knowing what someone needs.

Last week I awakened. I remembered that I had a dream. The details I cannot tell you. But I knew the people. A great-aunt. Cousins. Was it a still small voice calling? How do I respond to a dream that I do not recall the details. A simple text. I sent a simple text just to say, "you are on my mind and I am praying for you today". The response...."we are in the hospital, but things are getting better, going home with hospital bed". I stared at the phone. The hospital? I took a moment to pray. I sent a simple prayer. A thank you came in reply. It was not much. But I thanked God for the opportunity to pray. A few days later, a phone call. "We are home now, a hospital bed and hospice". Silence. Words. I need words. "That is good", I say. "I would like to come and visit". Plans made for Monday.

It's not far up the road, an hour and half of my time to drive. A sweet friend accompanies me. To a place where no family member of her own lays in the hospital bed. Just company, companionship, a friend. Is she listening to the His voice? Earnestly listening? We sit in the living room for an hour, talking, catching up, while the hospice nurse surveys the patient and makes a plan of care. Finally, he is gone. A daughter says to a mother, "what do you think, do you like him"? She says, "I wasn't sure... at first...he is a believer...we'll see". A believer. I knew. A Christ follower. My heart was warm. How did she know in one hour? What did she say? What did he say? Oh, to be a fly on that wall. Is she listening to His voice? Earnestly listening?

It's time. I walk from the couch, through the kitchen, to the room, once living room, now bedroom. Hospital bed. Warm sunlight. Closed eyes. Much thinner than the last time I saw her. Frail. I touch her hand, see her not recognize my voice, not respond to my name. For the first time I am unknown to one who shared so much love with me as a child, as a young women.

Is she listening? Is He still speaking to her heart?

We walk away. All I was able to say was that it was a bright and sunny room. A look. A silence. A question. "What do you think?", her daughter asks. One nurse to another. One loved one to another. What does that question mean? I say little. She whispers, "I never thought mama would be like this. I pictured her vibrant, and full of energy, active in her church and community". I state the obvious, "She lost that long ago". "I don't understand why the end of life is like this, why it is so hard".

But still we trust. We listen, sometimes struggle to hear His voice and then earnestly try to respond.

Following is not always easy. Not always clear. Following requires us to let someone lead, to trust in their plan. To know that when our plea is lifted and the answer seems strange that there is still a plan.

A few days before I arrived, over the phone I whispered, "we have to trust that He knows best". A whisper back, "I think I know what's best, but I still trust".

"Even if He doesn’t do what we beg, we are still His beloved.

Even if He doesn’t, He still is.

Even if He doesn’t do what we will, His will is still right and His heart is still good and the people of God will not waver.

Real prayer has eyes on Christ, not the crisis.

Even if He doesn’t – He does give enough — Himself.

Even if He doesn’t – He does still love us."        Ann Voskamp

 

Home. I sit again. To listen. To wonder. What will He say to me this time? Who will He send me to? Who will he send to me? Will I hear? Be still, be still, be still my child and know that I am God.

I listen, I pray to hear........................