Seek and You Shall Find

With minimal grading to do, I had no excuse not to walk for an hour today determined to hit the 10,000 step mark on my FitBit.  So, after dropping the girls at school, cashing checks at the bank, and purchasing fun patches at the Girl Scout office, I headed to SIUE Gardens, one of my favorite places to walk.  Not only is there a paved path, but there is also a trail hidden in the woods in which one may walk.  I plugged my headphones into my cellphone, hit "play" on Pandora, and set the timer for sixty minutes.  At roughly the twenty minute mark, the little girl's room was calling.  So, I visited the facility adjacent to the trail and then resumed my steps. 

With a mere three minutes left on the countdown, I headed back to the car.  Seated in the driver's seat, I adjusted myself so as to read my FitBit readout when, much to my surprise, it was missing from the waist of my stretch pants.  Ugh!  Thanks to woman blessing, Sherri Volz, I connected my steps to Walgreens balance rewards, and my thought was, I will never be able to earn points.  A tad frantic, I retraced my steps beginning with the path.  Passing an older gentleman, I stopped and asked if he had seen a lime green FitBit.  He told me, "My eyesight is shot," so I thanked him for his help and kept walking.  Over the river and through the woods I went to no avail all the while thinking, "My hub is not going to dig my losing yet another electrical device."  Two cellphones met the electronic graveyard due to my leaving them on top of my car and then driving away.  In fact, the hub found one in the form of roadkill at the entrance to our subdivision.  So, losing this FitBit after only three weeks was not going to fair well.  In a final attempt at recovery, I revisited the restroom near the parking lot.  On the floor beneath the sink lay the object in question.  Eureka, Baby!  Of course, forty minutes of the sixty I had walked did not register since the FitBit had disengaged from by body.  Bummah!  All of that walking had been for naught. . . or had it?  I felt better, and even though I could not prove my steps, I knew they had been taken.

Driving home with a smirk on my face, I thought of a favorite song, Seek and You Shall Find, I used to sing while in my parochial school choir.  As a tween, I would belt out the words to this song as if I could sing on key.  Miss Bowden would have us sing this song year after year in rounds.  Perhaps, there was a method to her orchestrations, one I have held in my heart all of these years.

Matthew 7:7 
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

By Courtney Winkler

Connect with Deb Inman

Deb Inman pictured far right.

RUBY:  How long have you been attending Troy UMC?
Deb:  We started attending troy umc in august of 2002 

RUBY:  What drew you to this church?
Deb:  We were drawn to this church by previous experience with the
church--Carl spent the night with a youth group several years before.
And I felt led to this church.


RUBY:  Which service do you typically attend?
Deb:  Most often I attend the 9 am service, but I am usually here for all
three services.


RUBY:  Share a favorite Bible verse, and why this is a favorite.
Deb:  Matthew 7:7
   "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the
door will be opened to you."
An encouragement and reminder to me that our God is a loving and
responsive God and that prayer DOES make a difference.


RUBY:  Tell us about your family.
Deb:  My Family is awesome.  They love the Lord and live lives that reflect
that.  Erica and Camden and Derek live in Philly. Camden is a Phd
student at Westminister Seminary, and Erica is a stay-at-home mom after
being the Director of Development for the Philadelphia Rescue Mission.
Joshua and Lisa and Colby live in Orlando.  Gregory has recently
graduated from siue and has a job in O'Fallon, MO.  He is engaged to be
married in June.  Lauren teaches high school science in O'Fallon.
And my best friend Carl is enjoying being a grandpa.


RUBY:  You are the Director of Lay Ministry.  What exactly does this
entail?
Deb:  Director of Lay Ministry--mmmm--the job responsibilities are fluid =:)
My primary purpose is to help people discover their spiritual gifts and
to find a place in ministry that is a good fit. I believe that there is
a ministry role for each of us and that we are all called to serve in
some capacity--and I feel called to help folks discover what that is.
I also have responsibility for adult studies, hospitality, food service,
custodial/facility use issues, trustee liaison, pastoral care
coordination and miscellaneous details as they arise.


RUBY:  What's the best way to spend a rainy weekend?
Deb:  I like to cook soup and build a fire in the fire place and snuggle down
and spend time with whoever is around.


RUBY:  Do you have a special Christmas tradition you would like to share?
Deb:  We have for several years--wrapped all of each person's gifts in the
same paper.(no names on pkgs)  On Christmas morning the kids stack the
gifts in piles and guess which pile if for which person based on the
paper and the pile.  They always are able to figure it out.  After the
gifts have been opened, we make waffles with strawberries and whipped
cream and lots of bacon.


RUBY:  How may we contact you in order to make a further connection?
Deb:  I am anxious to hear from Ruby readers
deb@troyumc.org at my desk
deblaymin@gmail.com on my phone
667-6241 at my desk
974-8010 on my cell