Looking through the eyes of a child…when do we look in awe and wonder anymore? On April 5, I turned 46. Wow! 46 years old! I still feel like a child so often, but I am obviously NOT. Currently, I am sitting on an airplane behind a 6-year-old flying for the first time. As we took off, her eyes were full of awe and wonder. She didn’t have one ounce of fear in her gaze. She trusted the process…her mom bringing aboard, the plane itself and the pilots guiding us to our destination. She was fully engaged in the wonder of it all!
As I watched her, it got me thinking…we too should approach life with a sense of awe and wonder. We should trust the process…our heavenly Father who gave us life, the body he gave us to live out this life and the fact that He guides us daily. He wants us to give our life to Him every day and take off for Him!
My morning started early today. I am flying to California to see friends and family. I had to catch a shuttle in Chattanooga to the Nashville Airport due to unforeseen car issues. To ensure I made it on time for my 7:45 a.m. flight, I had to take the first shuttle available – 3:30 a.m. Now to most of you that know me know that isn’t too bad. I am used to getting up to workout at 5:00 a.m. My day always starts early.
Over the past 8 months I have come to truly appreciate the early morning time. It has become me time. Time for me to work the body God gave me to the best of its ability. I have learned a new appreciation for this amazing temple He provided each of us to travel on the journey He is providing. This is a story of the awe and wonder He is giving me daily when I listen to Him en route to His daily plan and the journey of my life. I hope to continue to find the awe and wonder daily!
Fitness is nothing new to me. I have my degree in physical education and have been teaching spinning classes as well as group exercise classes for the last 10 years. I know how the body works. I know all this! But, it was just recently I got it! God revealed to me how my body is not my body but His temple. His! What I do to it and for it affects Him greatly!
Walking and running have been important to me for over 20 years. Moving comes naturally. Eating does too…but my eating is where I neglected the temple. My relationship with food started a very long time ago. I will never forget the day in 5th grade, when still young, a classmate grabbed my backside. From that time on I had a complex about my ‘big butt.’ This is when food and I started a roller coaster ride. I would go up and then come back down, literally and figuratively. I have been on the spectrum from the overweight side and then would make a swing to the anorexic side and back. Thankfully, after the anorexic symptoms in my early 20s I didn’t visit that loop again. So to help me fight the battle, I received a degree in home economics along with my physical education degree. I figured this would help me get off the ride and stay level, I was wrong. It has not until recently, that as I said before, I got it!
Fast forward to June 2015 – after a few crazy years of severe ups and downs in life – Boston Bombings, Mom’s subdural hematoma and Mike’s broken shoulder – I was moving my body but I was not taking care of the inside of His temple. I had added extra padding to the temple cushions. It made moving harder. It also took a toll on my mental state. I knew I was moving and exercising but I wasn’t fueling properly or taking care of me properly!
In June 2015, I started CrossFit. There are a lot of opinions out there about CrossFit, all I can say is, it is the best thing I have done for me or His temple – ever. It has shown me what this amazing temple is capable of – NO MATTER what age or size you are. CrossFit has helped me make my body – CrossFit! Fit for life never fit for what He did for us on the cross…Fit for bringing Him glory daily.
Lamentations 3.19 – 28
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
He has shown me the true beauty He created. How if we fuel it properly, we will truly move like a well-oiled machine. He is the creator of the universe. He knows how all of the intricate parts of it work together. He was the first machinist. He knows how we are woven together and how we are supposed to move seamlessly. He also created fuel for us to be able to move efficiently and effectively. Between learning how to properly eat and drink His fuel – I feel better and younger than ever. What prompted this story telling? First, I am stuck on a plane for 4 hours. Second, everyone has a story. Our stories are our testimonies for Him. He continues to write my story, page by page and day by day. Hopefully, someone will resonate with it. This journey started ages ago and is still unfolding.
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Acting like a kid…
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Playing in the mud…
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Conquering fears…
I am just a normal person with normal goals. I had to work to overcome and I am still working to overcome the food issues in my life. My journey changes daily. I have to get up daily with awe and wonder at His creation to make it work.
This year I am not going to Boston. That has been my story the last three years. I will miss it this year. I will miss the team. But, my story has taken a different turn this year. The next mailbox is not Boston but Chicago. Now that I am moving better and fueling better I have high expectations for this great run. Along with CrossFit, endurance running and proper nutrition I plan to glorify Him with every amazing step. I’m excited God has brought me to this place of sharing. I have tried so many things to get right with food and all of them sent me up and down. I am hoping by sharing and by recognizing this is His story too that this time I will be successful in keeping His temple clean.
1 Corinthians 6.19
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Will you join me?
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