Darlene Partin

I have a guest blogger today. Monica Blowes is the wife of our favorite associate pastor at Shoreline Church! She and Sam have 2 precious children, Will and Amy. I love what Monica has to share about helping out. Enjoy…

Helping Out

So I’ve come to a realization recently. Beginning to understand my role as a wife. Finally, right? I never truly understood what it meant and was actually a little offended by being described as a “helper.” In Genesis 2:18 where it says~~ The Lord God said, “it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” I just didn’t get it. It made me seem like a lesser human to be described as simply a helper. Can’t I have goals and dreams of my own? Why do I have to help him? Why isn’t he helping me? Oh, the selfishness that goes on in my head.

Anyways…what I’ve come to realize is that by being Sam’s helper, in making sure he has what he needs and that he’s taken care of, I’m making things easier for him. When things are easier for him, the less stressed he is, the less work he has to do and the more time he can spend with the family. By volunteering for jobs that he would have to do, I’m making things less complicated for him. Seriously…the guy doesn’t have a thorough understanding of cooking and recently I’ve needed to HELP him with stuff at church that involved several things that I’m passionate about. Why not join in on the fun with him and help him out. I’m not a lesser person because of it. I’m a more loving person because of it.

I’ve amped up my responsibilities by quite a bit in the past couple months and honestly, I like the work. I enjoy making phone calls for him. I enjoy emailing back and forth with brides about wedding vows and reception plans. I enjoy handling props for church on Sunday. I enjoy doing a little computer work (restricted by my serious lack of knowledge on how he does what he does) and am interested in doing more.

I’m not just a housewife/cleaning lady/chef. I’m a HELPER and I’m proud of it! I’m helping the best man I could ever possibly help to do the best job he has ever had. By helping Sam, I’ve discovered more about myself and have gotten rid of the terrible resentment that accrues in my mind when he’s working long hours. Because now, I know what is going on and how much work it actually takes. I’m a part of it.

Monica

Comments(0)

God has so much in store for us. Satan wants wants us discouraged, tired, depressed, overwhelmed, lethargic, and so defeated that we aren’t able to accomplish anything for others or ourselves. He wants you to fail. God wants you to win.

Run to win! Prepare yourself for winning! You can win the battle you are in for yourself. You can win the battle for your future and what God has called you to and what God has planned for you. But you have to train to win:

1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Who are your coaches? Who encourages you? Who are the people that God has put into your life to help guide, direct, and train you for the race? Know the race you are in and what it will take to win it.

Now, when you run, you would never wear clothing that would weigh you down, or carry your belongings with you. So you wear your lightest clothing and if you want to win, you don’t take anything that would drag you down…

Hebrews 12:1
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

What are you carrying that is weighing you down? What is slowing your progress? Throw it off. Run towards the mark - the finish line! You are almost there!!!! Don’t give up!

I know you can win. Go after the prize.
Darlene

Comments(1)

Running on Destin Pass

I have the energy to run. I haven’t had it in quite a while. A few years ago, when we moved to Destin from Central Florida to start Shoreline Church, I made some new commitments to take better care of myself. I started walking to get some exercise. My husband was a distance runner and triathlete, so he gave me some ideas on how I could start a program where I eventually would be running 2-3 miles a day. I started by walking for 30 minutes, then at a faster pace. My next step was to start running for 1 minute out of every 5 minutes that I went out. It was really difficult! I felt like I was 100 years old because I would be completely exhausted! The following week, I was to up it to running 2 minutes out of every 5 minutes. My friend Esther loves running and took the challenge to help me. As I added the extra minute, panting and shuffling my feet, Esther could tell this was painfully difficult for me so she started chanting my “vision” for my new life, “Mom bikini and long-boarding, Mom bikini and long-boarding!” I had told her I wanted to be able to wear a mom bikini and start surfing on our long-board when spring came. (Definition of a mom bikini: a bikini that moms can wear without trying to look 16 years old) She chanted it over and over and it worked - just a tiny bit. I was so out of shape, I could not even run for 2 minutes!!! After 2 months and not being able to run longer than 2.5 minutes at a time, I gave up.

I went through the cycle every few months, trying again, thinking maybe I weighed too much, maybe I’m too stressed, maybe I am just not athletic anymore. I just could not keep up with it. I finally chocked it up to being over 40 and out of shape and just not good enough and disciplined enough to accomplish exercising regularly. Bummer. I don’t have the strength or willpower.

Last October I saw a doctor for my regular yearly exam. Well… it was supposed to be yearly, but ummm… yeah, uh, it had been way too long. Because of being over 40 and the extended length of time it had been since I had been examined, she ran a few blood tests. The next day I was getting my hair cut when I get a phone call from the doctor’s office. It was Nurse Sue (one crazy fun nurse that goes to Shoreline - I love her!). She said “Where are you right now?” I told her where I was and she told me to get to the pharmacy asap. She went on to tell me how I was SEVERELY anemic and I needed to get the prescribed amount of iron asap. She said that my red blood cell count was so low, she didn’t even know how I was walking around. Anemia occurs when the level of healthy red blood cells (RBCs) in the body becomes too low. This can lead to health problems because RBCs contain hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the body’s tissues. Anemia can cause a variety of complications, including fatigue and stress on bodily organs.

Well, duh? No wonder I couldn’t run! My body was not getting enough oxygen to my organs. It was working REALLY hard on those runs. No wonder. I wasn’t too old after all!

Sometimes we work so hard trying to accomplish things in our lives. It’s exhausting. We try and try to stop that nasty habit (gossiping, nagging, procrastinating, over indulging, etc. - you name it!) We try so hard to better relationships, reach a friend or family member, be a light to a dark world. Maybe you are working too hard and you are low on God’s power. The Holy Spirit is oxygen to our lives. Without Him, we have no power, we are stressing out trying to do things in our own strength. God sent us the Holy Spirit so that we could be His witnesses on the earth, vehicles of His character and strength, carrying His actual power. Jesus knew how necessary it was to have the baptism of Holy Spirit. He wouldn’t even let the disciples go out to minister without waiting for Him. (check out Acts chapter 1)

Sometimes a simple adjustment can bring health and life and energy back into our lives. I am thankful for that call Nurse Sue made to me. I feel soooo good, and I can run now, whoo hoo! Make a simple adjustment today, ask the Holy Spirit to baptize you with His presence and begin allowing Him to flow through you and into every life situation that comes your way. I needed that reminder today.

Serving God and having fun,

Darlene

Comments(2)