Body, Soul and Spirit III: Building the foundation

In the last post I told the story of asking God to make me thin and in response he cast me head long into a fitness teaching career. While God could have just snapped a finger and made me perpetually thin, regardless of diet and exercise (we've all seen those kind), instead the Lord taught me an important lesson: anything worth wanting for is worth working for.
I wanted to like the way I look. I wanted to be able to sit up with the assistance of my arms and legs flailing in the air to get me upright. I wanted to see a bit of muscle tone in places I had never before seen it.
When I first began to teach classes I was unbelievably sore. My now-husband-then-fiancee, Ryan, and I had strict rules regarding places on the other's body we could touch before we were married; one evening I limped in to his parent's house and begged him to massage my glutes. (That is the butt for those who don't know). He refused...it was in "the zone".
"No, it's okay! I won't think of it as sexual...it's just a muscle and it hu-urts!" I whined.
He shook his head in stubborn refusal. My poor buns.
It took a while, and a lot of discomfort, but I got into pretty darn good shape. Sixteen years later it takes a lot for me to get sore now because my body is so accustomed to the work I load on it. And that's the point: anything worth wanting for is worth working

 The above picture was taken when I was 17 years old, I was at one of the heaviest points here.
The picture below was taken when I was 36 years old, after giving birth to three kids.

In the last post we talked about having a goal - which is crucial - but in addition to that goal you have to know how to get there. After starting to teach classes I had to learn, not only how to teach fitness classes, I also had to learn about the way the body functions, how to work it for strength, endurance and flexibility. Most importantly, I had to learn how to fuel my body properly. Basically, I had to relearn how to eat. I can exercise until the cows come home, but if I didn't eat clean, God-made foods, I was doing little good for my body.
You just can not eat junk food and expect to have a lean, strong body. Nope. Not gonna happen.
If your goal for this year is body-health than I would recommend the book Clean Eating by Tosa Reno and also Body By God by Ben Lerner.
Just as diet and exercise are the foundations for building a strong body, Paul tells us that there are some necessary building blocks in having a satisfied soul: faith and a good conscience.
Remember, Paul said the goal of his instruction to Timothy "is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith." This is what is necessary to tear down any feeling of a wall between you and your Creator. Don't get me wrong...Jesus Christ is always there for you and hears you when you pray; but the bible is very clear that our sins disrupt a close, loving relationship with him. (Check out First John chapter one).
"I just want to feel closer to God", you say.
Great. How is your conscience and your faith?
Are you holding on to resentment and unforgiveness? Baby, that's sin. "For if you forgive people their wrong doing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don't forgive people, your Father in heaven will not forgive your wrongdoing." (Matthew 6:14-15)
Are you jealous of someone? Do you want what someone else has? Do you have a crush on a married co-worker (lust)? Seriously, the list can go on and for those of you who are followers of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in you, I bet God brought something to mind, didn't he?
This morning I had to confess my insecurity and pride to the Lord because someone at the gym has bigger class numbers than me and it makes me feel like I am failing. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but for me it was becoming an obsession. I don't want that on my conscience.
How about faith? How are you doing with that building block?
Faith is believing God is in charge and wants what is for the best...especially when it doesn't seem like it.
If you want to grow closer to God, to know him more, to feel His love more...ask Him to give you a sensitive conscience and a stronger faith.

Body, Soul and Spirit II: The Goal

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.

Body, Soul and Spirit I

For the next few weeks I am going to begin a little tutorial I liked to call "Bible Boot Camp". During this time we are going to take a serious look at our spiritual lives, physical lives and emotional lives and shape up!
I love that many times through out his epistles the Apostle Paul drew parallels between physical and spiritual fitness; as an instructor this appeals to me a lot,
In the same way, I am going to draw a lot of parallels between the two, while giving fitness tips that have real world application. So, consider me your trainer over the next few weeks. Please follow my blog and comment on your thoughts, trouble zones and any inspiration you want to share!

Christina

A Reboot for the New Year

For a while now I have really looked forward to the New Year, I just didn't really know why; it's not like I keep resolutions, so I haven't bothered making them in years. Not much changes for me between December 31st and January 1st, yet still I love New Year's day.
This morning, as I was mentally preparing myself for this day's to-do's, it dawned on me why I like the first of the year so much.
I get to get rid of stuff.
I hate clutter. Messes make me anxious. 
Nothing sets me off like a room gone bad. 
While I love Christmastime, it is also clutter time: too much stuff, too many decorations, too many new things mingling with broken-down old things.
The first day of January is my get-rid-of-the-clutter-and-get-simple-day. Oh yeah, I'm getting excited just thinking about all the organizing and de-junking I get to do today!
Others of you do make resolutions, and bless you for that. Being in the fitness industry I see a lot of resolution-makers come into the gym trying to get rid of "stuff" too. Most of them will be gone by March, but some really do give it the ol' college try and find great success in the Good Riddance resolutions. 
So why is it that at this time of year we all have a desire to get rid of excess, whether it is excess weight, excess clutter, or excessively bad habits?
Well, I think there's a God-component to it...a spiritual need to reboot and draw closer to our maker. The book of Ecclesiastes says "He has also put eternity in our hearts" (3:11); this is that desire in each of us to be connected to something bigger, grander, and more important than our own little lives. It also implies a longing for the ways and the will of God...why else would we want stuff to be perfect and pain-free right now, even in the midst of a fallen and sinful world?
Man, we all long for something...better. So we resolve to lose weight, we resolve to clean the house more, improve the budget, make more money, volunteer, stop smoking, start giving. All this in an echo of the eternity God placed in our hearts.
Really, don't we all just feel like something is off?
When Jesus presented himself to the people of Israel as the fulfillment of prophecy he, essentially, read his own job description from Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, 

because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news

to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim

the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance for our God,

to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in Zion-

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Do you see the reboot going on in that passage? It's not like Jesus is unaware that there are atrocities happening every day on this planet; he knows it first-hand and experienced many of those atrocities himself! Jesus knows that the poor need good news, he knows the brokenhearted need binding up and the captives need to be freed. That is what he came to do: Reboot the world!

In this "something's off" kind of world we live in, Jesus Christ offers us all the best word: instead.

He wants to get rid of our ashes and instead give us beauty...reboot!

He wants to get rid of our mourning and instead give us gladness...reboot!

He wants to get rid of our spirit of despair (re: depression, loneliness) and instead give us praise, gladness, and joy...reboot!

So, how can we participate this year in the process? What do you need to get rid of and do instead? 

Less tech time and more Bible study? 

Less isolation and more accountability?

Less selfishness and more service to others?

Or are you living in outright sin and need to get rid of your pet sin and instead develop a closer walk with God?

It's time for a reboot, people.

If any of those "insteads" above spoke to you, why not get a group together and go through my newest Bible study, "We Call Him Father"