Colossians 4:2-6 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
There is a sense of urgency that consumes me. I hear the stories around me everyday… so many wounded, hurting, struggling just to survive. Today I heard someone say that they felt like in order for God to pull them out of their despair they needed to do something more for Him. I know the feeling…
It’s astounding to me that God just wants to love me the way I am. It is hard to explain that to someone… so complicated because the gift is just so simple. How do you explain grace, mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional love to someone when life just hurts so bad? I’m praying for every opportunity…every opportunity to love on the oppressed, the broken, the beat down. I long for the right response. My prayer is that of Paul’s… may they find my words and my life an attractive reflection of God’s love.
My mind is blank… probably from all the energy I exerted working out a second day in a row. Stacy and I went to a spinning class at the Y. I seriously thought I was going to see Jesus by the end of the class. It was crazy! The instructor kept looking over my way and checking on me. She even gave me a little inspirational wink every now and then. I must have looked pretty pathetic.
My sister Cassie wrote a fantastic post on her blog. Check it out here. She wrote about something I’ve definitely felt before but she put it far more eloquently than I could.
So… I went to the gym for a while. I’m exhausted! I really want to make this a habit but I’m praying hard for me to enjoy it at some point! Working out sucks but it is the only way for me to get results. I’m going to go back tomorrow. I’m determined! It’s all or nothing with me so I’m going to have to go all out. I’ll keep an update on my progress!
Due to female cravings I ate like crap yesterday. I feel guilty about it today. I’m going to try go to the Y today and work out for a couple of hours. My husband lays on my tummy like it’s a fluffy pillow… it’s time to do some crunches!
I’m really craving some social time with my C3 ladies lately. I’m thinking breakfast at Morning Glories next Wednesday at 9am… try to come if you can. Let me know so I can see about getting the big room.
I was craving a good night’s sleep after a long Sunday. Church was fantastic and then I had to go straight to work. It was very busy yesterday and I came home exhausted! I have today off so I got that much needed sleep last night. I had been on sleep deficit because of two bad nights in a row. I was not able to fall asleep until after 2 am. I’m pretty chipper today!
I need to go now… if I don’t I’ll never get around to “de-fluffing the pillow!”
When I open I typically get out of work at 6:15. We opened early today so I got out an hour early. It was phenomenal. It’s the little things that make me happy. Since I got out early Darrell and I went for dinner to “Oh Que Bueno!” It is a little Colombian restaurant on Semoran and it is always packed! My family is Colombian so the food is exactly like the stuff my mom and grandma made growing up. It is one of our favorites. I always feel so “gringa” when I walk in though because my spanish leaves much to be desired. I speak fluent spanglish… heavy on the “glish”. I try though. It is authentic Colombian. There are pictures all over the walls of the country. There’s many pictures of my mom’s beautiful home town, Medellin. I want to visit there one day. We really enjoyed the restaurant tonight… it had been a while. The food was awesome… the company even better!
We came home and watched a fantastic movie. Blaine, Stacy and Bryleigh came over and we all watched “Freedom Writers” with Hillary Swank. I cried a lot! We had a great time just chillin’ with the Backs! The movie was awesome… the company even better!
I get to go to C3 in the morning. It’s my favorite place ever! It’s where like minded people come together and connect with God and others. The theater we meet in is awesome… the company even better!
The last two nights were American Idol nights. This is a staple show in the Loper household. I want to put it out there that Darrell and Andrea are routing for David Cook. He’s original, talented, and interesting. It’s always exciting to see what he’ll sing next and how he’ll have it arranged. This was our favorite performance by him so far.
I’ve heard some insane stories lately! In the last two weeks I’ve had numerous friends share with me how God is blessing them through trusting Him with their faith gifts. I have to be honest… I always get a little hesitant when talking about money and tithe in church. Tithing is something I hear a lot of complaints about when it comes to church. It is difficult for a person to grasp why we should give the first ten to God. It is hard to overcome the preconceived notions of money and church when people see kooky christian television personalities badgering for more money as they flip channels. It is also tough when people struggle so much with financial situations. Money is such a day in and day out issue. I’ve been blown away on how God has used a series like “Big and Rich” to facilitate such major life change in people. The tangible and intangible blessings I’ve heard about are mind blowing! Pastor Byron has done an amazing job breaking down the blessings God wants to bestow on us if we just take Him up on the test.
-Story #1- My friend felt like she really needed to trust God in taking the 90 for 90 challenge. She was incredibly nervous. She was going to literally have $2 in her account if she did this… and an empty tank of gas. This is a person who completely NEEDS every dollar she makes. But she opened the door from stepping out of the natural into the supernatural blessing of God. She gave her gift in faith. When she got home she got some mail from her mom. In that mail was a letter from a family member. Her family member had seen some pictures of her online that were taken at C3 day at Moss Park. She felt the need to write my friend, encourage her, and bless her with…. a prepaid gas card! The empty tank that she was so worried about… filled! Later that week at work she was rewarded for a job well done…. with a bonus! Over dinner the other night she shared her excitement about stepping out in faith. She understands that the blessings of God may not always work out the same way every time but she can’t wait to see what else God will do in her life due to her obedience.
-Story #2-I have some friends who just recently started attending C3. I have known her for years. She grew up in a christian home and he hadn’t. He gave his life to Christ before they got married. While her parents raised her to always trust God with the tithe he still struggled with it. He questioned why his in-laws always gave when they had so little themselves. They tried to explain but he just wasn’t ready to hear it. My friend prayed for her husband in this area of their lives. They are a young couple doing the best they can to take care of everything financially. On the first Sunday of “Big and Rich” God did a work in His life. At the end of the message he looked over at His wife and said that they needed to take part in 90 for 90. He understood that he needed to trust God in every area of their lives… including finances. Right after church he went to his in-laws house and thanked them for being such an example of faith in his life. He apologized for his comments in the past and told them that he finally got it. My friend has been blessed with a husband who took the lead in their family and put God first in a crucial area of their lives… something she had been praying for for a long, long time.
-Story #3-I got a telephone call today. It was from my old high school friend that I ran into at C3 a couple of months ago. We went to school in Stuart, FL so it was surreal running into him at church that morning. Darrell and I exchanged telephone numbers with him so we could invite him to a group outing sometime and just keep in touch. We found out that he lived right down the street from us and he didn’t really know a lot of people in the area. We have seen him at church a couple of times since the first week he visited but with vacation and everything else we hadn’t spent any time with him yet outside of church. It was unexpected that he had called me. He called to tell me his story.
That first morning I saw him he was at the end of his rope. He has been a Christ follower for a while but he hadn’t been as diligent about pursuing Christ until he went through some incredibly difficult times in his life. He was in a deep depression and just popped in to check out C3 after getting a mailer. The first person he saw when he came in was me. While on the phone he told me that finances had been overwhelmingly tough lately. He was at church for the first week of the “Big and Rich” series and he really felt like he needed to trust God by living on 90 for 90 because things really couldn’t get much worse. Later that week he got a phone call to go interview for a job in South Florida. He went to the interview and he got the job. He is now working as a personal assistant to a huge celebrity and living in his home. The very first check he got was enough to get him out of the financial hole he was in. He was calling me because he wanted to share this story with Darrell and I. He told me that God placed C3 Church in his life for a very specific reason. He will be living with his boss now full time but will keep his home in Orlando to still be here on occasion. He wants to continue to be a blessing by tithing his 10% to C3. He told me that he will be attending a particular church while in South Florida but he continues to listen to Pastor Byron’s messages online. He feels incredibly connected to C3 due to the lessons God taught him there in his darkest hour. He also sees his new job as an opportunity to continue to bless others around him with generous and extravagant gifts. He is incredibly excited about the influence God has given him in a highly public person’s life as well.
I don’t know if there is really anything more I can add. I have never seen such life change from a financial series in my life! All of us are truly excited about the Financial Learning Experience coming up. It was so cool hearing how excited my friends were about attending this cool program. God is “Big and Rich” and His blessings blow me away! 90 for 90 rules!
It has been a long couple of days. I just got back into town and I’m looking forward to my day off tomorrow. I have so much to say and no energy left in me to say it. I think I need to write a post tomorrow that contains a little substance. Maybe that is how I’ll start my day. Good night.
