Walk with the Spirit

Sometimes starting something new is hard. I don't know about you, but I am a creature of habit. Routines rule my life and bring me a lot of comfort. New programs mean new routines....new habits. Ugh. Where and how to start? Those thoughts alone can put a kabosh on an well-laid intentions.

To be completely honest, even as a a member of this class that is the Start Up Team for our Walk with the Spirit program, it has been hard for me to take the First Step. Last week was Spring break, and even all my "old" routines went out the window. I probably earned "negative" miles for our journey to Rough Rock! You can tell how difficult the first step has been for me just by the mere fact that I haven't written in this blog since its beginning!!

Then, come Sunday. To have Rick stand up in front of the entire congregation and admit that he has already completed 27 miles (!) toward our Journey, that really gave me a swift kick. I need to get my act in gear and get moving! What would I miss out on if I allowed Rick to walk to Rough Rock all by himself? There is no knowing what was missed if I never take the first step and at least give the journey a taste.

Faith is a lot like that. To all who have never tasted the Lord and found out that life with Him really is beyond good, have no comparison to make. Bread from the grocery store can taste pretty good. We may even declare it to be the best we have ever had. Yet, when we take a taste of fresh-baked bread made with premium ingredients and mixed with love.....WOW! Would we want to go back to store-bought? No. Way. If each person on earth would allow themselves to take that first bite of faith, they would never go back. But until they take the first bite, they'll never know what they're missing.

So, are you ready to take the first step? Getting my kids back in school, and back into routine, helped me get back in gear with the healthy things I had already been doing before we started our Walk. For me, that is my first step. My next step? Find new ways to, in essence, go the "extra" mile in my life. I am currently looking into ways to eat better, maybe even pick up a new skill, and even sharpen my brain with some new books to read.

This is where it gets difficult though. Good intentions are easy to write about. It is carrying it out that I find difficult. As a busy mom, to add one more thing to my schedule seems daunting. At the end of the day, I don't want to do one more thing....I want to rest. Yet, am I missing out on some hidden blessing in taking an extra step on my Walk with Jesus? In writing out my weaknesses, I am forcing myself into accountability with you. I don't want to be asked on Sunday if I failed to take the first step. I don't want to miss out on the possible blessing that God has for me, waiting just around the corner.

What is your blessing? What is keeping you from taking your first step? Let's share the load and spur each other on. Do you have any great ideas to share? Do you have a great book that has encouraged you? Have you sat in on a great financial class that has encouraged you to make a change? Come, share the Walk with us.

There's a blessing waiting for you....just around the corner. Go ahead...take the first step!

Baring my heart for Jesus....for you....for myself.....
Christine

Posted in: on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at at 11:12 AM 0 comments  

Welcome to the first blog of Sherwood Friends Church!!

We thank you for your interest in joining our Walk with the Spirit program. Whether you walk with us physically, spiritually, mentally, or fiscally, our prayer is that in which ever form you choose to walk, you will find a better way....a better way to live, to love, to commune, and to worship.

So....what is Walk with the Spirit? How did it come about? What does it mean for me? What am I suppose to do? What is our common goal? I can imagine that these are all some of the questions you may be experiencing as we present this new ministry option. I will attempt to answer many of these questions in the hope that it will inspire you to join with us on The Walk.

What is Walk with the Spirit?

Walk with the Spirit is a program that is designed to improve community, improve our health, and improve our connection with Jesus Christ. As we "walk" together through personal physical activity, building our spiritual muscles, streamlining our fiscal health, and sharping our mental capabilities, we will be "walking" to our local Mission points. Through this, we hope that we will not only get in touch with our bodies, souls, and minds, but we will be more in touch with what is happening in our church family and the greater community of Northwest Yearly Meeting missions. We will earn "miles" through exercising, healthy eating, improved devotional activity, social interactions, and mental activities. How much more fun this will be when we walk the journey together!

How did Walk with the Spirit Come About?

Walk with the Spirit is a program that rose out of the book, Body Talk by Ingrid Friesen Moser. Our Sunday school class, led by Rick and Kristin Reid, developed a vision for a program that would serve along many facets. We wanted this vision to reflect the basic foundation of the book that said: "As stewards of God's gifts, and certainly one of those gifts is our health, we are consciously choosing a different path--a path where we have a responsibility and opportunity to show gratitude to God and to make choices about living that reflect our faith."

What does this mean for me?

The answers to this question are limitless....or limited only by you. We are providing an opportunity to join forces in improving many areas of the overall health of our church and the individuals who make up the whole. As we walk together through the many paths of our overall health, the strength and unity of our church will explode! We will have a common goal. We will be encouraging each other to go just a step further, to love a little more, to praise God for another day, another hour, another moment. I see a church opened to God, to others, to themselves in a whole new way. Are you willing to be stretched, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Join Us!!

What is the goal of Walk with the Spirit?

Our goal is that through improving our spiritual, physical, and mental health we will improve our sense of communty within Sherwood Friends Church and our sense of awareness of our NWYM Missions programs that stretch all over the globe.

What am I suppose to do?

In joining Walk with the Spirit, we are asking you to make a commitment to walk with us to our first mission point, Rough Rock, Arizona. (Were you aware that there is a mission point in Arizona?) The ways in which we actually "walk" the miles to Rough Rock (roughly 1217 miles!!) are going to be many. We will offer a variety of ways in which you can walk. We will walk through physical exercise, through mental achievement, through spiritual endeavors. Each area of our "health" will have the ability to get us a step closer to our destination. When you join the Walk, we ask that you track your miles through the sheets provided and then turn these into the office. As we log in those miles, we will have a map posted how much we walked each week. We will also present information that will encourage you and inform you all along the way. It would take one person a long time to walk all the way to Rough Rock....but together...maybe we could take on the world!

I know that this first post doesn't even begin to touch the surface of all that Walk with the Spirit will entail. It is a program in process, but it will be a lot of fun to figure it all out as we walk together! Check back on this blog often. Our hope is that we will have posts that will encourage you in all the aspects we have mentioned before. Feel free to claim this blog as your own. If you want to report your progress through the comments....comment away. If God speaks to you in a unique way during the week....add your thoughts through the comments. Let us reach out to each other and encourage each other as we walk together to improve ourselves to the glory of God.

Posted in: on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at at 1:38 PM 1 comments