In 2024, Holy Barre plans to explore and pursue His joy on our journey of burning brighter together! Will you join us?

A popular statement in the Bible about joy comes from the story of Nehemiah, after he and his team have worked hard to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. This entire book of the Bible is a beautiful and powerful story of God’s faithfulness and our role in His restoration. Nehemiah was an amazing leader and example for us, especially entering a new year.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

Nehemiah spoke these words after the completion of the wall and during a time of feast and celebration, praising the Lord for His faithfulness. Yet to ensure we grasp the power of this statement, we must acknowledge the resistance, oppression, threats, and struggles Nehemiah and his team experienced in rebuilding the wall. The entire story that led up to this final celebration was not an easy journey but one requiring endurance and faith.

I wish New Year’s Eve was a time when we could flip and switch and have a fresh start, forgetting the struggles on the past and moving forward with joy for the future. Yet I think in doing so, we’d miss out on the depth of His joy and the strength of His power that sustains us on our journey.

Throughout scripture, we read about trials and struggles and challenges. I pray one of your new year’s resolutions is to spend time in His Word each day. This is VITAL to our overall health. Plenty of passages in the Bible are not easy to read or understand, so you can probably relate to the people’s response in the passage below. (Thank heavens for teachers and His Spirit to help us study His Word!) And since we live in a broken world, it is a safe guess for 2023 included times of weeping. Yet the focus of this story is God being after our hearts and His joy being our strength. We keep our eyes on Jesus and move forward in His love, joy, and peace.

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.” So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them.

Nehemiah 8:9-12

Take a few minutes to reflect on the resistance, oppression, threats, and struggles of 2023 in your own life. While pain was likely present, we must believe that the Lord had and has purpose in it all.

I invite you to complete Nehemiah’s statement in your own words. Write it down, share it with a friend, and comment below here. What truth can you stand firm on entering into 2024? The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my hope. The joy of the Lord is my lifeline. The joy of the Lord is my drink. The joy of the Lord is worship. The joy of the Lord is health.

The joy of the Lord is my ______________.

– You

As we transition from Christmas 2023 into a new year of 2024, we get to pause and reflect. Hopefully we get to breath and rest as well. Yet ultimately, may our response be worship! 

We worship that our Lord reigns today just as He does on Christmas Day or Easter or any other big celebration. We worship His power and love that sustained and supported us in 2023. We worship His power and love that will move in us and through us in 2024. Worship changes us because Jesus changes everything. And worship can be used as a our weapon and also stirs our wonder. We worship for His glory and our JOY! (more to come on that in 2024!)

As you prepare for 2024, I challenge you to consider what your worship, workout, and wellness will look like in the new year. Up til now, you’ve probably kept those things separate. Like so many of us. Worship in one bucket. Workout in another bucket. And wellness in another bucket.

But when we look at John 4 when Jesus reveals He’s the Messiah to the Samaritan woman at the well, He shares how we can now worship in Spirit and in Truth. Wherever and whenever!  And that’s He’s the Living Water that can completely fill all those buckets up til they overflow! His Spirit dwells within us completely, abundantly, and freely.  The Spirit is here – it’s so sweet and simple.

And as we worship in Spirit, we will overflow. As we allow the Lord to fill us as a Consuming Fire and ignite a fire in our souls that can’t be put out, we will burn bright and overflow with love, joy, and peace beyond understanding.

As we worship in Truth, we will believe and know that our bodies are holy temples.  That the Spirit of the Lord lives within us. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!  So we can move our bodies in love and take care of our temples in such a way that brings Him glory and us joy!  

The truth is our Heavenly Father designed us for worship.  He designed our bodies to release natural endorphins when we work and exercise.  He designed a beautiful creation for us to enjoy.  Our response is doing so in love for Him and each other. He designed food and clothing and accessories as a way to honor and love Him as well as each other.

The truth is we are fearfully and wonderfully made, image bearers of our God.  As we live as living sacrifices, not confirming to the patterns of this world but being transformed by the renewing of our mind, we experience how there is nothing better than the love of Christ.  No relationship, appearance, status, or performance compares to the love of Christ.

The truth is the love of Christ fills us completely, all the buckets, all the desires, all the goals and expectations. 

So as we worship in this season, let’s empty and surrender our buckets so HE will fill them all in 2024 with His joy! 

Here’s a new playlist for just that! If you have Spotify, click the link below. If you’re not a Spotify user, here are screenshots of the songs. Press play as you drive, walk, clean, cook, play, whatever! And if you’d like to intentionally move too, I’ve included this Holy Barre Workout from last year!

Make sure you’re subscribed to receive these updates and venture over to DeeperWellsOK.com for more opportunities for worship, workout, and wellness!

Consider supporting our ministry and shopping for Holy Barre merchandise as well. All donations are tax-deductible as we’re a 501c3 organization!

Below are words of encouragement from our friend, Abbi Wright . . .

This was on my heart this morning. I don’t know if anyone else relates to this, but holidays can sure pull us out of our routines. This is a beautiful thing to jolt us out of our normal, but it can also disrupt our rhythms. Maybe less things are in your control this week— maybe you’re staying in someone else’s home like me, or your kids are with you 24/7 (😅), or you don’t have a lot of say so in meal times and food options and the list goes on and on right?

The Lord has highlighted for me recently that when I have less control over things like that, in my flesh I tend to try to control literally anything else that I can. 😂 But ya know what? Just because I am back in an old familiar environment does not mean I have to revert back to an old familiar lie or thought pattern.

If you catch yourself reverting back to old feelings of guilt and condemnation about what you’re eating this week or not getting a workout in, I hope these words encourage you as they did me today! We have been freely given the gift of Holy Spirit, and we do not have to revert back into our own striving and works!

”Your new life began when the Holy Spirit gave you a new birth. Why then would you so foolishly turn from living in the Spirit by trying to finish by your own works?“

Galatians 3:3 TPT

”Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God.“

I Corinthians 2:12 AMP

We get to interact and respond differently with our families this year, guided by the love of Jesus within us, by His thoughts and purposes, not by my old familiar habits! What a promise and a privilege!

”For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes].“

I Corinthians 2:16 AMP

Join us as we pray, read & meditate, listen, move, and remember this holiday season. And may your joy be complete in Him.

Thank you, Ashley & Abbi, for this prayer! Thank you, Shauna, for this visual reminder of a beautiful phone screen!

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PRAY

Let every heart prepare Him room…Lord, we open our hearts to You today. We focus in on the simple yet profound truth that You are Love. You showed us how much You loved us by sending your Son into the world, that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real Love: not that we loved You, but that You loved us and sent Jesus as a sacrifice for us. That is the Love we celebrate this Christmas.

You are love. Come and make Your home in our hearts as we trust in You, Lord. Let our roots grow down into Your love and keep us strong. Help us understand how deep and wide and long and high Your love is, Lord. Thank You for the gift of experiencing You and experiencing Your love, though it is too great for us to ever understand fully. 

You are love, and in You we find completion, satisfaction, the fullness of life and power that comes only from You. Thank you for reminding us how dearly You love us each day by giving us Your Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with Your love. Thank You that we get to live in complete confidence that there is nothing that can separate us from Your love. There is nothing that can separate us from You! We rejoice in this Truth today– Your love never ends and never fails. 

You are love, and You dwell within us. Remind us Lord that we are carriers of Your love this week. Instead of worrying about what gifts we’ll bring, help us remember the privilege of bringing Your Presence with us everywhere we go. Let every heart prepare You room, Lord–that begins with us, with our hearts right in this very moment. Teach us to remain in Your love, to love and obey You as You call us to. You fill us with the fruit of Your love, the fruit of Your Spirit as we remain in You. Let us be accurate reflections of Your love to our families and friends this year, Lord. 

You are love, and You’ve chosen to dwell in our hearts. We are humbled and awed by the wonders of Your Love, Lord. We can’t help but sing for joy to our world that You have come! Let every heart prepare room for You, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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READ & MEDITATE

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:9-10

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.  If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved  you.

John 15:9-12

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has performed wonders; his right hand and holy arm have won him victory.

The Lord has made his victory known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered his love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.

Let the whole earth shout to the Lord; be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.

Sing to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song.

With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout triumphantly in the presence of the Lord, our King.

Let the sea and all that fills it, the world and those who live in it, resound.

Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains shout together for joy

before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.

Psalm 98

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Join us as we pray, read & meditate, listen, move, and remember this holiday season. And may your joy be complete in Him.

Thank you, Ashley & Abbi, for this prayer! Thank you, Shauna, for this visual reminder of a beautiful phone screen!

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PRAY

Lord, we focus in on Your presence today. All through Your Word You remind us that in Your presence, there is fullness of joy. You are our source of joy, and Your joy is the source of our strength. 

Thank You for showing us that this whole season is filled with the joy of salvation, the joy of Your birth– none of that joy is dependent on circumstances, or even on how we feel.

Lord, forgive us for being distracted by our feelings, by our busyness, by all of the endless details… Help us surrender the details today and choose, as Mary did, what matters most. We choose to sit at Your feet, Jesus.

Rather than yielding to the overwhelm of the world around us, we stand on the truth of Psalm 94:19 today– “Whenever our busy thoughts are out of control, You comfort us in Your presence and overwhelm us in Your delight.” 

We simply focus on Your delight today. With childlike faith and eyes alight with wonder, Lord we believe we will see Your delight all around us this year! Help us carry Your delight in our hearts and cultivate Your delight in our homes, Lord. It is Your Name that we focus on and in Your Name that we pray.

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READ & MEDITATE

Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control, the soothing comfort of your presence calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight.

Psalm 94:19 TPT

By my life, I will praise you. In your name, I lift my hands in prayer. When I sit down to satisfy my hunger, my joyful lips hunger to praise you! I remember you while lying on my bed. I think about you in the middle of the night. That is because you are the one who helps me. It makes me happy to be under your protection!

Psalm 63:4-7

You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You can’t see him now, but you believe in him. You are filled with a wonderful and heavenly joy that cannot be explained. Your faith has a goal, and you are reaching that goal—your salvation.

I Peter 1:8-9

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy the good food and sweet drinks. Give some food and drinks to those who didn’t prepare any food. Today is a special day to our Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy of the Lord will make you strong.

Nehemiah 8:10

You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.

Psalm 16:11

God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, and faithful love belongs to you, Lord. For you repay each according to his works.

Psalm 62:11-12

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Last night at the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in my hometown, the lyrics ‘the weary world rejoices’ brought me to tears.  Why?  Because I’m weary.  As I know so many of you are as well.  Yet this Christmas, we rejoice.  Truly rejoice . . . in the weariness.  Why?  Because Jesus changes everything, and we can only rejoice when weary because we’re full of Him.

In this Advent season of weekly themes, we’re about to transition from peace to joy.  In the middle of the weariness and the craziness and the pain and the fear and the anxiety and the brokenness . . . yet the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love remain.  And will consume us this Christmas season if we let them.  Why?

Because Jesus changes everything.  Even Christmas.

Christmas is about Jesus.  Not the religious laws and judgements and shame and guilt we’ve built up around us.  Not the decorations or fancy parties or traditions we check off rather than use to check in.  Christmas is about faith in Jesus, our hope in the Father, and the presence of His Spirit.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

Our American culture (and I’m so very grateful to call America home) allows Christmas to be comfortable.  We get to celebrate the superficial and the spiritual together in freedom and fun.  We don’t have much persecution. But we experience affliction.  We need endurance.  We need hope.  Hope that will not disappoint.  And this truth, simply stated in Romans 5 above, brings me to tears.  Especially in this season.

When I think of hope, I picture a harvest.  An abundant season of flowers and fruit and gorgeous growth and beauty.  Oh, how I want to live in the harvest.  Yet I’m learning that the season of harvest requires the hardest work.  The biggest efforts.  The most intentionality. The most endurance.

But this ‘hardest work’ is not about shining in our own efforts and working hard in our own strength.   I’m talking about burning bright from within, fully reliant on the Spirit’s fire producing His fruit and beauty.  Sometimes the hardest part is our surrender, submission, sacrifice . . . yes, ours . . . but even greater . . . the Baby’s in the manger that grew into a man, fully human and fully God, who gave it ALL for us  . . . His surrender, submission, sacrifice . . . for our weary world and helpless hearts.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

Each year, a traditional Christmas carol strikes a new chord in my soul.  This year, that song is ‘O Holy Night’ . . . because Jesus changes everything. And in our weariness, we rejoice.

Join me in worship and reflection by pressing play to the video below . . . we’ll apply this to workouts and wellness soon enough.

Love to all the wearied souls . . . let us rejoice. And love one another. Hugs, Libby

OH HOLY NIGHT LYRICS

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming;
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand:
So, led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land,
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend;

He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger!
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! before him bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!

Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory, evermore proclaim!

Join us as we pray, read & meditate, listen, move, and remember this holiday season.

Thank you, Ashley & Abbi, for this prayer! Thank you, Shauna, for this visual reminder of a beautiful phone screen!

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PRAY

Father God,

We look to You right now. We believe that peace, true peace is found only in Your Presence, God. So we come before You in worship today, knowing that praise brings us right into Your presence. Oh, how we love you, Lord! You are the One our hearts adore. 

Help us to sit in awe of You this week, Jesus. You are our wonderful counselor, our mighty God, our everlasting Father, and our Prince of Peace! We come before you with repentant hearts, Lord, forgive us for not giving You the honor and reverence You deserve. Your kindness leads us to repentance, and we are so grateful for Your new mercies today as we realign our hearts and our priorities. 

If Your Presence is perfect peace, help us prioritize Your Presence. Your wraparound, all encompassing Presence is our peace. We are done trying to “fit you in” to our busy schedules. We orient our lives around You, Lord. We keep our minds fixed on You today– as we start our weeks, as we drive to school and work, interact with our families and friends– we set our minds on You and we trust in You. You keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). You are the one who leads us beside still waters, Your tracks take us to an oasis of peace (Psalm 23:3). 

We let Your Word dwell in our hearts, teaching us and encouraging us, reminding us of your Presence, God. In all that we do, we choose to recognize You in it, letting Your love bind us together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14-17). We declare complete peace over our families, Lord. Your peace brings total wholeness and well-being, and it destroys all authority that would attempt to bind to chaos. (Psalm 34:14).

Remind us that we carry Your Presence of peace everywhere we go this week, Lord. Like Paul was quick to remind us in many of his letters– we speak grace and peace to all from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:3). Thank You that we don’t have to look far to find Your peace, Lord. In Your Name we pray.

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READ & MEDITATE

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

Psalm 34:14

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

I Corinthians 1:3

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(Praying you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. For this Christmas season, we are going to provide weekly Advent prayers written by Ashley and Abbi of Deeper Wells. Please set aside time throughout this week to pray and, if you’d like, read, meditate, listen, move and ultimately connect with our Reason for the Season. At the bottom you’ll find a phone screen created by Shauna of Deeper Wells. Enjoy our first week’s prayer. Thank you, Abbi, Ashley & Shauna!)

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PRAY

Lord, as we enter into this Advent season of preparation, we pray You would prepare our hearts to receive what You want to impart to us. Let our hope be found in You alone, not in the circumstances around us. 

Help us quiet our minds and be still in Your Presence. Give us an authentic desire to just sit with You this year. We pause and ask Lord– would You come encounter us in new ways, beyond what we could ask, think, or imagine this Christmas? (Eph 3:20-21) Will You help us realize and recognize that we can hear Your voice? 

Lord, we choose to focus this week on the Living Hope that you bring; a hope so much better than anything the world around us could ever offer. Your Word says that You are our Source of hope! We stand in agreement with Your Truth– we believe You fill us completely with joy and peace as we trust in You. Your Spirit’s power causes us to overflow with confidence, abounding in the hope of Your redemption. (Romans 15:13)

This Advent, we thank You for the hope Your birth introduced into the world, and the hope You are to us today even in the weariness of life. Thank You for the hope You bring our hearts as we look toward eternity with You, Lord. We pray You would help us keep our hopes up as we place our hope in You this year, Jesus. In Your Name we pray. Amen.

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Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

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My husband has started a weekly tradition of using temporary tattoo markers to put the first letter of each word of a Bible verse on our forearms to assist with scripture memory. Sorry that was a long sentence! Here are some pics from ours last week (Acts 1:8) and this week to help (1 Thes 5:18).

All four of us are having fun with this as my youngest is now identifying letters and sounds, making the markings recognizable. And my oldest still thinks this particular family activity adds to her cool factor rather than takes away! We’re definitely in a sweet spot this holiday season!

While gratitude is my response in general to this whole family ordeal, this week’s scripture of choice gives clear direction:

Whatever happens, always be thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18a

As we look back over this past year and gear up for the holiday season, may we view our trials and triumphs and upcoming ones with a thankful heart. Let’s not take the word ‘always’ lightly in this letter from Paul.

When blessings happen, always be thankful.

When success happens, always be thankful.

When weakness happens, always be thankful.

When trials happen, always be thankful.

What battles happen, always be thankful.

When illness happens, always be thankful.

Gratitude is definitely easier during those first ones rather then the lasts, but this scripture goes on to say:

Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

We can be thankful because of Christ Jesus. Rather you’d prefer to zoom into your specific day today or zoom out to view your life as a whole, I pray we all are left in awe at the continued work of Jesus in our hearts, our minds, our souls, our bodies, our families, our churches, our communities, and our world. Whatever happens, He is still Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). (We already have Christmas decorations up at our house so including this verse seemed totally appropriate.)

Personally, this year has included plenty of seasons of weakness, trials, battles, and illness. Way more than I had expected or desired. But this year continues to include blessings as well. And as my family enters the Thanksgiving holiday, our gratitude is much greater because of His work through our weakness, trials, and battles.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Our family verse included Jesus’ final words on earth and spoke to this power.

But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power.

Acts 1:8

Holy Barre (& Deeper Wells) has the opportunity to partner with two organizations who can relate to His power being made perfect in our weakness and who reflect a posture of thankfulness! If you’re in Central Oklahoma, we’d love for you to join us!

Hope Is Alive (HIA) Women’s Gathering: Sunday, November 26, 6:30-8:00pm at NW OKC. We’ll provide dinner for the female residents of HIA’s faith-based sober living homes, connect with them over soup, witness the most encouraging and authentic group meeting ever, and then lead the ladies through a time of worship, workout, and wellness! If you’d like to join us, sign up to bring something using this link, and we’ll be in touch – HIA Dinner Sign-Up.

(PS – Go ahead and mark your calendars ‘HIA Ladies’ on the 4th Sunday of each month in 2024! We’ll be burning bright with them regularly in the new year!)

SHINE YOUR LIGHT – Girls Gathering for Good with BRAVETELLER & Deeper Wells: Sunday, December 3, 1:00-3:00pm at Rankin YMCA in Edmond. We’ll gather at the Rankin YMCA on Keaton’s Court for a dance party, Holy Barre worship and stretch, wrap gifts for K Club cancer fighters, hear inspiring stories and make trucker hat charms. BRAVETELLER empowers, encourages and honors cancer fighters conquering mountains. Register through the link below to secure your spot. A portion of registration fees will provide gifts for K Club cancer fighters. Each participant will go home with a trucker hat and charm. We can’t wait to SHINE OUR LIGHT together while GIVING BACK during this special Mother/Daughter event. $25 per person. All ages welcome. Sign up today here!

We kicked off 2023 with a focus on freedom! And as we finish out this year, Christ’s message of freedom remains as we rejoice and move forward in thanksgiving! Hope Is Alive ladies are living boldly and beautifully in His freedom! BRAVETELLER encourages others to share their story of hope and freedom in seasons of weakness. Holy Barre exists to gather women together to move in His freedom and burn brighter together! Come join our freedom parties and ALWAYS BE THANKFUL!

Let’s conclude with this prayer from 1 Thessalonians, just a few verses down from 5:18.

We pray that God Himself, the God of peace, will make you pure – belonging only to Him. We pray that your whole self – spirit, soul, and body – will be kept safe and be blameless when our Lord Jesus comes. The one who chose you will do that for you. You can trust in Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week! Next post we’ll kick off our Christmas series! We are thankful for YOU!!!

So this morning at Holy Barre I asked the question, ‘Why are we here?’

Like why did we show up to class today. Now I realize for many you initially come to Holy Barre for a free faith-based full-body workout, but we pray that you soon realize this gathering is much more than physical fitness.

What are we wanting to get out of Holy Barre? What do we need today? Maybe some of us just need to breath deeply and slowly. Maybe some of us just need a mental break from the go, go, going. Maybe some of us need to process emotions we’ve been stuffing down. Maybe we just need to pray. Maybe we need to lift our praise. Yet ultimately, we all need to worship.

Worship is an endurance sport. Much like barre is known for building muscular endurance, worship builds our spiritual endurance. Because worship brings us back to what truly matters.

By your endurance, you will gain your lives.

Luke 21:19 CSB

In the statement above, Jesus was encouraging His apostles to stay the course, stand firm, and be ready as they continue on their journey of living for Him. Because life requires endurance.

Yet our world wants us to fall for the quick fixes and chose immediate gratification, especially in the world of health and wellness. But that’s not why we gather together through Holy Barre and Deeper Wells. I’m guessing like me, you’ve fallen for the lies and came out injured and tired. Our journey here on earth is not a sprint but a marathon, and slow and steady wins the race.

In Matthew 21:12-13, Jesus looses His cool and calls out those who have turned His temple into a den of thieves. Since I Corinthians 3:16 reminds us that our bodies are now His temples, how has our world turned our bodies into more of a business? Always selling us something?

In Mark 7:14-23, Jesus tells people to quick fixating on what they can and can’t eat. That’s not what matters when it comes to our souls. Whatever we eat and drink should be for the glory of God (I Cor 10:31)- He’s what matters.

In Matthew 23:25-26, Jesus explains how we can spend all our energy making our outer self look clean and pretty while our inner self is unhealthy and hurting. He knows our hearts are what matter. Rather than hiding and numbing, feel the feelings and let your real self be seen. You’re beauty-full.

Taking care of our bodies, working out, and eating healthy are all good and valuable things. But they can’t be the only thing. They do not nourish our souls and build endurance for our lives.

We worship as warriors in Spirit and in truth. We dig deeper wells (John 4).

We are on guard and alert (Luke 21:34).

We pay attention to our posture and put on the Armor of God each day (Ephesians 6).

We grow deep roots in His love to weather storms and create beautiful blooms (Ephesians 3).

We move to rhythms of grace (Matthew 11).

We remain in Him and bear bountiful fruit (Galatians 5).

We burn bright, better together (Romans 12).

We’re here for the marathon TOGETHER and are building endurance for His glory and our joy TOGETHER! Because . . .

Then! they’ll see the Son of Man welcomed in grand style – a glorious welcome! When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!

Luke 21:27-28 MSG