Downward Dogged to my Death

First and foremost, if you have ever attempted "hot yoga"then I applaud you.

For those of you who havent....I would NEVER recommend it. Hot yoga is where 20 plus people gather into a room the size of a closet to do yoga. No, the "hot" part of hot yoga isnt the sweaty body, but the 20 plus heaters that line the floors and walls of the room. I did hot yoga for the first and very last time today. After 30plus minutes of conditioning in the 100plus degree room, I thought "I just may pass out". When my head started floating above my body and I was losing vision I thought "I'm pretty sure....I am about to meet Jesus!" At that point, I gathered my things and so rudely ran out of the room into the cool lobby. Where I then preceded to collapse onto the cool concrete floor until I regained some consciousness. After about ten minutes or so, while everyone else was still in class, I decided to run for it. Oh but life is never that easy is it? The door was locked (and very meticulously I might add). This was it. I was going to die in a yoga studio. I eventually figured out the mechanics and with no shoes, no coat, in below 30 degree weather...I made a run for it. All the way to my car, never looking back. Once in my car, I decided the ONLY thing I could do to revive myself was to go to McDonalds and get a happy meal...which is exactly what I did! (Always good to have an emergency back up plan if ya know what I mean!)

Needless to say, hot yoga is one thing being crossed off of my 2011 Bucket List. (Sadly, hot yoga was never even ON my Bucket List. So now I have to write it in, acting like I actually ever wanted to try it, and then cross it off! Just to prove my ego something and to not have officially wasted 45minutes of my young life.)

Is this post about yoga? Well, no not really. In church this morning, I heard something said that reminded me of where I was this time last year, and all of the progress Ive made in my walk with God. And I thought, thank the LORD for great friends who helped guide me to where I am today, because without them and their unfailing love and their great advice and their prayers and encouragement, I would not be this ravishing creature blogging before you now (haha, ok ok hot yoga was a real blow to the old ego so I have to get my kicks where I can!)

So having passed the mark now of being a "Christian" over a full year, I wanted to share some things Ive learned and some advice that has gotten me through.

1. God is ALWAYS good and ALWAYS faithful, and He will work things out in His perfect time. (of course, I relearn this one all the time)
2. Ask questions. I had "go-to" people who, at all hours of the night, would answer my random questions. If there was a scripture I didnt understand or something bothering me, they were always there. Which leads me to my next one....
3. Surround yourself with other Christians whom you trust and who can help you. Life is hard, and we were never created to do it alone. Even Jesus had his besties and He counted on them. It is ok to ask for help and it is ok to admit that you can't do it alone!
4. Don't strive to do the right things, say the right words, or look like the best Christian. God knows your heart, and knows when youre faking it. Instead...
5. Strive to KNOW God...
6. Get to know His character by READING HIS WORD (they dont tell you this in Bible school for kicks and giggles, the Bible is TRULY meant to help you!)
7. Fall in love with God. Do not treat God like your boss, because He wants to be SO much more to us then that. He is our lover, our rescuer, our husband, our protector, our counseler, our BEST FRIEND! So TREAT HIM THAT WAY!
8. Understand that we are called to live very specific lives set apart from the world. To some people, this means being "radical" but to radicalists, this means living the way we were CREATED to live. If you dont know what this means then you are probably not doing something radical, but thats ok. We live and we learn, and as you are reading this...I hope you are learning!
9. When counseling other people and helping others get through a hard time, understand that YOU CAN NOT SAVE SOMEONE from themselves! If WE could save, we would have never needed a SAVIOR! (This is hard for peeps like me who want to rush in and "fix" things. Sometimes, we are just meant to LOVE on people. Because God is the only one who can heal, fix, and SAVE!)
10. When you have weird feelings, sense a dark change, dont feel like yourself, or are experiencing seasons or times of (fill in the blank negative feeling), dont just chalk that up to (fill in the blank usual excuse, ie. period, hard day at work, kids driving you nuts, etc). Sometimes, those FEELINGS we get is because we are experiencing spiritual warfare! Satan attacks us ALL the time through our loved ones, families, etc, and when you chalk it up to "oh my husband is just being grumpy" pretty soon that "grumpiness" turns into violence, or an affair, or abandonement. Anything can get out of control when you dont work to fix it, and if we as Christians continue to walk through life like there isnt a devil who is trying to bring us down then he will always win! SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS SOOOO STINKING REAL!!!
11. Realize that you have the POWER of GOD, dwelling inside you. We as people have no power, but God inside of us has ALL of the power. With Him, we really can do ANYTHING. SO wrap your little brain around that piece of info and GO CHANGE THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (theres no excuses! Shoo! Go on!! Get outta here!)

Of course there is SOOOOO much more that I have learned this year, and maybe I can share a little more each time I write. These things are not just lines on a page to me, or words out of a mouth, or advice in a self help book....these are part of my program now. God has reprogrammed my heart, to stop believing in the poisenous lies it once believed, to now believing the TRUTH! And the TRUTH, my friend, will set you FREE!!

I feel SO blessed to have found my faith later in life. Not only do I have a kick-butt testimony (which rocks out some how good God is) but I also did not have a "mold" to break. So many people who grew up in church or had religion shoved down their throats as a kid has a hard time figuring it out on their own. What is their own beliefs versus their parents? Why have I done this for 30 years to find out it really means nothing to me? Why dont I do this more? etc etc....these are GREAT questions to be asking yourself!! Finding my true identity through Christ has been the most excellent journey I have ever gotten to embark upon! I hope you who are reading this feel the same way...and if you dont, maybe something is missing! Im just a young girl, trying to find her voice, but if there is anything I can do to help....me and Jesus are here. Ready to listen. Ready to love :)

In Him,
Meg