Never Stop Running

Sunday I was in my 5th Triathlon held in Tempe, AZ. It was a tougher course than I'm used to on the flat terrain of Florida but I had an amazing experience. I always know the run will be the toughest part-it's so mental for me and after swimming and half mile and biking 12 miles through some hills I always have to reach deep to find the determination at the run. I'm not a runner and if you know me you know I never will be. But that doesn't mean I can't run/shuffle (AKA ruffle). I've never been able do the run without stopping and as I hit mile 2 I decided to try to find a pace and stick to it...all the while I'm not really sure I can do it without stopping. So as I'm going I hear the Lord saying things like, "you can do more than you think you can". I started reflecting about the last 6 months of picking up my life as a single girl and moving to the desert to follow the call of God on my life. I thought about all the valleys God had brought me through (and there have been some deep ones). The more I shuffled along the more I realized this race was a metaphor for my life....toward the end of the run we had a steep incline and I slowly passed a few people who had stopped to walk....as I reached the top I started across this big bridge and realized I could see the finish line. I sensed God's Spirit speaking to my heart again, "I knew you could do it...I know more about you than you know about yourself".....I started to hold back my tears and then thought, "what the heck, no one is here" I spent the last quarter mile in complete worship and even sprinted across the finish line. There was no big fan club waiting for me like there is at home but I pulled away and spent a few moments in prayer and gratitude for my life and this awesome season. What a race.....I want to keep running.

I think about VBC and the special family community there. I think a lot of people don’t experience those kind of relationships in their entire life………I’m trying to adjust to big church life. Community is found by attending Sunday school classes (they function like churches) and last night was my first orchestra practice with a french horn someone is letting me us...it was so cool and such a great way to meet people. You feel like you’re a part a family.

They put me in the middle of the horn section so I could hear the right notes (which really helped). Then we practiced all the songs and I held my own playing and was happy bout that. Then out comes 115 vocalists and we go through it all again………I swear I was thinking….we would only do this at Easter at VBC (maybe) and was just blown away by how worshipful it was to play a powerfully loud instrument with all these people leading a larger group of people to the throne. At one point I was watching the prompter screen and singing along and forgot I was suppose to start playing……afterwards the director had us all sit in the pews and did a devotional and then we prayed and broke up for fellowship and desert………….wow, I got to talk to so many people about our ministry and actually knew a few people too.

Sunday is my first day and we have to be there at 7.30-12 noon but it will be fun.

A trip to Daphne's

If there has ever been a day where I knew I was in ministry to the King it was yesterday. I came into the office to a difficult e.mail...you know one of those e.mails that you knew you were going to have to "fix things". I had an appointment to get to across town where I was going to lead a young girl througn her first Bible Study. As I was gathering things for the meeting my cell phone rang and the minute I answered the phone I knew it would change my day. It was a dear friend very upset about her Mom, who was on her death bed. I was so overcome with her pain that it comsumed me but I also knew I had to make it across town. As I drove down Scottsdale Road I couldn't believe the news and hearthache I was hearing from my friend. It was one of those moments where you had no words to console just a shoulder to offer to lean on. I pulled into Daphne's restaurant, prayed with my friend on the phone and finished the call. Just then I realized I had forgotten the Bible Study for this meeting...I took a deep breath and felt so drained by the morning. I prayed out loud, "God, I have nothing left for this meeting but I know you want to minister to this girl today. Would you just do your thing?" I searched the car and found a track of the 4 Spiritual laws. I started the meeting sharing about my friend and how her Mom was dying but she knew where she was going when she left this world. I walked this girl through the gospel and when I got to the part about Christ covering our sin she literally said, "that's beautiful". As her eyes teared up I knew God was speaking to her and I asked her if she would like to accept the Lord into her heart. After asking a couple of questions she was ready and we held hands and said a not-so-magical prayer as God did the supernatural in her heart. I opened my eyes and said, "Happy Birthday" to her......I can't wait to meet with her next week.

When I jumped back in the car and left Daphne's Restaurant, this verse came to mind.
2Cor 12:9 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness ." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.