Leaf Turnings and Other Things

There are many areas in my life that fall pretty far short of awesome.  Here's one.  Exercise.  I like to exercise.  Do I do it regularly? Nope.  

I can give you a whole laundry list of reasons why not.  But let's be honest.  They're mostly excuses.  I am tired of struggling with the way I feel about the way I look.  Here's a picture from 2001.  I don't want to be THAT skinny again.  A lil too small.  But sitting on my butt and wishing isn't accomplishing anything.  So. 

Off to run.  To turn over a new leaf, again.  This is one area where I get really tired of being me.  I'm gonna post a picture a month.  Not to show off, but to motivate me to work on it.  Dang it.  Goal picture.  The rest will be progress.  Accountability baby.  If you don't care, please don't tune in. 

Monday on a Tuesday

It started with getting up at 6 am.  As the crack of dawn streamed into my slitted eyes, I made my way to the studio with a back seat full of treats for this morning's networking meeting.  In the parking lot I pulled my Coke Zero out with one hand and the bags with the other...only to drop the Coke.  It fell gloriously, spraying itself in abandon all over my car and me.   Having safely deposited the rest of the treats on the table upstairs I realized that I had forgotten to get coffee.  30 grumpy people were about to descend on me and no coffee might in fact be a riot situation.  The White Hart, thank the good Lord, was open.  I looked the barista straight in the eye and asked for coffee to go for 20 people.  He looked at me blankly.  I repeated myself.  He looked at me blankly again and shuffled over toward the coffee makers.  Finding what he was looking for, he held out a fantastic. single. 20 oz cup.

So I slowed it down.

Coffee.  To go.  20 PEOPLE.

Pretty sure Monday made a return visit today.

Offensive Crosses

It's so slightly creepy when God converges themes in your life all at once.  It feels a little like the twilight zone.  I've been doing a small group study with Jen and Joanna and we were going over Galations 5.  Add to that separate conversations with different friends all going through some clash between grace and law, and a baby Jesus follower growing in leaps with no obstacles in her path just yet....and you have a soundtrack for mystery and magic. ;)

So many good things in Galations 5, but the one that stood out to me was that the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love.  How do we miss that as Christians, 80 percent of the time?  And the other one was that the cross is offensive to us.  Paul says it is.  It offends us because it tears away the illusion we can be our own bosses on a righteous pedastal.  Whether that means rejecting Christ, or adding him to our lives but standing firmly on our own holy definitions.  Whatever they might be.

Galations 5 is basically a rant against pride.  When you get right down to it.

Praying for my baby Jesus follower that she will have some growing time free of the twisted Christianity that adds rules to grace.

Amen.