Wexercise Daily: Mississippi River = Holy Water

Today was one of those days that puts things into perspective...

Just like every Sunday, God delivered a powerful message through one of the Fellowship pastors. Bryan spoke today on of course, Christmas. Within our culture and today's society, Christmas has become a holiday rather than a holy day. Holidays include marketing, advertising, and celebrating receiving gifts from family and friends. Not that I don't enjoy a visit from Santa, but it is so true how twisted Christmas has become. With the way the economy has been lately, many people are distraught over not being able to stock-pile beautifully wrapped gifts under an ornately decorated tree. Bryan made a statement during the sermon that spoke to this very notion. "We have put our hope in the things beneath the tree, rather than in the man whose arms were stretched out across the tree." (Not a direct quote, but you get it). Think back to Christmas when you were 10 years old. What was it that you just had to have??? Can you remember? If so, would you be able to tell someone where it is now? I sat there in church pondering over the things that filled in the blanks: "I would be happy if I could just have ___." And then thinking back to what would have filled in the blanks 15 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and even just one year ago, I realized not one of those options would make me happy today. Lasting happiness cannot be found in any Christmas gift. Except one. The One. The baby boy, the Son of God, who was sent here for the salvation of the world. The Wonderful Counselor. The Prince of Peace. Do you know Him? And more importantly, are you happy knowing Him?

Ok, so service is over :) Thanks for letting me share.

Getting into my car after church, the temperature read 34 degrees. Keep this in mind as you read the following:

My incredible friend Rachael has been my rock throughout PT school. She has calmed me down, wiped my tears, told me to shut up, brightened my day, etc, etc, etc. She and her husband Jacob have been married a little over a year. They amaze me. Without going into detail, their first year of marriage required much prayer, trust and faith in God, patience, and endurance. While they have both been believers for many years, the growth that I have seen in them over the past year and a half has been wonderful to see and very influential on my life. So today, Jacob was baptized (he was baptized when he was younger, but wanted to do it again) after church. Although baptism isn't required for salvation, it is an outward expression of the inward beliefs. With it comes responsibility, accountability, and a testimony to others of who we choose to follow. So I, Rachael and Jacob's families, and their community group headed down to the Mississippi River. Jacob and his community group leader, Blake, had picked out a spot prior to and today, everyone carefully climbed down the rocks towards the water. Just wanted to share the happiness of these two important people in my life with all the other important ones! Here are some pictures (remember the temperature???):