I've been teaching fitness classes for over 16 years. The way I began was a total God-thing because I wasn't looking to teach classes, or had a fitness career on my radar; I was simply interning for a recreation department in a gym-less small town and wanted to offer a cheap class for residents to take. I had been praying, off and on, for a few years that God would make me thin...don't judge. I had been the heavy girl in junior high and high school and I didn't want heaviness to be my destiny; so I asked the Lord to let me be thin.
As the start of this city-offered step class drew nigh and there was no instructor willing to teach, I thought: "Well, I took a semester of step in college, I can teach it for a few days until I find an instructor!"
So I taught the class...and loved it! That was the beginning of what would become a great side job for this stay-at-home Mom and I have loved educating myself through certifications, trainings and home-studies.
Over the last sixteen years I have met a number of very interesting people who share their thoughts toward diet and fitness with me. None are quite as fascinating as the woman, whom I'll call Silly Sally.
Silly Sally, who met me at a preschool Mom's meeting, pulled me aside one day and said, "I want to lose weight, but I don't want to give up eating fast food and I don't want to exercise."
I paused, waiting for the dum-dum-ka! from a drum.
My response? "I'm afraid without changing your diet and exercising you are going to have a hard time losing weight."
Silly Sally had a goal, but she had no desire to work towards that goal, and she was unwilling to change her status-quo. Really, Sally just had a pipe dream; a woulda-coulda-shoulda path lay in front of her due to laziness. People who have this attitude, this "want it but won't work for it" mentality are often the people who feel that they are victims of circumstance and end up blaming others, especially God, for their lack.
The fact is, a goal without a clearly laid out plan results in failure.
When you want to change your body you must have a clearly laid plan for how you'll get there.
When you want to learn more about God and get closer to him, you have to lay out a plan.
When you want to heal from emotional wounds, you need a plan.
Paul, who was a mentor and "personal trainer" to Timothy, a young preacher, gave his student both the plan and the way to get there.
"Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1st Timothy 1:5)
If Paul would have left Timothy with that little nugget, poor Timmy would have been left lost and wandering in that fortune cookie. Gladly, for Timothy, Paul spends the rest of his letter to his mentee explaining what that looks like, and why - in relation to our walk with God - we would want as our goal to love from a pure heart, have a good conscience and sincere faith.
We are going to follow Paul's lead over the next few weeks and build the foundation for change, for growth. With that said, what is your goal? Do you want to lose few excess pounds, do you want to get along with your spouse better, do you want to get to know God on a deeper level than you've ever known him before? Think about that and add a comment if you'd like!
Next time we meet we'll start to build our foundation from which our goals will grow.
As the start of this city-offered step class drew nigh and there was no instructor willing to teach, I thought: "Well, I took a semester of step in college, I can teach it for a few days until I find an instructor!"
So I taught the class...and loved it! That was the beginning of what would become a great side job for this stay-at-home Mom and I have loved educating myself through certifications, trainings and home-studies.
Over the last sixteen years I have met a number of very interesting people who share their thoughts toward diet and fitness with me. None are quite as fascinating as the woman, whom I'll call Silly Sally.
Silly Sally, who met me at a preschool Mom's meeting, pulled me aside one day and said, "I want to lose weight, but I don't want to give up eating fast food and I don't want to exercise."
I paused, waiting for the dum-dum-ka! from a drum.
My response? "I'm afraid without changing your diet and exercising you are going to have a hard time losing weight."
Silly Sally had a goal, but she had no desire to work towards that goal, and she was unwilling to change her status-quo. Really, Sally just had a pipe dream; a woulda-coulda-shoulda path lay in front of her due to laziness. People who have this attitude, this "want it but won't work for it" mentality are often the people who feel that they are victims of circumstance and end up blaming others, especially God, for their lack.
The fact is, a goal without a clearly laid out plan results in failure.
When you want to change your body you must have a clearly laid plan for how you'll get there.
When you want to learn more about God and get closer to him, you have to lay out a plan.
When you want to heal from emotional wounds, you need a plan.
Paul, who was a mentor and "personal trainer" to Timothy, a young preacher, gave his student both the plan and the way to get there.
"Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1st Timothy 1:5)
If Paul would have left Timothy with that little nugget, poor Timmy would have been left lost and wandering in that fortune cookie. Gladly, for Timothy, Paul spends the rest of his letter to his mentee explaining what that looks like, and why - in relation to our walk with God - we would want as our goal to love from a pure heart, have a good conscience and sincere faith.
We are going to follow Paul's lead over the next few weeks and build the foundation for change, for growth. With that said, what is your goal? Do you want to lose few excess pounds, do you want to get along with your spouse better, do you want to get to know God on a deeper level than you've ever known him before? Think about that and add a comment if you'd like!
Next time we meet we'll start to build our foundation from which our goals will grow.
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