Time to update!

Okay so I haven't blogged on here since February...no,no not last week February, LAST year's February! I have to be honest, one reason I quit was because I didn't feel like anyone was reading it. The other reason is that Facebook is so much faster and a lot less work! However, blogging is just different, so I will try to stay inspired!
Our class is in a GREAT place right now! It has taken a long time, a LOT of prayer and patience to get us to this point! The Lord has taught us a lot about praying with perseverance. But we didn't stop and He has answered! In the past few months our attendance has almost doubled in size and we couldn't be more excited! Corey and I have taken on the responsibility of teaching for now and we joke all the time that "y'all might not be learning anything, but at least everyone is having fun"! But really we hope there is learning going on, because we sure do grow in our Christian walk each week as we prepare for our lessons.
One thing I want to try to do each week is post at least one "devotional" that hopefully will give you something to think about each week. This week I have to start by reflecting on the last 5 weeks in my own life. January 20 was the last day that I ran until this week. I had known something was wrong with my foot for several weeks but I had decided to "run through" the pain... BAD idea! Long story short, I ended up in a boot for 4 weeks. Now, I haven't been a "runner" that long, only a year or so, but when I was told to park it for 4 weeks...I really thought I was going to lose my mind! Running has become part of me. It's who I am and what I do. Not only that but I have an AMAZING connection with the group of people that I run with and I was afraid I would become the outsider. So February was not a happy month for me. It probably wasn't happy month for my family either! I was grouchy, I was mad and I had a short fuse. All I thought about was running, or not being able to run, or my friends running without me, or how horrible it was to wear that stupid boot all day everyday! There were a lot of days that I thought, "so this is what depression feels like?!" But on February 22 I went back to the dr. and was released from the boot! I was thrilled and sure I was going to run the next morning! That wasn't the plan of my run friends though. Pretty much they refused to run with me(without flat out saying it) and handed me a plan to slowly work my way back in. I was game the first day. The plan said I had to be able to walk for 1 hour before moving forward, so that morning I walked for 1 hour. Day 1 said to run for 5 minutes, walk, then repeat, for a total of 10 minutes of running. I decided I could handle more so I ran a total of 15 minutes. I felt fine, but I took the next few days off so I wouldn't have to hear lectures from my running buddies!
Now even though I was getting back into the groove,I was still extremely frustrated! I prayed every spare minute I had for healing. I would lay down at night and beg God to heal me as I slept so that I would wake up ready to run. I was feeling okay, but knew that I had to be very careful with my decisions about running.
Then Sunday rolled around. I haven't been able to wear cute shoes for a month because of that boot so I decided I would wear my tall boots and a skirt. I was so excited but my foot no more than touched insole of that boot and I knew that wasn't going to happen! I was NOT ready for heels! So, back to the boring shoes. Strike 1. So we get to church, I teach, and as we leave someone(who knows who they are!) says something about me being in pain because I was limping. I was shocked because I was in pain, but thought I was hiding it and I didn't know I was limping. Strike 2. Then as we walk into the lobby of the sanctuary, one of the ladies standing there greets me with "oh, are you upset today? not having a good day?" Strike 3! I almost cried right there in front of her, but instead I waited until we sat down. Every prayer I lifted up was full of hurt and tears. I had begged God everyday to heal me and He wasn't working fast enough! I was not happy with myself for being frustrated with Him, but I know I was. I decided that afternoon I was going to have to go back to the dr. and seek help because I wasn't getting any better.
But, that night I got out my Bible and looked up verses about healing and this was the last one I read: James 5 :13-16
"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone unhappy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
I think this is a scripture we can all relate to at some point. We all have hurts, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual. We all have struggles and I would dare to say, we've all been at the point of thinking God isn't working fast enough. This verse came to me just when I needed it. I needed the part that said, "prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well". I realized that I every time I got frustrated about things not healing fast enough, I was not showing faith. What a slap in the face! Right then I stopped and said a new prayer. I asked for forgiveness for my unintentional lack of faith, praised God for the awesome powers that He has, and asked Him to heal me because I knew going back to the dr wasn't going to fix me, only He could do that.
The next day I woke up a different person. I stepped out of the bed expecting pain when my foot hit the floor, but it wasn't there. In fact, all day Monday I waited for the pain to kick in, but it never did. Tuesday I had Run Club and decided I would take my chances and run, fully expecting a set back...but no. So yesterday, Wednesday, I met my running buddies and we ran outside on our regular 3 mile trail for the first time. They were all very skeptical, and truthfully, not happy at my decision making, but I ran the whole thing and didn't feel one bit of pain! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I haven't had ANY pain over the last week, but it is so minimal and spread out, that it doesn't bother me any more than soreness from lifting weights!
Now, there are people out there who would think I was CRAZY if I told them my story of healing, but there are also a lot of people who need to hear stories like mine! Even if my story sounds nutty, one thing you can't argue with is the scripture. Ask, WITH FAITH, and He will answer.
So, as you come across struggles and pain, or you come across people in your life with these issues, I challenge you to revisit this verse. Read it, learn it, apply it! Let God change things in your life this week, like He did in mine:)