Prayer and Fasting

Thursday, April 1, 2010

     Sunday started "7 Days of Fasting and Prayer" here at Biltmore Baptist. Bruce called our congregation to come together to fast and pray for the city of Asheville the week leading up to Easter. I have never fasted prior to this week and I chose to do a food fast. I will admit that I was very nervous about this fast as not eating is usually very hard for me. I tried to open up my mind and heart for this time as I know God can move and use a time such as this. Aaron wanted to do a three day fast since he too had never fasted, so I decided to aim to fast for three days. 

I will be honest and say that I made it through two full days and only drank juice and water those days. I didn't get a headache like I thought I would, but I did end up feeling a bit dizzy and felt very tired both days. I did notice my thoughts continually going to food. I noticed how many food commercials were on TV and how good food that doesn't normally sound good seemed. Even though there are certain side affects to fasting, it is ultimately about giving up something in your life and filling up that time by spending it with the Lord. 

Let me be really honest again and say that I didn't have the best attitude during this time of fasting. I felt restricted and sort of forced into this situation. However, I did CHOSE to participate in this week of fasting even if it were only for a portion. One of my character flaws is to go against something I feel pressured or forced into doing. But even though I had a bad attitude, I learned a lot about myself in the process.

In the book "Celebration of Discipline," there is a chapter which addresses fasting. In that chapter is says that during the time of fasting one's vices are shown to the individual. Aaron and I went for a walk at Fletcher park last night and talked about the fast. I discovered that my "vice" is comfort. In my last post I spoke of how I felt very discontent. Aaron said he had been thinking about this and believed that it was less about contentment, but more about comfort. I really have had a comfortable life. That is not to say I haven't had hardships in my life, but overall it has been comfortable.  Having to make new friends makes me feel uncomfortable, living somewhere where I cannot express myself is uncomfortable, not always having something to do is uncomfortable. During this time of fasting, I found that food brings me comfort. I don't eat a ton of food, but I do eat frequently. Not being able to eat was uncomfortable. 

I believe that the Lord is using this time to shape my character. I hope he is anyways. As a member of the staff at BBC, I am placed in a leadership position. This has been a challenge for me as I have always been the following type. However, I feel myself getting stronger and more willing to do more for the Kingdom, even if it is out of my comfort zone. I pray that the Lord will forgive me for the lack of a good attitude during my period of fasting and will use this reflection to shape my character and soul. I see a desperate need in Asheville, NC to know God and hear His Word. I am so thankful that Asheville was the focus of this time of fasting and prayer. The Lord is doing great things in this city and I know He hears the cries of His people. 

Part 1: Moving to Asheville

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

So, I thought I would start out by filling in everyone about all that has happened over the past several months. And let me tell you, a LOT has happened. First, we have to start with how we ended up in Asheville, North Carolina.

In May, Aaron and I graduated from LMU. It was such a bitter sweet time as we were graduating (thank you Lord! seriously) and we were preparing to leave our friends and our second home behind. Aaron had been searching for a job in Los Angeles since March and when graduation time came, there had been no bites. Lots of people interested, but no money to make a commitment to him at the time. So we threw all our stuff into a storage unit (as we still were expecting to move to Los Angeles) and headed back to Nashville.

When we got back to Nashville, Aaron and I both started looking for jobs during the summer. We had been there a couple of weeks when one Saturday night as Aaron and I were watching a movie waiting on a pizza, Aaron got a phone call from a man named Carl from Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, NC. During that conversation we found out that they had gotten Aaron's name from Maurilio Amorim, a very close friend of Billy and Brenda's and the owner of The A Group. Carl pretty much made it seem like they wanted to hire Aaron immediately. We were completely surprised and overwhelmed at this phone call. Especially since it came on a weekend.

Aaron and I had not even considered North Carolina. I mean, why would we? The plan was for us to move to Los Angeles. But what we didn't know is that God had other plans for us.

Aaron continued to speak with Carl and a couple of weekends later were able to drive to Asheville to visit the church and to meet Carl and the Lead Pastor, Bruce Frank. They took care of our lodging, bought most of our meals, and even had a welcome basket waiting for us in one of our hotel rooms. It was pretty weird for us to be courted by a church; however, we felt so welcomed and felt the excitement and the passion of Biltmore Baptist. It was definitely not the "baptist" church we both knew.

While we were there, we learned exactly how the church had found out about Aaron. In Aaron's attempt to find work over the summer, Aaron emailed Maurilio to see if he knew of any churches that might need some help as Maurilio's business mainly works with non-profits, especially churches. Aaron was thinking a local church and doing some freelance work for them. Maurilio was actually at a lunch meeting with Bruce Frank one day and Bruce mentioned to him that they really wanted to up the quality of the video and technical department and wanted to find someone who could create videos for them that would tell a story. We were told that literally a little over a mnute went by when Maurilio received Aaron's email. Maurilio responded to Aaron that he might have a contact, but we didn't really think too much of it at the time.

Aaron and I had been talking a lot about this decision that we faced. Go to Asheville, North Carolina and Aaron work as a video director and leave behind LA? Or move to LA where our friends were and back to a city that we had both grown to love? After hearing from Bruce how they learned of Aaron, we were pretty sure what our decision would be if they offered him the job. They had seen his website and LOVED his work. They just wanted to meet him at that point.

A week and a half later, Aaron was offered the job, he accepted, and he and his father were on a plane to LA to clean out the storage unit and ship some stuff to Asheville. A few days after that, we were loading a moving truck and my family, Aaron and I were headed to Asheville to move Aaron into our apartment. It was such a crazy time. Aaron worked for a month and then came back to Nashville the Sunday before the wedding.

Even though moving to Asheville wasn't in our plans, we know that God wanted us here and directed our paths here. He has provided so much for us with this change. We truly felt Him calling us to Asheville. We do struggle with some things from time to time, like finding friends that are our age and dealing with a bit of boredom. (Asheville is a city BIG on outdoor activities, which we don't mind at all. It just starts to slow down a bit as it starts to cool off. Plus, we are not used to this "cool" weather.) But God has started to bless us with friends and we are on a list to be apart of a Home Connect Group (small group) since we aren't able to participate in the Connect Groups on Sunday mornings since Aaron works. The Home Connect Groups are for couples only and meet during the week. We are super excited. We haven't really been too involved in anything since high school, mainly because there was nothing offered, but we know we will be blessed by the great community Biltmore has created through their Connect Groups.