Do I stink?

This was part of a blog that I actually wrote to "my girls" when I was in fulltime Student Ministry in Rome. I ran across it tonight and thought I'd share. I needed this reminder today to let my life be a little more smelly! :) Maybe you can use the reminder too!

Do you ever wonder sometimes if you smell bad and maybe you ask a really, really close friend, "hey, do I stink?" Crazy is the friend who actually gets close enough to smell! (but a good friend in deed!) We've all been there and done that, and thankfully, we have those friends that are willing to use the power of their noses on our behalf.The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:15 that as Christians we produce an aroma. "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life." Let me explain this verse a little better for you. When we choose to share the news of Jesus, it's good news to some and bad or "stinky" news to others. To other Christians, the smell is sweet. To non-believers, we probably stink.

I've decided that in a spiritual sense, if I stink to non-believers, then I'm probably doing my job as a Christian as far as sharing Christ with others goes. This is not a "stink" like "I need to take a shower" stink. What Paul is saying here, is that if we are sharing our faith like God calls us to, non-believers are going to eventually being smelling the smell of death. And in this particular scripture, death means hell, or life without God. So the stink that non-believers smell is their own death. Non-believers have to recognize their need for Jesus before they will accept Him. You and I as Christians will be the ones to show them this need by telling them with our words and with our actions. We may smell really bad to them for a while - but that's the point! When something smells repulsive, you are going to try your best to get rid of the smell! Once non-believers realize that this smell can only become sweet is by having Jesus in their lives, our "stink" to them was all worth it! Maybe some of you are in that place where you have got to take care of that stinch, and now you know the only way to do that is by having Jesus in your life. If that's the case, please find out how you can do that! Contact me and I would LOVE to walk you though that. For those of you that are believers, do you stink? 'Cause you should to some people!

Have a good day!
Mere

Weekend Fun!

I'm so thankful for weekends! This one was much needed seeing that work is insanely busy right now at the good 'ole Allergy and Asthma Clinic (tis the season!). My family hosted a baby shower for my sweet cousin Stacey yesterday afternoon. We had a great turn out and she was showered with much love and lots of sweet gifts for baby girl to be! (they're keeping the name a secret!) Continue to pray for Stacey and Baby Girl. They had a little scare at the beginning of Stacey's pregnancy, fearing that the baby was going to come WAY too soon. With surgery and total bedrest, Stacey is still pregnant and due in June. God is so good and I was so thankful to hear yesterday that the doctors think the baby weighs approximately 4.5 pounds now! I have been so reminded of Psalm 139 this weekend - being reminded of my Creator, of His sovereignty and of His tender care in forming each one of us.

I had a fun night last night with my friends Chad and Heidi, their two crazy-fun children Alex and Olivia, and my new friend Jonathan. Heidi is working her "matchmaking skills". She's definitely got "skill"...there's no question about that. :) Time will tell if "matchmaking" is a calling for her! (Thanks Chic!) I got some much needed rest today, spent some sweet time with the Lord, and just had some time to think over a lot of what's going on in life right now! I needed that! I finally feel ready for a new week. Hope you all have a good one!

Sweetness...

We had a baby shower yesterday afternoon for my cousin Stacey and I just couldn't help but share these pictures of the sweetest little baby boy in the world...my nephew, of course! I'm amazed at how quickly Luke is growing and how he continues to capture my heart more and more each time I'm with him. He has such a sweet spirit about him and truly is such a joy to be around. I can't get enough of him! I'm so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this precious little boy. He's still working on saying "Aunt Meredith"...but it's coming...I just know it!
Is that not the cutest little "toothy smile" ever?!?

Gotta Get It!

I'm a big music fan and once again, I've found a CD that has yet to make it out of my car's CD player since the day I purchased it about oh...a month ago! You know that's some good music when you can tolerate the songs over and over again for that long. Steve Fee...Burn For You
I like it....a lot!

Much needed reminder today...

...God can be trusted. (with ALL things!)

Meredith's Get Fit Journey - Take 3...Wimpy Weights!

I cannot tell a lie! This has certainly been one of the tougher weeks I've had in my "get fit journey". It's not necessarily been a bad week, just a tough one. We always find reasons to celebrate at work...birthdays, work anniversaries, you name it - we'll bring in a cake! So, needless to say, this was a week of many celebrations and lots of really bad food. I didn't go over my daily points, but I still ate lots of things that just made me feel "gross" yet somehow tasted so yummO at the time. I have had some really good workouts the past few days though and am back on track! I've been using my weights more often and am really beginning to notice a difference. I usually only use them in a workout video that I do at times if I can't get outside, but I've been taking them with me when I go on my walks/jogs, and enjoy it. I call them my "wimpy weights" because as you can see, they're only 2 pounders. But hey, something's better than nothing, right? I did a little reading on the benefits of lifting weights and here's the top ten reasons from one website I ran across: 1)Weight lifting helps lose fat. 2)You feel strong and fit. 3)You have more energy. 4)You'll finally see the results. 5)You won't get bored. 6)You have a stonger back. 7)You can train at home. 8)You can get rid of pain. 9)You have everyday, functional strength. 10)You build stronger bones. So, there ya have it! Oh, and an update from my last GFJ post...jumping rope is INSANE! When I was a kid, I could've jumped until the cows came home. As an adult, those cows ain't never gonna make it home! :) My advice for this GFJ post...set small, realistic goals that don't sound or look completely overwhelming. For instance, my first weight loss goal was 15 pounds, then 30, then 50, etc. Sure, I have an end goal in mind, but making smaller goals along the way has been so helpful for me personally. And not to mention that I get to reward myself each time I reach one of these smaller goals! My reward for my next goal of 75 pounds...pedicure with the girls! Hang in there and have a super week!

"I Can't Breathe..."

I can't tell you how many times over the past few weeks I've heard that statement..."I can't breathe...". Being that I work in an Allergy and Asthma Clinic, it's a statement that doesn't catch me off gaurd...especially this time of year when the pollen is so bad and the weather is so unpredictable. Our poor asthmatic patients have it pretty rough this time of year. I was tending to a sweet ederly man yesterday morning - a man who truly should have probably been at the hospital instead of our office because he was struggling so. It was one of those situations where I could literally feel myself start to have a harder time breathing just from watching him try so hard to get a good deep breath of air. As I was preparing his second breathing treatment with the hopes of seeing some reversibility, the Lord spoke to me. You see, I often have a hard time remembering what it was like to not have Christ in my life. I accepted him at the age of 7, so He's been hanging out in my heart for quite some time. I find myself at times asking the Lord to remind me of what my life was like before I knew Him...even that He would just allow me to imagine what my life might feel like now, were I to not know Him. I ask Him to show me these things so that I can keep ever before me the urgency of sharing Him with others. He did just that yesterday. I imagine that people without Jesus in their lives surely at times feel like they just "can't breathe". They don't have a Sustainer, a refuge, no One to take all the "gunk" out of their lives so that they can live in freedom and breathe easy, knowing that they have a Savior. Instead, they live in defeat and with a feeling that they'll never quite be able to "get to where they need to be." Does that make sense? I was reminded of this song yesterday by Mercy Me. It's called "Coming Up to Breathe".

"I'm in way too deep. I've forgotten how to swim. I can't tell which way is up or down. Save me before I drown down here. I just need some air. I'm coming up to breathe. Oh, I'm coming up to breathe. I've held my breath for all my life. But I am breaking free tonight. And I'm coming up to breathe. I just need to break these chains. I just need to leave this place. Before now this was all I knew. But with just one glimpse of You I see You're the air I need. I've done everything I can to get myself up on dry land. Lord, here I am again. Reaching for Your hand."

At times, even having Christ in my life, I can still feel this way. That the world just drains me and I need to get out from underneath it. But I've realized that I can't get out from underneath it on my own, but only with His power. Not only do I desire to help people physically breathe better, but I want to help those whose hearts are falling apart all because they haven't realized that He is the air they need.

"Thank you, Jesus, for sending that sweet man my way yesterday so that You could remind me that people need You because You truly are our Sustainer and our Life Giver. Help me show people that "can't breathe", how to."