Have you ever been in a valley - just an overall rough time in your life - and a dear friend says to you, "just pray about it"? Or, have you been the wise friend who spouts this advice when you can't seem to come up with something more, personal? I have been prisoner to both of these situations and it seems this phrase gets tossed around without really analyzing the implications. Recently,
A co-worker suggested a book called, The Power of a Praying Wife. I was hesitant at first, don't you think I already lift up my husband in prayer? But a marriage is never perfect, right? And I had been interested in digger a little deeper into the power of prayer, as my prayer life had been slacking. So I picked up the paperback and started diving in. Lo! What's that I read? The entire first chapter entitled, "His Wife" is about expecting to see a change in yourself, not in your husband. Oh dear. It's not a fix-it-all book? Shucks. I have a feeling I'm in for quite a journey into understand the role of a wife as a prayer warrior. Here's a sneak peek of the first paragraph - it'll hit home to those in marital relationships:
The hard part about being a praying wife, other than the sacrifice of time, is maintaining a pure heart. It must be clean before God in order for you to see good results. That's why praying for a husband must begin with praying for his wife. If you have resentment, anger, unforgiveness, or an ungodly attitude, even if there's good reason for it, you'll have a difficult time seeing answers to your prayers. But if you can release those feelings to God in total honesty and hten move into prayer, there is nothing that can change a marriage more dramatically. Sometimes wives sabotage their own prayers because they don't pray them from a right heart. It took me a while to figure that out.
Omartian, Stormie. (1997). The power of a praying wife. p. 25
The phrase, "just pray about it" has now transformed into something much more personal and intimate. How has prayer changed your life? Or maybe it has changed the life of someone in your life?
Recent life in the Colorado Curry's has been a little of this:
The Mile High Music Festival - a 2 day madhouse of people wearing strange clothing, listening to bands, and drinking $8 beer. Ok, not so much of the $8 beer but did buy a cute horse skirt, love it! Here we are enjoying the band Train - I belive this is right after they played the song, "When I look to the Sky" which is what we danced to at our wedding. It was surprisingly romanitc, even with thousands of other people around.
We also hiked to the top of Mt. Audubon yesterday, I'll have pics of that in the next post. 13,300 ft up - not quite a 14er, but my legs were just as sore. The dogs were pooooooooped!
My 60-mile journey begins THIS WEEKEND! I have been talking about this since the New Year as it was one of my resolutions. I cannot believe time has gone by this fast! I plan on writing a blog about my experience, so look for that sometime next week. And to beat it all - Mike got free tickets to a Broncos pre-season game on the night after the last 20 miles. Yikes! He'll probably have to carry me into Invesco Field.
We are seeing Ray LaMontagne and David Gray at Red Rocks next week, too!
We are just busy little bees! I like it that way. Labor Day weekend is coming up - unbelievable!
Love Ya'll, Love Wins!
So, I snagged the newest edition of 5280 Magazine from work because it had the "Mile High Messiah" a.k.a Tim Tebow on the front. This #15 has caused quite a stir in the Mile High City, and I have yet to figure out why. Yes, the kid is a college football genius and had an amazing college football career - but what makes him so popular? Especially when he is 3rd string quarter back (behind Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn)! Regardless, Mike and I were talking about his very public faith (so did the article in the magazine) and concluded that his relationship with the Lord and positive, yet humble, attitude will be a good thing for the Broncos - and even more for the city of Denver. The downtown part of Denver has 0 churches; I belive our pastor called it a "black hole". We're not in the Bible Belt any more.
Here, take this quote: (oh good gosh, I have forgotten all of my formatting for inserting a quote into the middle of a paper, Mrs. McComas, please forgive me)
" Football is just a platform for me," he says, alluding to his very public faith. "The games are a bonus. But I also recognize that to keep that platform, I have to perform. I think Denver fans will see how willing I am to work hard to make sure I keep it." He pauses. "I think I can make it work."
And there it is, plainly stated, appropriately humble and yet supremely confident. What, or where, does this come from? Does it come from the fact that he has always been told he was a golden boy - the Golden Boy - and he can't understand a universe in which he isn't the best? Or does it come from within, from his God, from an inner confidence that only he understands?
You see, I don't think the author of this article understands the Christian faith. This "what works for you" attitude is clearly what people in Denver like to assume upon everyone when it comes to "religion". If you are a Christian and that's what "works for you" then great. If you believe in meditation and karma and that "works for you" then fabulous. Whatever makes you happy...basically. Mr. Tebow - if you could, please, stand up for Jesus. Be very public about your faith in the Lord and continue to love Our God on the bench, to your teammates, and to this city desperate to hear the truth. And, it's okay if you're a virgin (just wanted to put that in there), it's actually a pretty cool thing.
I FINALLY have my husband home from 9 weeks of summer camp. Praise the Lord! It was a tough summer, but I think my little hubby touched the lives of many, many campers and counselors. Although it wasn't a faith-based camp - I know that Jesus was glorified in his life and hopefully those around him were able to see a difference. It was a blast traveling to and fro - through the little town of Nederland (where I got a speeding ticket) - through the woods that hold crazy guys with guns - through little local bars - and through very large moose that graze in the local ponds. The Lord's plan will always prevail.
And right now, I feel like our lives are open for the next step - whatever that may be. There is an old Audio A song that says, " I wanna be your hands, I wanna be your feet. I'll go where you send me, go where you send me." My Lord, I will go where you send me, er, us. I love you. Love Wins!
I need to preface this post by saying - I do NOT think I am overweight nor am I dieting to LOSE a significant amount of weight. I truly just need, discipline. Yes, discipline.
Have you ever sat a box of oreos beside you and snacked on them while watching a tv show? Or, like me, eaten a substantial amount of sweets at work because people bring free food in all the time? Before you know it, an entire sleeve is gone and your stomach starts to hurt. TOO MUCH SUGAR!!!!! Then, the guilt. Oh, the guilt...which the majority of the time ends with, I've already screwed up, guess I'll eat another sleeve (or two). I just might be talking about my own eating habits, maybe yours too? After gaining a few pounds and feeling really guilty about by recent eating habits I decided I needed a little accountability.
My husband? No, he has lost several lbs over the summer from being at camp. My husband has the metabolism of a small child.
My friends? Friends that I would trust to keep me accountable are a thousand miles away.
Sigh.
After much research, I've made a decision to exercise discipline, exercise my body, and exercise my mind. It's time to make myself accountable for what I eat. Helllloooooooo Weight Watchers. I have heard so many positive responses from people who have jumped on this bandwagon; I've decided to let Weight Watchers online exercise discipline for me. Plus, the 3-month membership fee is also a fire under my buns to put my full effort into project, "1 good decision leads to another". Isn't that on a commercial? Anyway, it's how I picture this project. Tracking my points and having to decide where I want to "spend" (although WW doesn't encourage this view of the points system) them:
1. On 5 oreos
or
2. Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with a side salad.
What would YOU do?
Ack! Tomorrow will be the first weight, we'll see what happens. Regardless, discipline in my eating habits will hopefully generalize to my exercise habits and spiritual habits. I've already experienced the satisfaction of what self-control can bring and I look forward to pushing myself to establishing more healthy, earth healthy habits in the near future (i.e. joining a co-op for food). Your body is a temple, right? So let's treat it like one....I mean, we only get one - so be good to it!
