Eddie and Martha Marie Smith

I’m new again to the blog world, even though I have had a personal web site since 2000. 

I’d like to publicly share who my web heroes are that got me started blogging and web site designing.

1.  Stevan Sheets

I’m pretty sure this guy invented the internet.  Thank you Stevan for being the second blogger ever (Keith Drury was the first).  Thank you for all the annoying questions you answered for me about Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and all those other programs.  I would not be a .com without you! 

2.  Keith Drury 

The first blogger in the history of man kind.  He would post a column every single Tuesday of something for us to think about.

3.  Jason Denniston

Jason helped get me connected by learning how to connect nameservers and all that behind the scene stuff.  I found out at a family funeral that Jason and I are cousins even though I grew up in North Carolina and he grew up in Michigan.  Small world.

4.  Aaron Pratt

Aaron gave me my first tutorial on Front Page and helped me put together my first web site.

Thanks guys for your investment.  You are my heroes!

I have an amazing wife.  I love her and am so blessed to have her as a part of my life.  This will take several posts, but I want to share some of the things I love about Martha Marie.

1.  She is beautiful inside and out!

I love what God did when he decided what Martha Marie was going to look like and act like.  Her smile lights up the room and her eyes brighten anyone’s day that connects with them.  I won’t get Song of Solomonish, but I love the rest of God’s creation of her as well! 

People are attracted to her warm personality and want to be around her. 

I’m so lucky!

Today is my Mama’s 50th birthday!  Write her an email at tamiekennedy@hotmail.com.

Happy Birthday Mama!  We love you!

We all have areas in our lives that we are not wild about when we try to line our lives up with what God wants for us.  These areas can be labeled as weaknesses, sin, flaws, or some other negative area of our lives.  Whatever we want to call it, we should not excuse those areas of our lives or think that God cannot redeem those areas of our lives and turn them into something that can please Him.

The song Undo, by Rush of Fools has been a great encouragement to me that Jesus Christ “is the only One that can undo what I’ve become” when Satan tries to remind me of my weaknesses and try to convince me that I cannot overcome them.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Undo by Rush of Fools lyrics

I’ve been here before, now here I am again
Standing at the door, praying You’ll let me back in
To label me a prodigal would be
Only scratching the surface of who I’ve been known to be[Chorus]
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I’ve become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can’t do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I’ve becomeI focused on the score, but I could never win
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin
To label me a hypocrite would be
Only scratching the surface of who I’ve been known to be

[Chorus]
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I’ve become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can’t do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I’ve become

Make every step lead me back to
The sovereign way that You

[Chorus]
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I’ve become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can’t do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I’ve become

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! :-)

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.

Nothing pleases Jesus Christ more than our faith in Who He is and what He can do (Hebrews 11:6).

He wants us to take steps of faith when He challenges us to do something.  Never in my life have I regretted stepping out into uncomfortable waters when God asked us to do something financially that didn’t make sense on paper.  I still get nervous quite a bit, but never do I regret when I actually step out.

God wants us to seek Him and to know what pleases him (Ephesians 5:10).  It is impossible to please Him without having faith (Hebrews 11:6).  Our faith requires not only a mental belief, but an actual step or action (James 2:20 and James 2:26).

Something I am learning right now is before God steps in, He’s waiting for me to step out.

Ephesians 5:10
and find out what pleases the Lord.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

James 2:20
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

James 2:26
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Many of the contestants have found life change from their success of losing weight.  Some have lost tens of pounds.  Others have lost more than 200 pounds in the short 4 months they have been a contestant. 

We learn from doctors and medical specialists that extra weight keeps us from good physical health.  Any excess can be a hazard to our health and quality of life.

This past year God has allowed Martha Marie and I to shed ourselves of excess things, thoughts, mindsets, and attitudes of thought, word, and deeds that have held us back from our relationship with God.  Working on our spiritual disciplines through studying the Word, prayer, and solitude has been our spiritual excercise to shed ourselves of excess.

What is your excess that can be thrown off that will help you to run the race for Jesus?

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Luke 9:25
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Whoever loses his life has found it….

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

I want to be the biggest loser of myself and biggest gainer of Christ!