Vineyard Lex

Ok, so I love my church. This an email to my pastor that I wrote this morning.

Hello Kevin,
I wanted to let you know that I have appreciated your sermons the past two weeks and was saddened when I heard you say that you walked out the past two weeks feeling like a dog. The past two weeks have confirmed what I heard this summer while working at a camp for inner city kids (Kids Across America). While working at the camp, I found that my addiction to exercise (aka exercise bulimia) was keeping me from serving Christ. I couldn't love this kids that God had placed at the camp when I was constantly worrying about whether I was eating too much or exercising too little and feeling gross. I was getting up at 5am every morning (2 hours before wake up time) in order to work out and my body was not able to keep up with the camp schedule on such a small amount of sleep. I was convicted that I was putting my exercise and fears before God; I would rather skip time with God than skip my work out without blinking. I mean, I almost missed my grandmother's funeral because I "had" to work out. I knew that I was being a "grapefruit" Christian -with exercise taking up half of my grapefruit-, but I was too scared to let go of exercise.

Your recent sermons have given me the courage to put into action what my eyes were opened to this summer. I have recently quit swim team (I cried for 2 days, but I know being on the team only retards my recovery). I also only worked out 5 times this week, something I haven't done in a little over 2 years. I am trying to tell my fears "no" and to remember that serving the kingdom is much more important than my irrational fears of gaining weight. Thank you speaking the truth and encouraging me to walk away from the sin/slavery that Jesus has already set me free from. I know that this will not be an easy thing to leave behind, but I am already experiencing freedom from it in ways that I didn't think were possible a few months ago.
Thanks,
Amy