God's Work Out

Does anyone else have a problem with saying twenty-eleven? My husband corrected me when I said two thousand eleven. Whatever you call it, for some of us it is New Year's Resolution time. I haven't made any, but last September I started working out. I took my husband with me so I didn't break anything or hurt myself.
It wasn't as bad as I imagined but I made my husband try everything first so I didn't look like an idiot getting on or off or setting the machines. It went pretty well except I almost slipped off one deal where you had to lie on your stomach and with my slicky pants, it wasn't working.
Then there was one machine I only have ever seen Marines work out on. But there it was. In our gym. I mean, people older than my parents exercise there. So I tried it. It's the one where you sit and reach up and pull the trapeze thingy down. I told my husband to stay next to me. He didn't of course and the next thing I knew, I was airborne. I didn't want to scream but I am a little scared of heights. My hubby rescued me of course like he often times does. He's always watching, just from a distance.
I keep going about two times a week and try to make it three. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What I find remarkable is the devotion some of these people have to well, basically killing themselves. And, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.
What if we all had the same devotion to our prayer life? Or reading our Bibles? Or keeping up with our Bible studies? Or going to church regularly? Or trusting God more and more and more? Now there's a New Year's Resolution we could all sink our teeth into!

God's New Year

Is Christmas really over? Did we really keep our hearts in the right place? Admist the running, shopping, wrapping and baking? Did we really remember our Lord and Savior's birthday? In our own ways I think we did. Maybe it wasn't God's way but hopefully it came close.
And now, here we are in another New Year. As our pastor mentioned, some of us may be glad to see 2010 go. Others may be sad to see it end worrying about the next year and what is to come. With God's peace, our pastor reminded, we have all good things. I've had that peace at times but sadly, let it go more times than I'd like to count.
It's in our human nature to try to run things ourselves. Sure, we can take on another committee. Sure, we can juggle five more activities. Sure, we can. I'm sure about only one thing. We can count on God to let us know when and if we really can. He's going to point us in the direction we should go. And we may never see His plan(s) for us coming.
With God at the healm, we have peace. Everything falls into place for us. We say "no" when we should and "yes" when we can. We don't have those early morning anxiety attacks we've gotten so used to. The acid in our stomachs doesn't rise to unwavering levels of taste testing. We may still worry some but God's simple reminder is a good one: the peace that passes all understanding. Look into it, it's an awesome gift to open any time of the year.