Category Archives: The Bridge Church

Your Dog and My Run

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I want to say that I’m pretty excited and proud of myself. I was given the highest compliment that anyone can bestow upon a Proverbs 31 lady of God. I was told that I display none of the typical mid western bloat/swell and that I look like I’m from the west coast. I only had to run 530 days in a row to warrant such a compliment, so it’s a pretty big deal.

I frequently encounter wildlife on my outdoor runs. Between the deer population, wild turkeys, and Canada Geese, I have my fill of beauty to behold and pests to ignore. Bugs, snakes, worms, and birds all fill my day. To be honest, this was shocking to me at first because I live in a metro area not the country. Jonathan has even been attacked by a pack of turkeys one block from my highly populated neighborhood.

Even an avid pet lover could fill with disdain if they frequently worked out outside. I promise you every pet owner thinks that their pet is the cutest and most friendly little thing in the world. Today I encountered not one, not two, but three unleashed dogs. All three owners were grinning from ear to ear as they strolled down the sidewalk with their pet untethered at their side. One of the dogs nipped at my ankle for an entire quarter-mile while their owner stood, unmoving, in the driveway simultaneously grinning and yelling at me about how their dog is just having fun and means no harm. I had to literally stop, turn around, and run that dog back to its owner (.25 miles back and then .25 back to where I was to start with) just to be told that my running was the cause of the situation. I will tell you that as someone who is definitely not an animal lover and, is in fact apathetic about pets, somebody on their daily exercise routine is not at fault for making your animal run. They are animals. That is what they do. They may be cute. They may be trained, but deep down inside they are wildlife and should not be allowed to roam untethered and free while you stand totally still laughing about it. If this was still 1990 you may have been the unwilling star of “Animal Attacks” on Fox.

This has been a public service announcement. No animals or humans were harmed during the recreation of this event for your consumption. My God promises me that the lion will lay next to the lamb, because if not, I don’t want to take a victory lap on that side of glory.

Today was day 530 of my Run Streak and an absolutely gorgeous, sunny 7 mile run ended with a 1 mile walk. I read in Hal Higdon’s book that adding a walk to the end of every medium to long run will help you avoid injury. I read that book when I could hardly even move because I was suffering from Achilles Tendonitis. My expert opinion is that this works. It just gives your muscles and body a chance to cool down and process all the blood and oxygen through the system and gives you a minute to return to normalcy. You only need to walk .25 miles at the end of a medium to long run to see the benefits. I swear by it. In fact, when the weather is decent, I will gladly run 14 miles just to be able to stroll 1 mile at the end of it. I love to walk and it is usually during this .25-1.5 mile walk that I have my deepest and most amazing thoughts of every day.

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I found this drawing and couldn’t help but display it prominently. It means as much to me as Reese receiving a graduate degree from Harvard would mean. The amazing intellect and good taste that Reese displays with his word choice is uncanny.That’s a boy that knows what is important. He has his priorities straight.

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Reese and Gentry chilling on a Saturday afternoon. I definitely think Gentry has a career in fashion design. Look at the amazing outfit he chose and his color blocking skills.

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This is a nice lady that I saw while out today. It may be difficult to see, but she is wearing a full blown surgical mask. Unless there is a new style trend that I’m not aware of, I’m thinking that if you have this large of a germ phobia, a kids play area is not the place to hang out. Play places are the giant bacterial petri dish of God’s science lab

Reese taking a break during extreme dodge ball at Karate this morning.

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In closing, Saturday nights always give me a rush of excitement and adrenaline. Not only can I never sleep because I know the hope and potential of every service, but I can’t wait to get to The Bridge Church and hear this hottie preach tomorrow! Not only is he an amazing pastor, but he is easy on the eyes.

Is there a night of the week that you can’t sleep? Why?

What is on the docket for your dinner tonight?

I am back to clean eating today, sorry to disappoint all of my fans who thought for a moment they could be eating french fries, giant sandwiches, cake, restaurant food, and all of the other random things I’ve blogged about and be able to maintain a fit, healthy body. Remember, I’m a daily work in progress. I will never gain the 55 pounds back that I lost and that takes focus, dedication, commitment, and throwing away all clothes that give you room to breathe. Knowing I will have no skirts to put on for church tomorrow if I have one more bad eating day motivates me to put a stop to the birthday week celebration train! One day a week where you indulge, and one weekend or week here and there will not kill you, it is the daily and overall habits and choices that will.

Citizen of the Year

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WARNING: Daily Bible Reading, Renewing of the Mind, Fresh Air, and Exercise Induced Endorphins will lead to Joy, a continuous state of happiness, and overall contentment regardless of the circumstances!

So I weighed today (and truthfully everyday)….I’m happy to report I am only up 2 lbs from all of the festivities and at least 1 of those 2 lbs can be attributed to the much higher than average sodium I’ve been consuming. I normally really do eat clean and at home. I’m not making that up, and because of that, eating out and eating salty/processed food really reeks havoc on me.

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This morning I woke up pretty pumped so I decided to throw an immediate party with several of my best friends. I invited Claritin, Chobani, Mrs. Banana, an entire pot of coffee, sunshine, my Garmin Watch, a hug from all 3 of my men, and a sunny outdoor 8 mile run/1.5 mile walk into my life and started the party early. The extreme pleasure evident from the above photograph has less to do with my pot of coffee, and infinitely more to do with the fact that I was able to run outside today. My 8 mile run today felt easier and was done at a faster pace than my miserable 4 mile run yesterday. While I only averaged 9:28/mile, I am in taper mode, which means taking it easy and no speed work, so I deemed the run a great success. My favorite part was the walk at the end of the 8 miles though. It gave me ample time to breathe pollen deep into my lungs and enjoy the side effects of a freshly mowed lawn on my eyes and nose.

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Below: Peace, Love, and Donuts (Sounds like very good philosophical advice)

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My clean eating is going super well. Between last night’s community event (more on that below) and my post run work lunch dates, I am managing to keep my calorie consumption well below the 9,000 calorie a day mark. I count this a great success on a birthday week.  The best Gyro you will ever eat is at a little hole in the wall in Lakewood, Ohio called the Greek Village. Their Chicken Gyro and Fries will definitely change your life. I definitely need to make a stop there this week in order to celebrate God’s goodness and another year of life. (At what point does the week long birthday celebration turn into gluttonous excess? I really don’t know the answer to this. I am trying hard to find out though and I will report my progress back to you.)

We made a pit stop on the way back at a place we’ve wanted to try at  Kamm’s Corner  called “Peace, Love, and Donuts”. This was a very unique spot with INSANE donuts. Gentry had a dirty worm. Jonathan had a M&M donut, and I couldn’t decide, so I just chose a basic powdered donut. These donuts were amazing. They are made right there on location and are consistently rated best donuts by Cleveland magazine. Everyone that lives in the Cleveland Metro Area should also spend their birthday week exploring local places. It doesn’t take long, and you are completely justified because it is your birthday. Also, be sure to sign up for all the free birthday coupons at all of these places. All of my celebrating has cost me very little $. Don’t let me fool you. I explore and have fun on like $1 a day.

In the middle of all of this goodness and partying and play, I have been doing lots of seeding and leading today. For example, we don’t just visit these places to eat and explore, but we plants seeds of the gospel and invite people to church with us. Today the lady at the Greek Village told me that I was a ray of sunshine and how she was energized by our encounter and how I uplifted her soul. We have invited them to church, in fact, my husband even preached about the amazingness of their Gyro’s, so we are believing that at some point the Seeding, Eating, and Repeating will result in harvest.

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So last night was super fun. We took the boys to karate, watched them name names and take prisoners, and my mom picked them up there from us so that we could network, lead, seed, eat, and repeat. We went to the Citizen of the Year Banquet with 400 or so of our closest friends. The food was predictable banquet style high sodium, high fat, medium taste, maximum bang for your buck, and maximum caloric content. I also ate a bacon wrapped water chestnut ( or 12). This was a first for me. I like water chestnuts and anything involving bacon is always a hit, so I figured it couldn’t really fail as an appetizer item.

In all honesty, it is an honor to live and serve in our community and God did some amazing things at the Citizen of the year Banquet last night. We went to represent the Bridge Church and continue to network with the officials and friends that we have made and be the “Johnny Appleseed’s” of the gospel that we are called to be. You wouldn’t even believe the doors that were opened and the conversations that we had. Great things are in store and God keeps laying bricks onto our foundation: Line upon line….precept upon precept…here a little, there a little. Serving God and living for him is the best. One person said “Every day is a holiday and every meal is a banquet.”We sat next to and dined with the Director of Law and the Director of Finance for the city, as well as with a former citizen of the year. I’m pretty sure that was divine strategy. I also saw my friend, Reese’s best school friend’s mom, who serves on City Council and is up for re-election (friends in high places), the president of the women’s charitable league that I have been serving in, and hung out with the mayor again.

In addition, we dined with Andrew Bernard (Ed Helms) from the Office. We are bonafide celebrities now. His company was very enjoyable and he removed his face tattoo and black tooth to be in our presence.

How involved are you with your community?

Do you see value in investing in people even when you have no guaranteed return?

How much weight do you usually gain the week of your birthday?

I am voting for myself as Citizen of the Year next year. I deserve it because I keep trash out of my front yard and the lawn stays in a moderately pleasing state.

Hail Mary, full of grace……Again!

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Seeding and Leading (Set up at the Bridge Church)

As you can see, it’s been a full year since I’ve “wo-manned” my blog. I have started and stopped blogging consistently on several occasions, but I have  said my obligatory “Hail Mary’s”, I am confessing to you now, and on your part, it is time for the grace to flow, yet again.  I have always valued and enjoyed writing, and I am a prolific reader of numerous blogs. I just can’t in good conscience let the world exist without the deep insights that I have to share with it.

You can read some details in the “About” section, but in summary, my life consists of these components:

SEED. LEAD. RUN. EAT. REPEAT

In the vast resources of my brain, I will share with you all of these segments of my life. Here is my solemn, sacred vow:

1) I will blog consistently (In fact, I pledge to fall into a blog routine and a predictable schedule/habit of blogging that you can follow even if you aren’t on amphetamines. This schedule is going to organically take route and I will keep you informed of it once the voices tell me to.)

2) I will talk about running

3) I will talk about eating

4) I will talk about my family

5) I will talk about people

6) I will talk about God

7) I will talk about leadership

8) I will talk about health

9) I will vigilantly and adamantly contend for the fact that YOU/I are/am Mind, Soul, and Body and NONE of these items operate independently.

10) I will NEVER post pictures about cats with a caption stating affection or in any way claiming they are lovable/cute

I transported in all of my old posts from my old blog. If you are bored, scared, fighting insomnia, intrigued, or otherwise have no life, please feel free to scroll through these blogs and comment on them. You will find evidence of my on again/off again relationship with blogging and my need for public confession about it.

What about you………………..

Have you ever loved something but had trouble staying consistent with it?

Do you have an affinity to post pictures about cats and how adorable you think they are?

"The Preacher’s Wife" Commentary

 “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” Colossians 3:16

There can never be any real opposition between religion and science, for the one is the complement of the other. -Nobel physicist Max Planck 
You can trust the Bible.
 The exquisite order displayed by our scientific understanding of the physical world calls for the divine.–MIT physicist Vera 
 You can trust the Word of God

Due to the fact that the Monday Morning commentary hardly ever actually happens on Monday, I have decided to rename the series, “The Preacher’s Wife” Commentary. The Spirit and purpose of the commentaries will be to share with my blog readers, and thereby journal and remember for myself, my personal synopsis and summary of the things God is doing at the Bridge Church and give a brief overview of my thoughts on the sermon and sermon series. Of course, I am my husband’s (The Lead Pastor of the Bridge Church) biggest cheerleader, so don’t expect to find my commentaries containing any potshots at the choice of sermons or sermon series. I know from first hand experience the hours of prayer and fasting and studying that go into every decision that is made, so I can rest confidently not only as his wife, but first and foremost as a member and servant of The Bridge Church, that our Pastor hears from God. Will everything that happens always be perfect? Absolutely not, but you can rest assured that motives, hearts, and intentions are pure. That is why I love the Bridge Church. It exists to reach those far from God and those who have never known God to bring them into a thriving relationship with Christ and  equip them for service in the kingdom. I am so blessed to be a part of a church that has the great commission as it’s primary mission. Hopefully these commentaries will happen on a weekly basis, however, realistically there will be times when they get buried under a pile of other duties. Regardless though, know that the “Amen” corner and cheer leading section of the Bridge (comprised of me being the captain) is always there to encourage the Pastor and my fellow friends in Christ.

This past Sunday was sermon number 2 in our “40 Days in the Word Series”. This series has been an amazing way to drive all of us into the Word of God, not just for information, but for transformation. Our Pastor has said he feels like our church is going to grow, God is going to perform miracles in every life, and every person that participates is going to reach new levels in God through this campaign. You literally can’t go wrong in your life by adding a daily devotional. So far, there have already been reports of miracles. We have 9 different “DevoGroups” or Devotional Small Groups going during the mid-week where people are coming together to learn how to study the Bible, live on purpose, and put the Word of God into practice. Our church is experimenting with a devotional blog right now to become an asset after this sermon series is over. A church that Loves the Word, Learns the Word, and Lives the Word will be a blessed, growing, thriving epicenter for the glory of Jesus Christ. Sermon 1 was “Building your Life on the Bible” and this past week was “Why can I trust the Bible”.

In a day and age with so many people who don’t believe in God, or who aren’t sure about God, you have to have a reason why you can trust the Bible. It is no longer to be assumed that those raised in American culture have adopted the Bible as a guide. It used to be that everyone believed in God and the Bible even if they didn’t practice it. Today, however, there is little cultural Biblical foundation and, in fact, there are many that proclaim to be Christians that aren’t even sure they can trust the Bible. If they do believe the Bible, they don’t read it or apply it very often. (This makes for an interesting phenomenon known as the “Christian Atheist”- Those that profess there is a God, but live as if there is no God)

Psalm 119:86 tells us “All of your commands can be trusted” (NCV)
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us “All scripture is God-breathed”

Ultimately, you can trust the Bible because it is the Word of God and God is true, but, there are reasons beyond faith and belief in God why you can trust the Bible.

1) It is Historically Accurate- Archeology always confirms the Bible eventually and the Scriptures have been copied with extreme care. Most of the Bible is from eyewitness accounts.

2) It is Scientifically Accurate- The Bible wasn’t given to be a textbook, doesn’t use scientific language, and in fact is always ahead of contemporary views historically. The Bible never gives bad science.

J.Kepler (astronomer) “Science is thinking God’s thoughts after him”

3) It is prophetically accurate- The bible has predicted 1,000’s of events that happened just as God said.

4) It is thematically unified- Out of 66 books by 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years in over a dozen countries on 3 different continents in at least 3 different languages by people from all walks of life, comes one unified message. The Bible makes one book with one main story without contradiction that has survived centuries of attacks.

5) The Bible is confirmed by Jesus- Matthew 5:18

6) The Bible has survived all attacks- The most despised, derided, denied, disputed, dissected, debated, outlawed and destroyed, bestselling book ever!

7) It has transforming power- Nothing can change your life like the Bible (Romans 12:2) (John 8:31-8:32)

You can believe the Bible.

So, this Sunday, you will see me in the “Amen” corner cheering on our Pastor because I know that he uses the Bible as the guide and basis of all he does. You can quote me on that. I am loving this series. Nothing refreshes my soul like spending time in the Word of God.

John 1:1 and John 1:14 are my two favorite scriptures about the Word of God.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.

Give Me Faith

 

Give Me Faith-Elevation Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs5u0j0UUPc&feature=related

I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
To see that You’re shaping my life

Pre-Chorus: 
All I am, I surrender

Chorus:  
Give me faith to trust what you say
 That you’re good and your love is great 
I’m broken inside, I give you my life

Verse 2:
I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you pierce through the dark 
And cleanse every part of me

Bridge:
I may be weakYour spirit strong in meMy flesh may failMy God you never will (repeat)

This week the Bridge Church Band will be doing a new song called “Give me Faith”. This song has literally been circulating through my head, heart, and spirit since the moment I heard it. The chorus and the Bridge are both catchy, and not in a showmanship kind of way. They are not catchy necessarily because of the beats, but because they speak into the places that everyone of us have been. I went to a funeral this week of an amazing man of God that impacted so many lives. His name was Pastor Robert Trapani and one of the main quotes I kept hearing people speak about him was a line from a sermon that he used often during counseling sessions, “Life is not fair, but our God is just.” Listening to those words just further stirred up in my Spirit the meaning of this song.


We can not see what God is doing from His vantage point. Not only are His ways infinitely higher than our ways and His thoughts enormously broader than our thoughts, but He has the advantage of seeing the full picture. He is the “I Am”. Before there was Moses, there was God. He has existed for all of eternity, and therefore has a view that we can’t comprehend. Trust is so hard sometimes, but resting in the knowledge of His all encompassing love and justice gives us hope. My hope is in the name of the Lord where my help comes from. Just like someone in an airplane has a view of our city and the advantage of seeing the planning and layout strategically engineered by teams of people that we can’t see while in a traffic jam, at some point, we trust that the highway we are on, even in bumper to bumper traffic, will lead us home. We know that some sort of city planning committee knew in advance that these jams would occur and planned for them accordingly. I don’t know about you, but I don’t place a huge amount of trust in the efficiency of highway systems all the time, but I do have hope and confidence that I can get from point A to point B anywhere in the United States of America because someone was there before me and planned the route in advance to accommodate my vehicle and a large amount of traffic. If I can place hope and faith in a political system to help direct my vehicle to get where it is going, I surely can trust God to be the engineer, driver, and architect of my life. I may get in some traffic jams a long the way. I may get in some head on collisions, but I have hope, faith, and trust that God will guide me where I’m supposed to go. 


My prayer for you today is the same prayer I have for the Bridge Church Worship experience tomorrow and the same prayer I’ve been sending up over my own life and the life of those in my community and church and that is that  we can all get a transfusion of faith in our lives. We need to be honest with ourselves and others when faith is waning. God isn’t fooled. He created us and knows the limitations of our finite mind and human nature. My prayer over my family is that God will give us a spiritual faith transfusion every day. We need a divine impartation of the mind of God at certain junctures in our lives. Sometimes it’s harder to see clearly than others. It is in those moments, that honesty with God, will catapult you to new levels in him. So, today God, I pray that you can give me the faith to trust what you say. I am weak, but with your Spirit in me, the failures of my flesh can be wiped out because you, God, never fail.


Be blessed today blogosphere!