Meanwhile, here in Richmond..

I have the night off..I have been playing a lot of Pathwords on Facebook recently, which has been detrimental to my blogging. I miss all of the friends I have on here. It has been a whirlwind past few weeks. I have either had visitors or been out of town on the weekends, and the rest of the time I am working or hanging out friends. There hasn't been a whole ton of down time.

That said, I also haven't really felt the urge to write. Maybe now that my fast is over I will be back to normal! I gave up soda and complaining (the fast coincided with Lent) and I also committed to pray specifically for 10 people each day, being very detailed in my requests for that person's spiritual well being. I have already seen results in people coming to church and in conversations that have happened during the past forty days. I did okay on the not complaining, but by no means would I say that I was able to uphold my fast in that area. I did curb the grumbling, but it made me realize just how much I express dissatisfaction. It's not pretty.

I am thinking about getting baptized (I was baptized when I was 3 in the Catholic church), but I really want to have a deep understanding and desire to do it before I take the plunge (hee hee). What has getting baptized meant to you? I know that it has nothing to do with being saved, but rather is an outward sign of commitment and symbolic of being born again. I know that Jesus thought it was important enough to do it. SO...I need to mull it over some more.

Bible study is going well..we are doing our last session in the Romans 12 study (taught by Chip Ingram) tomorrow and then will have a dinner to celebrate the completion of (over)ten weeks of this session. It has been great, and I feel as though I have come out of it changed and more knowledgeable of what it means to live as a Christian. Next up will be a study of Esther, which I won from the Lifeway All Access Blog over Thanksgiving, when I was really pessimistic about the viability of our group. People kept backing out and I thought maybe it had been a mistake to try and lead a Bible study. Two days later I won this awesome leader kit complete with videos (and it's Beth Moore, so you know it's going to rock), and it was such an affirmation that I was supposed to persevere. I can't wait to start the Esther series, although I will miss Chip, who is also an awesomely gifted teacher.

Other than that, nothing much new here. I may or may not be a year older now. I am loving LOST, and I have been procrastinating on writing my book, but I know that it will be coming along soon!

I will leave you with this last thought..
Colossians 1:24-27
24Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This is the passage we studied at the Women's Leadership Weekend I attended with the girls from church. I had never thought of it like this, but the Holy Spirit is a deposit of our inheritance..the true proof that all that God says is true..if we are convicted in ways we weren't before..when we aren't able to sit in our sin anymore..that is the proof that Jesus is working in us. It is the "hope of glory". It is the promise that we will be glorified one day with Jesus, and we will not have to struggle anymore. For now, while we are still here in this fallen world, to know that God is residing in us may be the only thing that keeps us going. I am so glad I have that hope..and it is not hope like "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow". This hope means we can keep going because we know that our future is secure in the hands of the one whom we have placed that hope in! Yay God!