Eddie and Martha Marie Smith

I had my 10 year high school reunion this past summer.  It was so great seeing every one!

May take me several posts, but this is what I miss about high school. 

1.  Doing life together with friends.

I miss the many different personalaties and kinds of people that I got to see every day in class, in the hallway, hanging out after school, at sports practice, around town, etc.  I miss:

• Hearing Tommy Ellis, Matt Welborn, Todd Rupard, Donald Rogers, Andy McNeely, and James Rogers saying something totally hilarious.
• Eric Barber and I acting like we are each other’s opposite skin color and me calling him a honkey.
• Not knowing what Shanika Luckey is gonna say next.
• The fresh trend Lavar Guy or Jerame Jones was going to start that week.
• The crazy story Matt Smith was going to tell about what happened on the tomato farm.
• The energy of Marie Dry.
• Chad Graham and I cracking up in Shoaf’s Spanish class.
• Matt Millspaugh, Andy Wing, and I praying together during the lunch hour.
• Harry Welch and I posing in sports bras.
• Dale Ramsue wore a dress at my graduation party.  He also benched 235 pounds our Jr. year when he only weighed 120 pounds!
• David Bumgarner, Danny Shaw, and Bryon Bates doing anything for a dare.
• JD Lefler’s passion for Michael Bolton’s music.
• The forward and progressive thinking of Daryl McEwen, Richard Idalski, Chris Johnson, Wojtek Dyszkiewiecz, Bartek Dyszkiewiecz, and Dean DeVoe.
• TPing Brian Hickey and Vicki Padgett’s house (and about 10 others as well).
• Justin Hall and I getting on each other about our crazy ideas.
• Autumn Heilig and Amanda Fleming keeping us straight when we got out of hand in class.
• The slick atmosphere Brian Rogers and Jason Sommers provided by their entrance to the room.
• The crazy martial arts of Chris Keel.
• The fun of planning things with Jerame Jones, Mandi Heilig, Mindy Byrd, Stacey Byrd, and Jason Nelson.
• The smoothness and suaveness of Brandon Ridenhour.
• The way that Bam Bam reverse jammed on the court in the games.
• How street smart Shores was as young as high school.
• How Christy Sheets, Kelly Pruitt, Julie Shulenburger, Dodi Saylor, Misti Gulledge, Richelle Ryder, Autumn Livengood, Jenny Gardner, and Heather Moss were so encouraging to people when they were having bad days.

There are so many things I appreciate about the Class of 1997 at West Rowan that I did not before.  I hope to be able to do life again with you guys someday.

More later…

I am a systems person.  I have a system for almost everything.  I do this because I like to be efficient, effective, and a good steward of my resources.  Some may call it OCD.  I call it being smart with what some people may call a quirk in my life.

For the most part, we go shopping once a week for our groceries and household items.  When I go in Wal*Mart, I want to get in and get out to get on with my life (sometimes we decide to make a family outing of it and take more time).  In order to do this we think ahead of time by planning our meals and marking what we need on the master shopping list.  The master list is set up by rows and the route I follow in the store to be efficient to avoid going in the rows more than once to get in and then get out.

The master shopping list doesn’t work with all Wal*Marts, but most of the new ones.  Click here to see the master shopping list.

Call it crazy, call it OCD, call it what you want.  But I will beat your tail in a shopping race at Wal*Mart any day! :-)

We heard Steven Furtick preach at NewSpring Church earlier in 2007 and I have been hooked on him ever since.  Steven Furtick is the lead pastor at Elevation Church and he just turned 28 last week. 

Elevation Church is located in Charlotte, NC and just celebrated turning 2 years old last week.  God has done so much through Elevation Church in 2 years.  In just 2 years Elevation Church has grown to 4,000 people in attendance meeting in 2 locations with 5 different services and they are still a portable church.  Over 1,300 people have given their lives to Christ in the first 2 years of Elevation.  They completed their first capital campaign in November 2007 raising 6 million dollars with the direction of God to keep it in reserves to wait to hear from His direction.

I listen to Steven Furtick on pod cast almost every week as the Lord anoints him to bring a fresh Word from God to His people.  I also recieve his blog via email everyday to keep me thinking.

Martha Marie and I took my cousin Dylan to a Christmas Eve service at Cricket Arena featuring Elevation Church and Newbirth Church and were blown away with the church service of 6,000 people praising Jesus!

Martha Marie and I have attended NewSpring Church for about a year now.  The church is located in Anderson, SC (about 30 minutes from us) about 8 years old and Perry Noble is the lead pastor.  They have about 8,000-9,000 people in attendance and 65 people on their staff.  They are starting a new video venue campus in Greenville, SC in a few months.  The biggest highlights of us attending NewSpring for the year 2007 was the fact that they gave a house away to a single mom and her son and that over 800 people recieved Christ for the first time through NewSpring in a 5 week series.  It’s neat to see God use a body of people to accomplish so much for His kingdom!

Yesterday Martha Marie, myself, and our family visited a church in Powdersville, SC called Stone Bridge Church.  They are 4 months old, have around 100 people and already have plans to launch 2 more campuses this year.  They already have a campus pastor in place for Anderson, SC and Travelers Rest, SC.  Sammy Clary is the lead pastor at Stone Bridge and has a great vision to accomplish the mission God has given him.  They plan to develop a teaching team to rotate between the campuses.  It is neat to hear about a different model of ministry that I’ve never heard of before.

Tonight Perry Noble shared the biggest priorities of life at NewSpring Church.

#1.  Our relationship with God.

#2.  Our relationship with our spouse.

#3.  Our relationship with our children.

#4.  Fulfilling our purpose.

Matthew 11:29-30
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God doesn’t want us running around in life overwhelmed and burdened.  What an answer to my prayers since yesterdays post!

I’d like to publicly share one of my flaws.  I hardly ever rest.

To many, this may sound like an impressive or noble concept.  Some may think that this is a good work ethic.  I am finding it to be a ridiculously foolish thing and a terrible work ethic.  A good work ethic is how much work you can get done in a shorter amount of time and how efficient and productive you can be in that amount of time while still maintaining the personal health you still need.  I work hard; at work, at home, on the side, on my personal life, on my spiritual life, but in my own definition of a good work ethic above, I have a terrible ethic of giving my mind, body, and spirit the rest it needs to be a fully well rounded healthy person.

I need to start relaxing more throughout my day instead of working it through it to find a minimal amount.  I know I should take my lunch to relax.  I know I should relax some when I get home.  I know I should take more intentional breaks at work.  But how do I let myself agree to do these things if I am so driven?  Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life.  Would someone please write the book The Purpose Driven Person’s Need to Relax?

It really does become a burden in so many ways.  Have any advice for me?  How can I practically apply Matthew 11:28-29? 

28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

I will overcome this!  It may take me forever, but I’m determined and driven to be successful!  I just hope I choose to relax while I work on it.