The Beauty of the Body

Pic above: Preparing for teaching in front of the beautiful white cascade terraces of Hierapolis

Hey Friends ~

As I'm slowly coming out of my jet lag fog (it's not been easy - I am in one big daze! Just ask my mom, I managed to lose her car keys in a matter of minutes yesterday. Ugh!)

Anyway...I've been slowly reflecting on the lessons I've learned on my recent journey to Turkey (and back)!

One of the many lessons I learned first hand is the beauty of the Body of Christ!

This whole experience to Turkey is jam packed full of help, support and encouragement from women and men from all over who helped make this Red Hot Faith journey possible, like...

* my husband, John - who joyfully took on the single parent role for 8 days so I could step out in faith towards a lifelong dream...

* my kids - who prayed for me every. single. day and wrote me notes and love seeing their mom do something she is passionate about....

* my parents and in-laws (child care help extraordinaire, plus so much more!)

* friends around the world "praying down the tracks", literally...

* The Magnificent Monday Night girls who let me practice all this teaching material on them

* friends who helped pick wardrobe, let me borrow their clothes and jewelry, sent me Scripture cards, $ for Turkish coffee, made meals and orange bread while I was gone, wore Red every day as a reminder to pray, woke up in the night praying, gave my girls extra "mom" hugs, helped with all my sick issues, sent me to Turkey with pillow cases, bracelets, notes of support, special texts, & prayed more....

I could go on and on.... I am so humbled and grateful for the amazing community God has blessed me with :)

And then there is the amazing Day of Discovery team. I could not have hand picked a more Christ-centered, prayerful, Servant-hearted, patient group to serve alongside.

This amazing crew encouraged me, made me laugh, gave me helpful pointers...

...kept me cool in the sun, made sure I was drinking, prayed for me the entire time, made sure I was eating, and helped the full days of filming (which could have been horribly stressful) instead be filled with laughter, kindness and oodles of joy.

Thank you Steve, Julie, Em, Fred and Leah (plus the amazing crew in GR who prayed us through every step of the way!!)

Lastly, I'm so thankful to Fred Hollis, the Director/Producer of this project. Fred's been in TV for 30 years, and has taken the time to really coach me. What a huge blessing!

Clearly I have no training in making TV shows (this is the last thing I'd have ever thought I was doing!) ~ so to have someone with such skill, experience and willingness to teach and shape me is an absolute blessing!

Yes, the body of Christ is a BEAUTIFUL thing and I'm so grateful for the army of women and men God has gathered to help pray this project into fruition!

Would about for you? How have you experienced the body of Christ in action?? I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*!

Sweet Blessings to you~



P.S. For the friends wondering if I enjoyed Starbucks while I was away, the answer is YES! Julie and I found a Starbucks both in Amsterdam and in Istanbul. Pic below is with Armagan, our Turkish guide in Istanbul, on the night he took us girls out shopping to celebrate the end of production. Woo Hoo!