And then there is the fact that most of us have even put on a few pounds with all that celebrating and the good food that goes along with it, and the fact its harder to get outdoors and stay active. As good as our intentions are not to over-indulge its almost impossible to resist. I don't even try! The Lord blessed me with a Mother in Law who's "love language" is to feed her boy... and over the years she's teased out my favorite treats too and so now we both can't resist and I confess I don't even try anymore. After all, what an honour to have someone show love in this way.
And along comes January and what to do? In conversation with others my heart is moved to know I'm certainly not alone in feeling like a few changes need to be made. I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions - for me, they seem to set me up for sure disappointment and failure, instead New Years for me is EVERY day - for every day is a new day in the Lord, when I turn it over to Him.
As women, as children of Christ, we need to be encouragers to one another and in today's post I'm hoping to do just this for you! I'm fairly certain we all could lose "a few pounds" so I'm going to try to inspire you, encourage and motivate you. I know that for most of us, our days are FULL already and a big issue is finding the time to fit some physical exersize in. If you're like me, sometimes it difficult to fit bible-study in, and its not even a question that bible-study should come first. So, sometimes I have to try to combine and complement both soaking in the word and Praising the Lord with getting fit.
The first thing I should address though is why we should find value (from a Spiritual point) in keeping in shape. The very first scripture that comes to my mind is
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God?
You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your bodies.
I will interpret this in the plainest of terms - God blessed us with these amazing bodies with which He enables us to carry out HIS work. I certainly don't know exactly where your body is at, you may have some sort of disability but I have been inspired by many people who have severe disabilities. The common factor with this situation is each person who inspired me made the most of the situation they were in, did not rest in it, give up in it, they persevered because of it. They often ignored what their human-given diagnosis they were given, and, giving it over to the Lord, in faith, became witnesses of His mercies by igniting in us a spark to try harder. Certainly, no matter what physical shape we are in we would be hard pressed to not find someone worse off, physically (perhaps emotionally as well) than you, dear reader, are today. I believe the reason we should push ourselves to get into our best physical shape is because when we are fit and healthy we have more energy and our physical bodies are able to help others who are not able to help themselves. If we have a body that is not completely afflicted to the point we cannot use it, we are almost obliged to keep it in tip top working order for the service of our Lord. Sometimes we take better care of our houses, our vehicles than we do our bodies. We can possibly buy a new house - a new car, but not a new body.
My husband and I used to climb mountains, and I'll tell you, each time we reached a peak I was reminded that some people will never EVER have the physical ability, to experience the joy to stand at that peak and look down and observe all of God's glory over the land. It is so powerful and motivating that is - so, what I'm saying is since God gave us healthy bodies which can do this, isn't it a true GIFT to be able to do it? Isn't this enough of a reason to push ourselves to do it while we can? We are gifted top physical strength for a season of our life, don't let it pass by.
Another reason to keep in good shape is to have the energy to play with your children. Children spend a great deal of their time engaged in play and its a fabulous opportunity to mentor to them, to connect with them. We are accountable to be good examples to them, if we do not stay in shape, keep active then we are leaving them a legacy of inaction and all that goes with that. What a burden of responsiblity we have!
So no matter whether you have 5 lbs to lose, 50 or just need to be motivated to get more active - this post is for you. I know its so difficult to get started - and be prepared the enemy will definately be lurking in the sidelines to make it hard. So the very first thing I'd suggest is to lift up your physical situation in prayer. (I'd love to pray for YOU too!) Surrender your body and mind to Jesus and He will enable you.
Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Yes - God built us so we cannot do it alone. We all need support and that's probably why I find myself sitting here typing this to you. (I have a huge "to do list" trying to distract me, saying 'you should be doing this, and THIS' SEE? That's the enemy working already) I believe as women I'm given an ability to write this in the hopes it might inspire even one of you to get active.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,
just as in fact you are doing.
Now, lets get down to making this first step, now that we have surrendered your need to Jesus. I am going to start off assuming you have virtually no physical exercise in your life at this moment. I am going to assume you don't have a means or desire to join a gym. The very first thing I would suggest is for you to do is to be accountable. Find someone who is willing to help you or even just encourage you. When you get a friend involved you are more likely to stick with it, and its rewarding to share your successes as you build up. A joy shared is a joy doubled - again, we need to encourage each other.
Walking is great way to get into shape and there are many rewards. It does not have to be a long walk or a strenuous one. Taking a friend along is a terrific way to connect and before you know it the distance slips by. As you make it a habit it will come easier and you will go further. Walking also allows you to enjoy being outside. We are fortunate to have warm clothing in the winter, umbrellas in rain etc. Ah, come on, when was the last time you splashed in a puddle? How come we stop that when we are adults - running out into the rain and reveling in it??? My husband and I love walks and runs outside, some of our fondest memories are these times together. I am constantly reminded of God's wonder of the beauty of nature which we experience when we get outdoors.
If you have to stay indoors, why not consider a stationary bike - make the time count by either watching something worthwhile on tv (there are all sorts of good Christian shows on these days) or having someone read scripture to you or listening to an audio book? (there are many FREE books to listen to and download at http://www.librivox.org/) If you have a computer and internet connection you can listen to passages of the bible at http://www.biblegateway.com/.
You might like to dance? You can always tune into http://www.radiotime.com/ where you can search for "Gentle Praise" and can listen to live streaming beautiful and gentle music which you could dance to for a while each day. If you are at a higher fitness level and would like some music to work out there are hundreds of online Christian radio stations available to listen to, and some have "Christian Dance" streams with upbeat music to motivate you. If you want just instrumental music which you can download for free in podcast format I often go to http://www.podrunner.com/ where you can download one hour workouts which offer choices of how many BPM's (beats per minute) you would like to get up to. Podcast can be listened to live on your ipod if there is a wireless connection and alternately you can download the podcasts right onto your ipod/iphone for listening to offline. We are fortunate to have so many resources available to us!
And speaking of how much is available to us, why I'm realizing there is a ton more than I can share right here, today, so I am going to break this topic up over to next week. I hope today has been helpful to you and I'd certainly love your feedback.
Next week I will concentrate on tracking your progress and on the nutrition aspect. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time out to visit here today. I'll certainly address any questions you might have about this subject and help you get started.
May God bless you this week!
EVENTS:
If you have to stay indoors, why not consider a stationary bike - make the time count by either watching something worthwhile on tv (there are all sorts of good Christian shows on these days) or having someone read scripture to you or listening to an audio book? (there are many FREE books to listen to and download at http://www.librivox.org/) If you have a computer and internet connection you can listen to passages of the bible at http://www.biblegateway.com/.
You might like to dance? You can always tune into http://www.radiotime.com/ where you can search for "Gentle Praise" and can listen to live streaming beautiful and gentle music which you could dance to for a while each day. If you are at a higher fitness level and would like some music to work out there are hundreds of online Christian radio stations available to listen to, and some have "Christian Dance" streams with upbeat music to motivate you. If you want just instrumental music which you can download for free in podcast format I often go to http://www.podrunner.com/ where you can download one hour workouts which offer choices of how many BPM's (beats per minute) you would like to get up to. Podcast can be listened to live on your ipod if there is a wireless connection and alternately you can download the podcasts right onto your ipod/iphone for listening to offline. We are fortunate to have so many resources available to us!
And speaking of how much is available to us, why I'm realizing there is a ton more than I can share right here, today, so I am going to break this topic up over to next week. I hope today has been helpful to you and I'd certainly love your feedback.
Next week I will concentrate on tracking your progress and on the nutrition aspect. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time out to visit here today. I'll certainly address any questions you might have about this subject and help you get started.
May God bless you this week!
EVENTS:
Prayer at Kaye's
Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
7806 Gravenstein
Friday Night Open Worship
Every Friday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550
OCC Women's Fellowship Meeting
Thursday, January 20th - 1 to 3 p.m.
Moira's place - 8006 Vedette Drive
Bring a treat - bring a FRIEND!
This is just a time for us to "hang out" together. If you've been inspired by a poem, story anything please bring it along to share!
Missionary Sunday
January 23 - Sunday Service
Osoyoos Christian Center
This Sunday we welcome missinaries David and Valbona Pennoyer who are involved in ministry missions for Albania. They will share their vision and we hope to bless them in their endeavors! You can find out more by visiting their website: http://www.lovealbania.com/church_main.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment