SC11

David Platt, Pastor of The Church at Brooke Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, hosts an event twice a year at his church called Secret Church. the purpose of the event began as a way to gather and pray for those believers who are persucuted around the world for thier belief in the Gospel and in Jesus Christ. It was and is also a means by which time is set aside specifically to delve into Scripture on various topics for a set, intentional period of time. the material that is taught in these sessions is then translated into various languages and used to equip believers around the world.
Last night, the 11th Secret Church meeting was held. It was simulcasted to include over 48,000 people, spanning 6 continents and also in 42 of our 50 states here in America. in a very real sense, we were gathered together with our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ as some of the locations experienceing the simulcast were in areas where, had they been discovered to be participating it could be dangerous for them.

I have had the opportunity to participate in the live simulcast last night with the association that the church i attend is a part of. the topic title was "Marriage, Family, Sex and the Gospel."
Platt took us through scripture for 6 hours (my kind of Friday night!!) seeing what scripture, and says about all the facets of these topics.

The Questions of the night were:

1. What does the Bible say about family?



2. What does the Bible say about marriage?



3. What does the Bible say about sex and sexuality?



4. How do all of these relate to the gospel?



5. How do all of these relate to the Greate Commission?

just to list some of what was discussed, check this out:
------------------------------------------------
God's Design:
1. The Gospel and Sexuality
2. The Gospel and Marriage
3. The Gospel and Parenting
4. The Gospel and the Orphans
5. The Gospel and Singleness
6. The Gosepl and the Widow

Man's Distortion:
1. The Gospel and Divorce
2. The Gospel and Homosexuality
3. The Gospel and Abortion
4. The Gospel and Polygamy
5. The Gospel and Pornography

Special Issues:
1. Sexual Distinction in the Church
2. Sexual Sin in the Church
3. Sexual Satisfaction in Marriage
---------------------------------------------------

To say the least, it was a blessed time. As a single woman, the points in the Gospel and Singleness section were great to ponder, be challenged by and see how to glorify the Lord Biblically in my singleness. It was encouraging and also, to be honest, parts were hard to hear because i do have a desire to be a wife and have children and raise them to fear and love the Lord. There were 2 things i really had jump at me from this section:
1. Singlness and Marriage are both gifts. during singleness, i need to recognize this beautiful gift from the Lord and not flounder it.
2. "Contentment is deep trust in the sovereignty of God and deep enjoyment of the grace of God."

{These are two areas i have had mulling and wrestling back and forth with this semester as i found myself "distracted" in this particular area. I had/have begun to see my attitude toward being content in my singleness a difficult battle. I had not been really struggling with contentment much prior to this because, well, frankly there were no prospects. easy to be unaffected when theres nothing tempting around. For whatever reason, that changed this semester. an attractive, God-fearing man is a fierce combination). It is prudent for me to cling to the Cross now more then ever, not letting this distraction keep me from serving the Lord and living for the Lord in attitude, word and deed. should something progress from this, that is not my concern. at this time, i am to be solely concerened with seeking and obtaining a "deep trust in the soveriegnty of God and deep enjoyment of the grace of God." Pray for me in this. Pray that I can obtain this deep trust and deep enjoyment.}

I learned valuable truths in each section and was reminded of the Grace of God and how His hand has been on my life to this point and will continue to be in the future. In each section, truth was revealed of God's perspective on my role as a woman in relation to Christ, in relation to my brothers in Christ, to my future husband, as a mother one day, in how live now.
I challenge you to check out the link to resources of Secret Church. this link will take you to the secret churchs of the past which are available in audio and video and also have PDF files of the study guides both with the blanks filled in and also with the blanks empty. Last night's wont have the audio or video available online for another 2-3 weeks, but the study guide is up and is well worth being checked out.

Platt always begins one of these sessions explaining that it is "not for the faint of heart." His purpose is to pour the truth into you like a fire hose and then you can soak in it all. Im still processing what was discussed last night!

The Association that the church i attend down here is a part of is doing something awesome with these. They have begun back at the first Secret Church recording and have met together twice already with the same set up as if it were live, but we gather together to learn. We have done "The Survey of the Old Testament" (which was over the summer and i missed that one...) and "The Survey of the New Testament"> which was phenominal! Next up is "How to Study the Bible" then "Who Is God?" and you can see the rest of them by going here.

March to October: What happened?

My blog hiatus may have come to an end...

Heres an update:
This semester is jam packed and marks the beginning of my time in Graceville concluding. I am a couple credits shy of being a able to declare Senior Status. However, Spring 2012 is looking like it will be my last semester in Graceville as I will be finishing all of my classes and will only have Student Teaching standing between me and my College Diploma.

The Lord is my strength and sustains me as I try to make it through the jam packed semester. 18 hours was not the brightest idea, but you do what you've got to do :)

There is so much. Know that the Lord is teaching teaching me more and more with each day. There have been new and exciting challenges daily and its all too crazy to try and explain in a breath right now.

Here is an update for the Health Quest: I am 178lbs today. That means that from my heaviest, this is an 82lb loss. It is 100% because of the Lord! Christ is the reason that i have hope, Christ is the reason I began this process. Jesus Christ is the reason i have accomplished anything or ever accomplish anything. He is my Rock, I hope and pray you can say the same. I hope and pray that you realize and experience His grace daily. He has also strengthened me to be able to run 3.2miles without stopping (thats right! a 5K!!).

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, all who read this or have read this.
sometime ill have a break down of whats recent.

OLD School

I just can't shake this idea, this possibility. And now, there may be an opportunity to partake in a smidgen of this really awesome program. I heard about it my first semester here when the booth was displayed at a Preview Day for our school. I just passed it by that day, who was i kidding! An adventure like that was out of the question. The semesters passed, they returned with their booth each semester. always catching my attention. I always silenced the idea before it had the chance to enter my mind.
Why did I do that?
Then, one day, i got a message from a friend who went to school with the guy who stood behind that booth every semester. He said for me to go talk to him, to say hello from another country to his old school buddy. BAM! It was in my face again. Couldn't ignore it anymore.
Kayaking down a river with another friend, talking about our passion for the outdoors and pondering about the future, the subject came up once again. no escape.(and i dont want an escape now, i dont want to ignore it anymore) BUT im here. im at school. im becoming a teacher. where would this fit in? Maybe that is not for me to know now, I need help. AM I CRAZY?
Please join me in praying for wisdom. I don't want to just do this program for the awesome activities available, I want to meet with the Lord where my heart always resides...in the outdoors.
I feel the PULL as i hear the rain beating down outside, as i walk down the road with the country side surrounding me, rich in color and texture; as i drift down a river encompased by peace and true beauty, in the sight of the sky that stretches above me full of glistening dots and magical patterns.
Why is this passion ignited with in me when im called to be a teacher? How will these two meet? both so deep, so natural in instinct. What does it mean?
I just, i need prayer for wisdom. I don't want to make a selfish judgement call. but i really would like to take part in this. It would be great to experience it for a semester, but thats not feesable right now. A week, however, just might be ok.

Its MARCH!!!

Wow! Time has FLOWN by!
slightly too quickly...
I have alot to update on, but most recently, i will update you on my yesterday!
I have been itching to hike or kayak or really just get outside and enjoy the outdoors! its how I'm rejuvenated by the Lord to continue to trek along. seeing as the good trails are about an hour or more away, i had to get creative!
Something I have wanted to do since coming to school here is walk out to the state line and back. its a little less than 8 miles total (there and back) and yesterday was GORGEOUS!!! so, i convinced a friend to join me and we set out on our adventure. Such a beautiful area to walk in, we were on a main road, but its out in the country so you could still feel like you were in nature with wide expanses of land on either side stretching out as far as our eyes could see!
In total, we were gone for 2 hours. we had stopped a couple seconds here and there to take pics, but for the most part, we had set a rather nice pace, definitely not a leisurely stride. It was gorgeous, I'm so glad i had the opportunity to do it.

Then, when the night came, a group of friends and i gathered to celebrate with another friend of ours who recently passed the test and got his American Citizenship. after having some treats (Apple Pie, and All-American classic) we decided to go to the soccer field and play a quick game of soccer...in the dark (well, there was one or two flood lights on near the field)
Twas an interesting time running around trying to steal the ball from guys who are alot quicker then I am, also, it was dark...if the ball was not white, we would have been in trouble. I was brilliant and had my hand out and in a fist at some point and the ball when full force into my hand...OUCH! its not broken, but it is sore when i try to move it too much, though i am typing just the same as before, its just bruised. And then, two of my friends, Liz and Ben, collided and Liz busted her ankle. Ben later collided (he was playing barefoot...) with our friend Philip and messed up his (Ben's) foot.
so, with three injuries and some extreme encouragement from the sidelines, we decided to play Apples to Apples Bible Edition: (um, this game is interesting...it can get pretty...heretical. we didnt play it for long.
I closed out my friday evening with a movie, Dispicable Me, which i watched with my friend, Jessica. cute little movie.
not too soon after the movie i was out cold on my couch (11:30pm, thats early for me).
Today, i feel great and im really lookin forward to hiking Old Rag when i come home at the end of the month!

day....o wait, the semester began!

well, its not that i havent been workin out, its that blogging is not on the priority now that the semester has begun! i knew this day would come! im still treckin along. the 5k is on the 29th, a lil over a week away. im unsure if ill be able to jog the whole thing, but i will complete it for sure! i dont know how much i weigh, but i dont really care. i feel great, im eating healthy, exercising, and my clothes are fitting loosely. God is good, and thats all that matters, i am content. :)

Day 26

time to catch up on the blogs....
this i was Thursday: around 3:30pm i hadnt done my workout for the day yet, and i was dreading it. it had come to the point where i just wasnt really sure if i was doing anything correctly...so i spontaneously called a physical trainer in Dothan at Golds Gym. When i met with him, we went over goals i have and i shared with him about my quest for health, and the recent weeks with Biggest Loser. He got really confused when i said that in 4 years i have lost 50 lbs and quickly informed me that though it is a process, it should not be that long of a process ever and said in 12 months he could help me lose all the weight i needed to. He had me do a work out just to show him where my strengths and weaknesses are.
Now in the Work Out DVD's you do ALOT of squats, lunges, and variations of the two. i was kinda disheartened to find out that my form was completely wrong for the squats and slightly wrong for the lunges(at least the backward ones...front lunges he said i was doing perfectly!)
and the work out he had me do, there wasnt much too it but it felt more effective then any session on the biggest loser dvd's. i guess it could be because i am not monitored or challenged by the dvd's, they can't see me to correct my form or push me to my limit and left alone, i guess i tend to ease on myself and not push as hard as i could.

A combination of exhaustion and frustration, i spent the majority of that night feeling defeated to know that in 4 weeks i have not really accomplished as much as i thought. I dont know if going to the PT was mistake, in some ways it was good. in someways not so good. Im having to filter through all we discussed to hold onto what is worth holding onto.
It was a humbling experience, i felt like he had to correct EVERYTHING i was doing. but I am going to take from this what i need to. A. dont use momentum, focus and use the muscles needed. b. Build muscle, it will burn more throughout the day and night and always instead of just sitting there. c. i can do this, i need to keep telling myself to keep going.
I found out that every exercise is a core excercise because you have to have a strong core throughout the entire thing inorder to stabalize and support your back and maintain balance.
If i am going to do this whole losing weight thing, i want to do it correctly. with no chase for relapse, i want to build muscle and not cause harm to my joints.
I am unsure if i will be able to do the 5K on the 29th, the PT said i still have too much weight on me still and it could harm my knees and hips and other joints. But i still want to keep doing the light jog that i do around the school. just walking is boring and not challenging...and the jog, its like an instant gratification or notification to me that ive just done something!
There are a couple students here that i know work out in the gym enough to know for sure what is proper form and such so i am going to pray about asking for thier help, because PT's are rather expensive and its a 45min drive to them. not good with gas as expensive as it is right now.

Week Four: Recap

This was a toughy for me. just read the blogs before this.

but i started the week at 205, ending it at 202. a small victory, but ill take it.

Please pray for me: that i can focus more on communicating with the Lord and less worried about what the Scale says. This is a big week as i start the new job and welcome 9 new girls into the dorm as well as needing to effectively lead and enter the craziness of life while still finding the ability to maintain my goals of living healthy.

Day 28

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------UPDATE on APRIL 5, 2012----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this entry, you will find that I once participated in Yoga. I have since ceased doing thisbecause I believe that it is not honoring to the Lord. If you would like to read why, please go to this blog entry. As the Holy Spirit continues renewing my mind with His truth, I pray to be able to respond with obedience so that the name of Jesus Christ is honored and glorified by not only my words, but actions as well.

Saturday:
again, did not do the video. ill go back to it soon. its just a frustrating thing and im slowly working through it. but i went on another walk/jog with the dog. and did some yoga to stretch out my muscles...still sore.

internally im still frustrated with stuff, but i cant let that stop me. i have to keep going. with all the PT had told me floating around in my head, and all the feeling of being embarrassed by how much i was doing wrong and how little i was able to do, my mind keeps analysizing it over and over, its been distracting me so bad i havent even been able to do a legit quiet time. but i had enough of that last night, before i went to bed i just word vomitted all over my journal. starting from a passage i was reading in Nehemiah, talking about it and how it was connecting for me, and then a tangent came and i flowed with that. i don't know if i have hashed it all out yet with the Lord.
Ive got the Pelt's in my mind now, whenever i think about giving up. Thanks Tracee and Jason for talking me off my "ledge" the other night. The Lord is really useing your words to help me keep going and not stop.

PS: Why did this, such an essencial thing to living, have to be a way for Satan to possibly have a foothold. ordinarily, if i see an area that has this possibility, i would chunk it out of my life... cant really chuck out food or excersize from my life though...thats just asking for defeat. but it needs to not be SO prevelent in my mind!

Day 27

Friday:
Did not do the video.
what was going through my head was "whats the use, im not doing any of it correctly".
so instead i went on a walk/jog with a friend's dog. 2.5 miles.
fyi, my core and every muscle the PT told me he was having me workout was SORE! My core has NEVER been that sore before!
it was a good feeling.

RD? Say what?

whose bright idea was it to put me in charge? im starting to freak out internally!!!

Day 25

i knew i had to workout, even if i still felt icky. In my mind, i get more and more freaked out about the 5k coming in 3 weeks from the Saturday (which i still have to register for...keep forgetting). i keep thinking in my head that there is no way im gonna be ready to jog the entire thing by then. and in those moments i want to just throw in the towel because i doubt that i can ever come to that point. well, it may not work everyday, but today i pushed that aside and did the Cardio: Level 2. if i dont even try, then i have failed already.
I found my mind wanting to give up today. i ended up Praying/yelling during the workout, half to silence my mind from discouraging myself, and half to ask God to a. help me and b. why i was feeling this way.
im thinking about throwing my scale away. when the numbers are decreasing, it is encouraging. when it doesnt say what i would like it to say i get frustrated, especially when i know how hard ive worked at it. and instead of it being something to push me to do better, i just feel defeated. So whats the deal with numbers anyway? why is it so important to me to weigh one pound less? Why am i not satisfied with feeling healthy? Who determines that magic number? What happens when i get to that number that i think i should be at...? will i be satisfied then?
Im struggling with the spiritual aspect of this. am i becoming obsessed? has this gone from bringing Glory to God to glory to self?
I don't know.

ps. i dont want to give up like i have in the past.

day 24

2 things for this day.
1. i wanted to get back on my schedule or Tuesdays and Saturdays rest seeing as i have this week and next week before the semester starts.
2. i just felt icky all day and tired.

so i didnt workout. i walked a dog and played around with it in a field, though.

Week Three: Recap

Most intense workout week of the journey yet. 5 straight days. cardio dvd one day, powersculpt and jog the next. Cardio on Wednesday, Powersculpt and Jog on Thursday and friday powersculpt no jog. with the holidays, it has been hard to get in the workouts and not eat too many sweets. but i think i have done well. I believe i have made the better of choices in what and when i eat, and have stayed hydrated and found the time to workout. so why is it that the scale says there is an increase of 5 lbs on the scale? i have a few theories, (sorry to any guys who may be reading this but the is a journal with honesty of this journey), its that time of month. i hear the body retains alot of water during this time, but is it really 5 lbs worth? i mean, i feel great. i feel healthy, that is, the great part not so much currently, 1st day is always the roughest.
I also havent been able to accurately record my meals this past week because its been sparatic and busy, i may have eaten more than i think i did, though when i think on it, i know i only ate when i was hungary and i kept it natural and healthy choices, maintaining serving size.
There was more intensity in the workouts, did gain muscle?
these are possibilities. Cant let the numbers discourage me, though i wish this process would speed up...

Day 23

The Journey back to Graceville began at 10am(eastern) and ended a 2:30pm(central).
its 11:30 pm, and ive been so busy today i havent been able to stop long enough to think about working out, and i am sitting here just worn out from the travel and crazy day, unwinding to a movie.
is it bad for me to skip the workout tonight?

Day 22

I left Winterhaven Sunday after church and lunch. as i drove down the highway, i realized i was super close to the Long's so i gave them a ring and headed their way for the night. Was not able to do my Biggest Loser workout, but Amanda and i went on a brisk walk around a nearby neighborhood and around thier apartment complex.
Twas an excelent night with great friends and i enjoyed every minute of this spontaneous evening!

Day 21

Today was the 2nd of my rest days for the week. i spent the night prior ringing in the new year with my friend and her family in Winter Haven, FL. We slept in til about 10:30 and had lunch as a big family. took a starch induced nap that afternoon and then walked around downtown Disney for hours that night! twas great!