I put my tennis shoes on, grabbed my water bottle, and headed for the gym. I was committed. Today I was determined to make some positive changes in my life. No more being lazy. I was ready to give 100%.
As I walked into the gym, I noticed the trainer at the front of the class. She was smaller than I had expected, and not the dynamo everyone had described her as being. She flashed the class a smile and said, "Welcome everyone! I can't tell you how delighted I am to see so many of you here today. I know you all have busy lives, so I want to get started right away. I am Sister Clara and this is Prayer Training 101. Let's get warmed up. I want everyone to start running in place."
We all began to jog.
After about two minutes Sister Clara said, "How many of you want to get to heaven?"
I heard a few people mumble the word "yes" quietly, unsure if they were supposed to answer out loud.
"I'm sorry, but that was a very poor response. If you're not seriously interested in getting to heaven, feel free to just run right out that door. Now, let me ask you again, who in here wants to get to heaven?"
"I do," chanted everyone.
"I need to know your commitment. Let me hear your conviction. Who wants to go to heaven?"
"I do!" we all shouted.
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear. Now, who here wants to be a saint in heaven?"
"I do!" we all shouted again.
"That's great!" exclaimed Sister Clara. "How many of you are starting to feel your heart pumping pretty good?" Most of us rose our hands. "That's called life. God gave you life and He's got a plan for you. Are you ready to discover His Plan?"
"Yes!" we again shouted.
"Inorder to discover God's Plan we have to pray from the heart. Everyone put your hand over your heart. Can you feel that energy? That is a heart that is committed to God and discovering His Will. Isn't it exciting?! Continue to keep jogging, except now I want to see everyone smiling. God wants you to be happy. Let everyone know that doing God's Will fills you with joy and excitement! In a minute, I'm going to send each of you out into the streets of this neighborhood. I want you to smile and radiate the love of God to everyone you encounter. I'm going to give you 30 minutes to work on finding your inner joy. Think of all the ways God has blessed you in your life. Meditate on this thought- God loves me and He has blessed me! Okay, I'll see all of you back in 30 minutes. Go spread joy into the world!"
(to be continued...)
-Susan
