“Twelve minutes,” the technician said as I stepped on the treadmill for my stress test. "Do you mean I need to walk for twelve minutes?" I asked. "No," she said, "actually I was letting you know today’s record." As if she knew she was awakening my competitive nature, she told me about the fifty two year old man who treaded before me!

Being a decade younger, there was no way I was going to walk less than twelve minutes, so up on the treadmill I stood. I focused on pacing myself into first place, even if I had to pant and sweat every step of the way! When the tech realized I was preparing to win the race of a lifetime, she quickly back-peddled. “Now, you are to push yourself, but don’t go crazy! You are here because of an abnormal EKG... be wise.”

Yes, the reason I was covered with sticky little wires and dressed in a fashionable hospital gown was because during my last check up the doctor detected some irregularities in my heart exam. It had something to do with bundles being blocked and signals getting stuck. I really have no idea what he told me! All I knew is that the doctor said I was probably born this way and this was the first time the test to detect the irregularity was performed. That meant, though it might have been irregular, it was quite regular for me! For that reason, I wasn’t concerned. I just shaved my legs, slipped on my Nikes, and got ready to run, run, run!

The walk on the treadmill was easy!

It was leisurely at first, like a stroll around a lake, or a meander in the mall. But, as minutes passed, the pace quickened and the incline increased. It was becoming more difficult for me to keep up. I still had four minutes before I could easily break the record, so faster and higher I went!

A hooray erupted from the two technicians who were monitoring my test and laughing at my tenacity. Twelve minutes and fifteen seconds! I heard the victory chant, imagined the wind in my face as I broke through the finish line ribbon, and jumped off the machine. But it wasn’t over!

I had to maneuver to the table for a sonogram of my chest. I had only a few seconds to do this because it was important for my heart to still be racing. One of the technicians helped me get from the treadmill and into position onto the table. now, you know in these settings, one is not fully clothed and there is an awkward professional intimacy that occurs between the patient and the health care provider. So, there I was, sweating, panting, and being wanded - parts of me being tugged and maneuvered as she completed her test!

Just then, she asked, "Do you really know Beth Moore?”

“What did she say?” I thought. Am I hallucinating? Is this what happens when you have too much oxygen to your brain? I knew too much exercise was bad for you!

I asked her what she said and she apologized as she explained. “I read your book, and I saw that Beth Moore wrote the foreword... I just love Beth Moore!”

I told her that I loved Beth too. And then it dawned on me. In this truly embarrassing situation, she didn’t say, “I just love Jennifer Rothschild!” or “I just love your book!” HA! As I lie there in my lovely gown, sweat dripping from every inch of my tired flabby body, I began to laugh.

“How irregular and prideful is my heart!” Of all the places that I would not prefer to be recognized as an author, this would be the place! And then, when I was, I was disappointed.

I do have an irregular heart - a sick heart!

Jeremiah 17:9 said that the human heart “is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” Sometimes all of our hearts beat with a little irregularity. Pride makes it palpitate, self makes it skip a beat, rebellion makes it race. It doesn’t take a sonogram to diagnose the real condition of our hearts. Our hearts are desperate for God.

Thankfully though, God redeemed our hearts! He made them new. So, when we have irregular beats from time to time, lets look to the Great Physician, the Maker and Redeemer of our hearts.

Let’s pray with the Psalmist: “Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart." Psalm 26:2

Encourage and equip event team members to take ownership of their responsibilities! A priority at the first planning meeting is to decide on all the roles of the team members. Make sure that everyone knows what they are to do and when it needs to be done by. Everyone should be working toward a common goal to stay "on the same page."

Hold productive planning meetings - live or electronically via a chat room or email. Everyone is busy so remember to start and finish on time. Have an agenda and stick to it. If you are meeting on-line, be sure and stick to the priorities. If working via email, remind women to reply to all when responding.

Have an appreciation lunch/dinner for the team right before the event. This is a more social type of meeting. It is a great time to pray together, share with each other, and take care of any last minute things.

Pray, Pray, Pray. Be sure to spend time at every meeting praying for the event and the women who will be attending. The day of the event, arrive at the site early and pray with your team. If you have time, go through each room that will be used and pray in them for the women who will be there.

Make sure everyone on the team has a copy of a detailed schedule of the event. A detailed schedule would include who needs to be where, when. Who is leading music, who is praying before the meals, who is introducing the speaker, etc. Break it down into whatever time increments work for you. This schedule is for the leadership team to know where they need to be and is not typically supplied to the attendees.

Have several ladies serve as greeters at registration and throughout the event. It may seem unnecessary if your women know each other, but it helps to make everyone feel special... and that is how you want them to feel when they leave your event!

Have small groups or table groups. This is a great way to build relationships between the women. Make sure that you have assigned and trained a leader for each group to help guide the conversation.

Have a good mix of activities. Your event should meet the spiritual, social and emotional needs of the women attending. Provide games, quiet time, free time, workshops, etc. Don't make the event too heavy or too light. Strive for a good balance.

Door prizes are a great opportunity to have some fun. Don't just draw names from a basket. Think of creative way to dispurse the treasures. At our annual retreat we have a pair of comedic gals to ring a bell at the beginning of each session and hand out a doorprize. We call them the Dina-a-ling Sistas! They were a big hit!

Stay on Time! You went to a lot of work to plan the event and the timing of everything, so keep to it! Sometimes things happen that will throw your event off schedule, but do your best to stay on time.

Submitted by: Pat Materna
Church: Collierville First Baptist Church

The Bloomery... Water the garden of your heart with this new women's ministry retreat kit from Group. Nourish friendships, explore God's Word, and grow! No Speaker required!

New for 2007! "What's Your Dream?" Women's Retreat with Bridget Taylor. Travel back in time to Egypt. Walk through the desert with the Israelites. Learn from their mistakes. It is never too late to reach your Promised Land!


Music and Ministry...This has been Bridget Taylor's focus for the past 18 years. As both a Top 20 Inspirational singer, speaker and author, Bridget has traveled the US making a difference one life at a time!

Take a minute to revisit last week's sponsor...

• Women of Faith Contageous Joy 2006

Materials: Index cards, pens and assorted items that are used every day like dish detergent, laundry soap, washcloths, books, magazines, dry goods, canned food, etc.

Procedure: Put all the items on a table in the front of the room. Split the ladies into teams, and toss a coin to determine which team goes first.

One person from the team that goes first steps forward and selects an item to guess the price of. If she guesses it correctly, they win a point. If she does not, the other team gets a chance to guess. The point goes to whoever guesses the closest to the correct price without going over.

This can be played with two to six teams and the team with the most points wins. You can either set a time limit or point limit to determine the winner.

Submitted by: p_necole@bellsouth.net

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