Don't interrupt

Dear Campers,

     

Great workout this morning!  Thank you for all three hours of Quality Time that we spent together this week.  I always feel like my cup has been filled after I have been with our group.  The last piece of the quality time puzzle is to close your mouth and not interrupt when someone is trying to tell you what is going on in their world.  Research says that most of us don't even give as few as 17 seconds to listen before we jump in.  As I told you this morning, this is one of my biggest hurdles to get over.  I am really working on it and would love to have each of you help keep me accountable.  

     

Next week (Mon.-Fri.) will be Daniel Diet week.  Let's get plugged back in to exceptional nutritional habits during week 3 of this week camp.  Hit the produce department to fill your basket and your stomach.  

     

There will be a group of runner and walkers leaving the Y tomorrow morning at 7:00.  We would love to have you join us.  Be sure to bring your water...it's getting hot!

    

I wanted to share the chorus of the Cory Morrow song that has anchored this session.  I love the vibe of it.  Sometime it helps me to read and see the words.

Love will hold us together

make us a shelter to weather the storm.

And I'll be my brothers keeper

so the whole world will know that we're not alone.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.

Even in the dark we can still see the light.

It's gonna be alright.

It's gonna be alright!

Enjoy your weekend.  Make some Quality Time happen if your people need it.  See you dark and early Monday morning.

Blessings,

Amy

Quality Time week

Dear Campers,

    

As I woke up this morning I couldn't help but remember that I, along with 80 of my closest friends, did 100 burpees yesterday!  What a blessing to be healthy and fit!  This week our focus has been on learning how to speak the language of Quality Time.  If you have discovered that your spouse, your children or your friends respond to that dialect then you need to get the tools that it takes to master the art.  So far we have covered three of the steps that allow fluency in that language to occur.   Here's the list of tools to get on your next Heart Depot shopping trip:

1.  Open Eyes:  Our eyes are the window to the soul.  Make eye contact and begin to see what the eyes are saying.

2.  Open hands: Drop whatever you have that is getting in the way of the Quality Time happening.  I am learning that there are lots of thing that the world has put in our lives to pull us away form those we love the most.  I know that this is a crazy idea to be delivered in an email, but maybe it's time for all of us to unplug from technology for a moment and plug into each others lives.

3. Open ears:  Listen for emotions that you are hearing in the conversation.  If you are confused about what you are hearing in the beginning, then ask.   This will become easier as you become more tuned into the person that needs the Quality Time to fill their cup.

4.  Observation of others:  Today I would like for you to begin to be aware of the body language of the people around you.  See if you encounter someone that has clenched fists, crossed arms, or a furrowed brow.  Pay attention to how much they are saying without saying a word.  *We will talk about this tomorrow at RBC.

 

 Here are a few reminders of other things connected to RBC:

 1.  It's never too late to bring a friend to Revival Boot Camp.  The doors are always open.  Remind them to bring water and a towel for sure...and dumbbells if they have them.  Let them know that there are so many different fitness levels and options available.  Also, remember that if the inability to pay for RBC is preventing them from coming, then it is not an issue at all.  Just come.

 2.  The Project Graduation 5K will be held on May 5 and starts and ends at the Y.  The group registration price of $12 per person is open until tomorrow.  Be sure to bring your check book or cash and get it turned in to Barbara Wallace tomorrow.  It would be so cool to have the RBC WEIRDOS there in full fitness force.  This is a great cause and a great event for our community.  It will also be Healthy Kids' Day at the Y, so plan on staying awhile.   There will be lots of fun activities for the kids, so make it a family fitness day.  There is a 1 mile run for you to run with your kids and then you can RUN or WALK the 5K.  You are a Revival Boot Camper...you can do this.  No burpees, I promise! 

 3.  Tonight at 6:00 at the square there will be a event that will help raise money for the little boy that lost his leg in the lawn mower accident last week.  There will be walking, running, cycling and lots of reflecting and prayer for this family as they begin to move forward.  Be sure to take your own water bottle.  If you are not able to attend tonight I will have an envelope at the check-in window in the morning if you would like to support the cause.   

 4.  Next week will be Daniel Diet week for the group.  If you don't know that language yet, we will teach you.  I have a shopping list that will guide that will help you. 

     

I want to express heartfelt thanks for the prayers that each of you have prayed for me and for the Newsome family during this time of sorrow.  My RBC family is a pillar of strength in my life and I am so grateful to call each of you my friend.  See you dark and early tomorrow.

Blessings,

Amy

Friday morning is on!

Dear Campers,

     

Thank you so much for all the love, prayers and understanding that each of your have given to me in the last few days.  Now I will share the reason why I could not be with you on Wednesday morning.  On Tuesday evening I was shaken by the news of the sudden death of the man that I mentioned to the group during Monday morning's devotion time.  Dr. Ron Newsome was one of my teachers while I was a student at TSU.  He became a mentors and dear friend when I started teaching at TSU in 1994.  He inspired me to be WEIRD.  He was the one that insisted that I spread the message of the 5 Love Languages toeveryone I knew.  During the two week break from RBC I spent many hours with this broken man trying to help put him back together.   Now I  know that sometime Sunday evening, he took his own life. 

The three things that I have learned from this heartbreaking experience are:

1.   The sooner in life that we learn and use the love languages the better our lives will be.

2.   Everyone deserves a second chance to change.

3.   Clinical depression is very real illness that can wreck your health and your life.  It is an illness that causes people to make desperate decisions.

In the last few weeks of his life, Ron Newsome was a changed man.  He invited God into his life.   I know this and God knows this, but the illness took him in the end.   Please continue to pray for his family and for me as I move through this experience.  I am thankful for the Quality Time I had with him in the last three weeks.  We spoke the same language. 

We will meet dark and early tomorrow and continue to put the items on the top shelf and see what other dialects we can learn together!  If you have not taken the assessment at the www.5lovelanguages.com web site, please do so.   I am ready to see each of you.  See you tomorrow.

Blessings,

Amy

Great morning fun!

Dear Campers,

     

Just wanted to say a word of thanks to all of you that came to spend some Quality Time at RBC this morning.  I missed you and it filled my cup to be with you for each of the 80 push-ups!  We will officially begin the next Boot Camp session on Monday, April 16, 2012.  It will be a 5 week session that will focus on identifying and utilizing the 5 Love Languages in all of our relationships.  If you would like to be game-day ready, visit the sight www.5lovelanguages.com and take the online test to find out what love language you speak.   I know that this may information that you may already know and use, but I believe that a refresher course is always a good thing.  Remember, more is not better...better is better!  Trust me, I have a few new perspectives of love languages to add to the workout element of our time together, as well.   See you dark and early Monday morning.  

Be on time....workout starts at 5:00 sharp.  Great time to bring a friend to share in the love!

Lovingly,

Amy

Surprise!

Dear Campers,

     

I will be working out tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 5:00 AM at the church and would love for 80 of my closest friends to join me!  I miss you guys!  Pass the word.  This would be a great time to bring a friend to preview RBC!  

See you dark and early.

Blessings,

Amy