Women of Faith Nuggets

Oh friends, I'm still floating after this weekend. It was wonderful. Can I share, in a random sort of way, a few of the things that were special to me?

First...prayer IS the battle. I referenced it Saturday evening, but it is the place we get our orders from God! It is SO important and I was so convicted over my lack of time spent in prayer lately.

Second, and this thought just took my breath away: You have never lived an unloved moment in your life. God has always and will always love you. Even when it doesn't feel like it, you are loved.

Then Sheila Walsh said this..."Pouring out sorrow makes space for grace." That made me feel so much better about getting flat and crying my eyes out over a few things.

Sandy Patti commented during her testimony that she had talked about grace for years, but it wasn't until she NEEDED grace that she fully understood it. Amen to that....and let me tell you she did a beautiful job of sharing her story with us.

As powerful and beautiful as each speaker was, and as much as I took from each one I kept thinking that there has to be ONE thing that God wants to impress on me. There was...

Saturday this verse was referenced

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NLT)Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God's temple is holy and you Christians are that temple."


For whatever reason this verse just really stood out to me so I asked God why? I LOVE my fellow believers! But God impressed on me specifically verse 17. "God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God's temple is holy and you Christians are the temple."

For quite sometime I've been led to verses like this. I just "assumed" that God was talking about thoughts, gossip, attitude toward His church...that sort of thing. BUT, the more I prayed asking Him to search my heart and mind to show me where my attitude, actions or thoughts needed to change...the more UNsettled I became.

This weekend however I knew exactly what He has been trying to beat into my brain...

It's my physical body.

I haven't been taking very good care of it. Most days, I drink A LOT of coffee for breakfast, skip lunch and eat dinner with the family. Most nights, I have a popcorn snack before bedtime.

Exercise...well that just doesn't happen. Occasionally I'll take a walk, but for the most part I count playing with the girls in the backyard as my entire exercise routine. As fun as that is, it isn't enough.

I've had this attitude that since I'm not"overweight" I don't really have to be watching what I eat and exercise is optional. I KNOW, I KNOW...I AM WRONG!!! Go on and laugh out loud, I know it sounds ludicrous!

SO....God has been trying to get my attention and I've been ignoring it.

Last Monday on our way home from Charlotte, I started feeling really strange. Just really weak. I attributed it to the heat in the church we were in, the long drive and it being VERY late. Tuesday, the headache came and didn't go away until Friday morning. Then of course, Women of Faith meant a late Friday night and an early Saturday morning. By the time I got home on Saturday evening, I was plum tuckered!

I say all this to say...God is showing me that I need to take better care of the temple He has entrusted to me. How in the world can I keep up the schedule that He is calling me to keep when I'm skipping meals and living on coffee.

Conviction fell hard on me.

So, I've spent sometime today brainstorming on what to eat for breakfast and when I can work in 30 minutes of exercise. Here is what my new schedule looks like.

5:00-5:30 walking on treadmill. I will borrow Chad's MP3 player, listen to praise music and have some prayer time.

5:30-6:00 my time in the word before the girls and Chad get up and need something.
(my coffee maker is set for 6:15 so it will not be ready until AFTER I've exercised AND had my quiet time.)

I will eat breakfast with my girls INSTEAD of starting laundry, emptying the dishwasher and getting a head start on dinner while they sit at the bar and watch me rush through the morning chores!

I've posted this because it will keep my accountable. Feel free to ask me how the schedule is going, you will keep me honest!

I want so badly to as Hebrews 12:1 says run with endurance the race that God has set before me. I want to run it to the best of my ability and right now, my diet and lack of healthy living is keeping me from running my best.

God used this weekend to open my eyes to this. I know that for most of you this won't seem like "much", but it is HUGE to me. It is fresh to me. I questioned posting about it, but God said to do it...so I had to. :)

If you were there last weekend, share your thoughts!