Archive for January, 2007

Five Pounds

This week I uncovered a lie that Satan has been trying to feed me. The reason I want to share it is because I think it’s a common one that he uses on women. It’s simply that “You’re too far-gone.”

As you probably know by now, I had a baby last February. The Lord blessed me with the ability to lose the weight by last summer. I went to aerobics twice a week and did a lot of swinging, bouncing, and carrying my hefty little boy in my arms. I felt great. Then at the end of September my favorite step aerobics instructor left my gym and was replaced by someone else. I was really bummed and didn’t want to go anymore. On top of that, Jackson began sitting up and crawling around that time and he didn’t require as much swinging, bouncing, and carrying. I should also add that my husband and I are far from being healthy eaters. So by Christmas I had invited 5 pounds back into my life. It was not a welcome guest.

So I asked myself, “Do I fight for my figure or just accept that I’m going to be heavier now than before?” Well, I didn’t want to accept it, but I felt so bad about it that I almost couldn’t do anything. Except enjoy more french fries. I could sense the enemy trying to convince me that it was too late and I was too far-gone to get back in shape. Looking back now…are you kidding me? After 5 pounds? Yes, he was kidding me. And it was a cruel joke.

As soon as we got back home from our vacation, Curt and I bought some Lean Cuisine meals to resort to whenever we knew we weren’t going to cook. McDonald’s has always been our back up. We’ve only been home a week and I can already see a difference. (I know. We ate there a lot.) I went to my aerobics class twice this week and realized I didn’t mind the new instructor that much. And I am not too far gone! And I can still do it! And it actually makes me feel really good – mentally and physically – to exercise! The flaming arrows are not sinking in anymore.

Ladies, Satan is such a liar. If he’s telling you that you can’t do something, that you’re too far-gone, or that it’s too late for you, please call him out on it. If we decide to stay in whatever shape or situation he wants us to remain in, will he let us be happy there? Absolutely not! He will shame us mercilessly.

What are your “five pounds”? Whether they are an addiction, a bad relationship, or 50 unwanted pounds, know that God has made us strong, smart, wise women with gumption and we do not have to take “You’re too far-gone” from the father of lies. The Father of Victory and Power will equip us to get our lives back in order for His glory.

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Your Comments

You guys are such a blast. Thanks for the fun shout-outs to that last entry. May Christ show up in a very unexpected and delightful way in your lives today. He is everything. YOU CAN TRUST HIM. Love you!

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Interaction

I’ve got to tell you guys something. God has done an amazing thing through this ridiculous blob. (please see story below) He is blessing me with CONNECTION! You have no idea how huge this is. My biggest battle with the growth of the ministry in the last five years has been the isolation it caused. Many of the events grew too large to even make eye contact with numbers of people in the audience and I certainly could no longer hang around afterwards and hug people’s necks like I used to. My prayer is that God is greatly glorified by more and more women seeking Him through His Word. I want His goals reached. Not mine. At the same time, I am a dyed-in-the-wool people person and the growth left a vacuum. My worst nightmare is to lose touch with real people with real lives and real stories and a VERY REAL GOD. They incite a Spirit-riot in me that I love and NEED. Many of the letters that come in our official correspondence here at the ministry are too long for me to get to handle and my precious, capable staff has to help me but I can handle these one-paragraph-long notes of yours. (Let’s try to keep them fairly concise so I can keep up! Please!) I can also respond generally instead of writing each one back. These entries only take me a few minutes so I can still tend to what God has called me to do. Meanwhile, this little form of interaction back and forth has come as the most amazing, unexpected gift. Amanda, I cannot thank you enough for giving me the courage to do this by promising you’d do it with me so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. I am so filled with joy, I could dance. Thanks, partner.

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Sunny and Simulcasts

You guys are so wonderful. I could not believe how sweetly you responded to my worries about Sunny. Even those of you who weren’t dog freaks! Now, that’s true sisterhood! No doubt due to your prayers (I actually didn’t have the guts to outright ask for them), that little dickens rallied a tad. (God probably responded most to the prayers of the sister who said she had never prayed for a dog before. You guys have no idea the kinds of things we’re asked to pray about at LPM. And we do, grinning ear to ear at times.) Sunny smiled so much yesterday and today that she nearly looked like a cartoon character. Then, when I threw on my walking shoes this morning, she danced around to show me she wanted to go. The vet won’t let us take her on our three mile walks anymore because of her arthritis so I took her on a pseudo-walk for only about five minutes. The weather was so beautiful in Houston today that I also stayed home to write from my back porch so you can imagine she was in dog-heaven. Beanie, our birddog, came home today with Keith after both of them had been at the hunting lease for a week. Our young girl always helps bring our old girl back to life. Honestly, Sisters, I wasn’t just overreacting. Sunny has been so lethargic and out of character that I thought I was going to find her lifeless every time I looked for her. I think maybe she’s back for a while. I’ll keep you posted (if you can handle it.) Thanks for humoring me with my dog loves.

And about the simulcast in February, I am so thrilled to hear from some of you who are going to participate! I do not take lightly the opportunity to serve you. Amanda helped me decide on Green Acres Baptist in Tyler, Texas for the location. We had a list of big cities the publisher had given us to choose from with all these familiar big-name churches (many of which I love dearly). Amanda and I scrolled down the list where we found some of the smaller locations, and she said, “How can we resist Tyler, Texas?” And I said, “We can’t.” Anyway, let me tell you something, Sisters. Towns like Tyler, Conroe, Eagle Lake, Wharton, and Victoria supported this ministry with invitations for all manner of luncheon and banquet for a mighty long time when nobody else could stand to hear such a thick accent. It’s only fitting that God would sustain a very soft spot in my heart for Texas towns and tug me back to my roots. This is where I started and I have little doubt this is where I’ll finish out. No matter where you call home, however, I am looking so forward to serving any of you at the simulcast. Travis Cottrell, our dear friend and co-laborer in the Gospel, will lead the music so you will undoubtedly be blessed by him. That’s enough for now! I am enjoying our blog relationship! (Which reminds me, one of our LPM staff members responded to something funny that happened the other day by saying, “Beth, you need to put that on our blob!” As serious as a heart attack. We died. Suffice it to say, this mode of communication is new to some of us.)

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Simulcast

I’m so happy that my mom has outnumbered me in posts! She’s really getting into blogging!

Here are some pictures from Passion ’07. These are from Sarah K., who is a student at the University of Arkansas, a member of the yellow community group, and a lover of Jesus! Thanks, Sarah!

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My Best Buddy

I am so worried right now. My beloved Sunny, the mixed-breed dog that showed up on my porch many years ago and became my shadow and my best friend, is not doing well. She is fifteen years old now, has failing hearing and some failing sight, and arthritis in her back legs. We’ve had her to the vet a number of times and we’re doing all we can to make her comfortable and to extend her days. Of course, like all creatures, the course of her days is in her Creator’s hands. I just know He loves this little furry servant He sent to us years ago when I was so lonely I didn’t know what to do.

She has been indescribable company to me while my lively home has grown quieter and quieter with each sparrow that has flown from the nest. Sunny, whose coal black fur is now salt and pepper gray, is getting very old and I’ll be honest with you. I can hardly stand the thought of not having her. (I can hardly see through my tears to write.) She is so attached to me right now that if I walk out the front door or even leave the room and she awakens from a nap and doesn’t see me, she hops up and cries, looking around frantically. Many years ago, some of the neighbor boys used to make fun of her because she’s such a mutt. They’d mock, “What kind of dog is she anyway?” And one of our kids would always answer, “A guard dog!” And that she is. She’s been what Keith and I always call our “trusty dog.” When I wake up, she’s right on the floor next to my side of the bed. When I come home in the afternoon, she’s waiting on the front porch. When I’m out of town, Keith has to pick her up and carry her in the house because she doesn’t want to go in until I’m home.

I know that so many people have far worse pain and far more debilitating troubles. I prayed for a number of them in my prayer time a little while ago. But the prospect of losing a pet that has been such a fixture in the family for so long is still painful in its own right. This morning I let her out in the front yard to roam a bit like she likes and, refreshingly, I watched her prance around almost youthfully. As is her usual routine, she then headed down toward the end of the street to visit her dog friends. A funny thought occurred to me as I watched her make a bee-line their direction. Sunny is probably going to say all these same things to her dog buddies about me.

Sunny and Beth in 1998

Sunny being her most patient self as baby Jackson plays with her fur

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Back to Work

Hey, my sweet sisters! I’ve just hit my desk after two and a half weeks away from the office. Our holidays were extended so Keith, Melissa, Amanda, Curt, Jackson, and I could participate in Passion ’07, a huge, life changing event for college students that was held in Atlanta, Georgia. 23,000 college kids from every state in the U.S. and at least ten other nations hit the city on New Year’s Day and sought God, worshipped their hearts out, and poured over Scripture from early morning until late at night until the afternoon of January 4th. The entire family was involved in one way or another. Curt, my favorite young preacher, has been a community leader at the event for several years and Amanda and Melissa help me in a number of ways. Among other things, this year they participated in a question and answer session I got to do with the college girls in several breakout sessions. They sifted through a large number of questions then asked them from the platform and helped me answer a few. It was a blast to work beside them in that capacity. Jackson provided non-stop entertainment to everyone he encountered. He flirted with everyone he saw and adored anyone who would let him chew on their cell phones. (Mainly me. His mother is picky about whose cell phone he is allowed to gnaw.) Keith was all over the place lending a hand wherever he was needed. I was so glad he was there. He’s one of those who thinks an ounce of pretention is worth a pound of cow manure so he keeps everybody honest.

Louie and Shelley Giglio, founders of Choice Ministies as well as Passion Conferences, are personal friends of ours and we’ve been watching this movement swell into a tidal wave since our first participation in 1998. For those of us who have done the conferences together for years, we also enjoy a family reunion. We get to meet back up with friends like Chris Tomlin and his band members, all of whom we dearly love and I actively mother whenever I feel the need. We also look so forward to getting to see what God is doing in the UK based on Matt Redmon’s annual update to us. We are crazy about Charlie Hall (as a person and not just a worship leader) and who wouldn’t be nuts about David Crowder? (His parents are some of the most wonderful people you’ve ever met.) If you’ve never had the occasion to meet any of those worship leaders personally, you’d be so pleased to see their personal integrity and warmth and the blatant reality of their own pursuits of Christ. I can tell you one thing about Louie and Shelley. They don’t think much of fakes or of personalities just looking for a platform. Big egos are big no-nos. You would approve of the humility practiced there by people who the world would welcome to be completely full of themselves. They are each the real thing. As my husband Keith says, Texans can smell a varmint from a mile away.

Dr. John Piper brought a message that I don’t think I’ll ever forget on not letting guilt destroy your God-given dream of engaging in what God is doing in your generation. (I think most of the sessions are available by podcast and some by webcast on the official Passion website.) I got to hear Francis Chan for the first time. He is a fabulous communicator who pastors a thriving church in California with multiple plants elsewhere. He called students to not just love the Word of God because of the human instrument delivering it but to love God’s words because they are HIS. I could have “Amened!” myself off the balcony. What God did among the students, however, was the unparalleled highlight. They brought such sincere heart-worship to the throne of God and studied the Word tirelessly in multiple sessions. Their unashamed proclamations of Jesus Christ reverberated throughout Atlanta. They gave titanic offerings…to see Bibles translated for the very first time in the languages of two people groups…to see a number of world mission organizations thrive…to lend relief in some areas of tremendous need. They also committed to the hard work of intercession for various missions for the next year. Refreshingly, their sacrifices came as a response to opportunity and not pressure. Literally thousands surrendered to be available to God to go to any nation at any time upon His call. It was stunning. I won’t usually write this profusely on the blog but my heart was so full because of all I’ve seen that I couldn’t hold it in. With such dismal things on the world horizon, I saw the God of Hope in spectacular glory this week. As surely as Scripture has promised, depravity of man and persecution of Christians will increase as the day of Christ draws near but it also promised that glorious things will happen through the outpouring of His Spirit in the last days. I marveled over what might happen throughout the nations in the name of Christ over the next decade because 23,000 college students gathered in the State of Georgia this week. I wanted to share the experience with you in hopes that somehow you could get a little glimpse, too. You and I inhabit Planet Earth at a time when God is in the process of fulfilling monumental Bible prophecies. Lord, give us eyes to see! “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

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