MY FAVORITE PLACE TO GO TO RECHARGE

Where do you go when you need to recharge your batteries?

There are many answers to that question; even for me.

Bed to sleep (you'd really understand that if you have fibro'), my studio, stick my nose in a Somerset Studio zine, blog surf, read the Bible or something inspirational, just to name a few that I'm sure are coming to your mind as you read this.

But, there's one place that I go every week that I'm in town and/or able, that's my favorite and most effective place for me to recharge and that's church.

And, before I get into that I'm going to give you a little tidbit of information that I didn't know until a few years ago. I don't remember who told me, maybe it was Jack Rothenflue, my old pastor. Well, HE'S not old, well, he is kinda old because he's older than me, but what I meant was that he was my "past" pastor. (That was for just in case he read this. Yikes.)

Anyhow, I just hung up from calling my current (and, actually "young") pastor (we'll talk more about him in a minute) to ask him where in the Bible it says what I'm about to tell you.

His response, which made me laugh out loud, was that he really couldn't look that up while he was driving. You see, I didn't know he was in his car. That made me laugh.

Okay, I'm giving you too much information *so me* - getting back on track, there is scripture in a couple of places in the Bible (and, please, it's not important that y'all email me with the scriptures. Send those emails to Oprah. Oh, my, there's a blog post for ya.)

that infer that when we go to church on Sunday morning *for me*, it's not to fill us up, it's not to refresh us, it's to WORSHIP THE LORD. Put aside your concerns, your troubles for an hour and simply focus on worshiping our Lord. It's what He wants us to do.

When I heard that I had to think about it for a bit. I went to church to worship, yes, but I also went to fill my tank for the week. Now what was I going to do??

Silly me, I was going to do the exact same thing I had been doing. . .praising God for all He does for me, for all my blessings, for all of my challenges that make me stronger, for my ability to minister to others that are hurting, to worship Him for His mighty-ness, for His Holiness. And, I found that even though I had changed my perspective of Sunday mornings, my tank was still filled for the week. In fact, it was topped off. WHOOP!!

Pastor Jay being a regular person, ordering lunch. We posed this picture because I told him at lunch that the picture I took of him praying over communion wasn't his best. LOL

Gosh, what a segue into talking about my pastor.............talking about gas and now talking about Jay. (yes, I'm smiling)

I have a wonderful pastor in Jay Dozier. A huge part of what makes him so wonderful is that his wife, Amy, is a friend of mine and his three children are my heart. Jay is also a very close friend. . .you know, the type that if he/they moved away we would still have a relationship. That's the ruler I use when I think about how good a friend someone is...just another one of my tidbits:)

Jay is a great pastor because He allows God to use him as a vessel. He's also a great pastor because he sincerely cares about the congregation. He is strong in the Bible, follows the scriptures in his sermons, his decisions and his advice. Makes mistakes (he is human, remember) and acknowledges when he does and fixes what needs fixin'.

AND, he prays........A LOT........totally cool.

The photos in this post aren't the best, but they give you an idea of my church. And remember that post I wrote entitled I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE on February 11th? So many, if not all, of the ideas I talked about in that post fit in church so well. Go back and skim it and you'll see what I mean!

Oh, and there's something else I just want to tell you about my church because I think it's so wonderful. . . . .we honestly don't care what battles you're fighting - you are more than welcome in our family and we will help you fight those battles. We don't care how you dress, we don't care about your past.

We care only that you love the Lord, Jesus Christ, and that you believe that He is the Son of God and died on the cross for your sins.

Period.

xoxo,

.....Jan