A lot of people ask me about Nutrition and what I eat to stay in shape, and I tell them…

”I eat at The Beacon 3 times a day, oh… and pizza”.

I’m totally lying.

Put a fork in it

Have you ever looked at your life and realized there was a fork in it? Times were you mad the chose to go dawn one path or the other and clearly they would have two completely different outcomes? Recently a friend reminded me that a year ago was a time in my life that I came to one of those forks.

A dear sweet friend of mine told me about this book that I just “had” to read. She went on and on about it, how wonderful it was, how it would change my life, how it was one of the best books she had ever read in her life. Weeks later…

Sweet friend: Have you gotten Crazy Love yet? It will change your life.
Me: No, but I will.
Weeks later…

Sweet friend: Have you gotten Crazy Love yet? Did you read it?
Me: No, but I will. I promise, this week.
Weeks later…

Sweet friend: Have you gotten Crazy Love yet? What did you think?
Me: No, but I will. I promise, as soon as I get back home.

Finally, I did get Crazy Love and put it to the side on a dresser. Weeks later, as I was packing to go to the lake for a long memorial weekend, I thought ... I may have some time to read this weekend. That weekend I did have time to look at the book, then I began reading it, then I didn’t put it down. I nearly read the whole book that weekend. It was amazing, and it did change my life. That weekend I put a fork in my life. That weekend I made the chose to be obedient to my father ... like crazy.

The first thing God asked me to do was CRAZY, but I felt strongly in my heart that it was something I was going to do. God asked me to start memorizing verses, not only that but to share them with one of my aerobics classes, and not just any class but the biggest class.

Just a little back ground for those of you that don’t really know me: I am an extremely shy person. I am also an extremely tender hearted Christen (since I was like 5). So much so that I cry every time I talk about God or Jesus.

For most people this little memory verse request would be no big deal but for me, it was. But I was so passionate about this that I didn’t really focus on the “Oh my, that’s crazy”.

We started with my favorite verses 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love suffers long
Love is patient
Love is kind;

Love does not envy;
Love does not parade itself;
Love is not puffed up;

Love does not behave rudely,
Love does not seek its own,
Love is not provoked,

Love thinks no evil;
Love does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;

Love bears all things,
Love believes all things,
Love hopes all things,
Love endures all things.

Love never fails.

I had every word planned out perfectly and memorized. It was going to be a piece of cake. We did class (it was packed as always) and it comes time to stretch and do the verse. A burning sensation overwhelmed my esophagus, I begin to say my little speech and … I couldn’t do it. Tears came to my eyes, my throat closed up and I just couldn’t show that vulnerability. On the way home I called a friend how know the whole process and told him what had happened in class. I was so disappointed in myself. He encouraged me to keep trying. That this was something God wanted me to do and that indeed I could do it. I evaluated my little speech and decided I would make it a little shorter hopping that maybe that would make it a little easier for me.

Class day roles around and I felt confident and ready. At the end of class, as we stretched, I take a deep breath, prepared myself and begin to say the verse. Again my throat gets tight, eyes begin to water and I say a little prayer. Really it was more like a plea “Just get me through this God”. I say maybe 3 words and the tears overwhelmed me, again I failed. I call my friend and tell him of my disgust and disappointment. We talk it over, reevaluate and decided that the next week I would just say the verse, no speech, just Gods words. We pray about it right then and there and agree, next week before class we would pray about it again.

Class day roles around for the 3rd attempt, this time I am not so confident. I think I prayed the whole class. At the end of class, as we stretch, I take a deep breath, prepare myself and begin to say the verse. “1 Corinthians 13:4, Love is patient. This week I challenge you to practice being patient.” My throat got tight, eyes begin to water and I said a little plea-prayer. I stopped to instruct stretch changes to help get myself back together a few times but that week I DID IT. I was so proud.

That may have been the scariest, most challenging, testing, trying thing I have ever done. And know we have gone over more than 50 verses; from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 to verses about loving others, to all of Romans 5. A few people have said they think it’s really cool I do the verses, some asked for the reference of the verse that week but most say nothing at all. I can’t say that it has changed any one’s life, that I brought someone to Christ or that I have had the chance to have a deep chatter about God with any of them, but it did change me. My love for God has blossomed in ways I would have never imagined. Since then he has challenged me with more “to-dos” some easy, some not so much and some I’m still working up to. He has also blessed me above beyond what he should.

I’ll miss this class when the day comes that I no longer teach it, but more I’ll miss the chance to say these verses. I may never know if the verses I say in this class make a difference in anyone’s life but I do know that I don’t need to. Trust and obey and he’ll take care of the rest.

Proverbs 14:16-17
The lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Galatians 5:22-23, 25-26
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, Pease, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Matthew 22:36-39
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, That you should love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, That you should love your neighbor as yourself.

1 John 3:11
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

John 15:9-12
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.

Romans 5:1-10
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint is, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ dies for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?

Romans 5:19
For as one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man shall many be made righteous.