You are a Masterpiece: Prayer letter 9

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"I love everything about the way I look."  How many times have you said that to yourself in the last week? Year? Ever??  To be completely honest I don't know if I have ever said to myself.  Body image is something I have struggled with most of my life like a lot of other men and women.  I could always lose a few pounds here or be firmer there, or if I could just look like her I would be happy.  Lies.

A few weeks ago I had the privileged to go on the New Life staff bonding trip to Cleveland with 43 of my co-laborers in Christ.  We didn't do much of anything besides relax, get to know each other, and worship the Lord.  One particular night however has stuck with me.  I was sitting out by the fire with some guys on the staff team and we were discussing how truly awesome (in the real sense of the word) God's is.  As we saw the power of the waves on the lake crashing onto the rocks we remarked how mighty and strong God is and then we looked up and saw a magnificent meteor blazing across the sky.  God has created a truly Awesome universe.  And yet he named us his masterpiece: "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago," (Ephesians 2:10).  Now I am a person who really connects with God through nature.  I love being out in the woods, wildflowers, or even just a few rays of sunshine peaking through the leaves.  For me it feels like God is hugging me or whispering sweet nothings to me through his creation.  I can tell you that it is rare that I look in the mirror and think that he made me more beautiful than anything else he created.  How about you?  Do you see yourself as a true masterpiece?  Reality is when we don't see ourselves the way God sees us it is like telling him he made a mistake.  It's like if Mona Lisa told DaVinci he should have shaded under her chin more or painted her with blonde hair because she would have liked that better.  We are actually trying to take God's place when we do this.  We build our own throne and think that we could do it better.

Let me say what  I am not saying: I firmly believe that we are given our bodies as a gift and we are to treat them as such.  So I am not saying that you should not work out or eat healthy.  I think this honors God when done in the right spirit.  The question we have have to ask ourselves is why we are working out or watching what we eat.  Is it because you want to be skinnier?  or is it because God gave you two legs that could run or swim or bike and it draws you closer to him?  Food for thought.

This is our fancy new logo!


In New Life news this weekend marks our fall kick off!!  Ann Arbor is once again buzzing with new students coming to the city for the first time as well as upper classmen hugging and catching up on their summer adventures.  We are so excited about what God has done over the summer and I personally can't wait to go to church on Sunday and see what God has in store.  I again want to invite each of you personally to consider attending one of the services on Sunday at 9:19am, 11:11am or 5:05pm.  The church is located at 1541 Washtenaw Avenue.  Also, New Life has just launched their new website!  I linked it so you can check it out if you want!


I have a special prayer request:  El Salvador will be getting ready for an election next year and I would love for an army of prayer warriors to be praying now that it can be peaceful and that whoever does get elected truly has the people of El Salvador and their needs on their mind.  That country has been through a lot in the last 20 years and I would love to see the kingdom of God break out in a way no one has ever seen before, including in government. 

You guys are the greatest.  As always feel free to leave comments or email me!

Standing in Awe of how little I actually understand God,

Sigourney

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