Fitness Challenge Blog

Hello, gals! Happy Saturday! It is a beautiful day. I hope you are all doing well. It has been a crazy last few days, driving to Charlotte to attend a cooking class that my oldest daughter was teaching and to celebrate her birthday, and watching my youngest daughter graduate high school last night. Your time is coming! I went out this morning for my Saturday morning ritual of garage saling. I really enjoy the adventure—not knowing what I’ll find, hunting for treasures, and bargaining. I actually had one instance a few years ago where it was the day before Easter. I had bought a dress for Easter (at a bargain price, of course) in beautiful shades of turquoise blue, but I did not have any shoes to wear with it. I had been garage saling all morning and was about to go home, when I stopped at one more sale. What did I find but a pair of turquoise slingbacks brand new in the box! in my size for $3. It never ceases to amaze me how God works, sometimes in the funniest ways! I just stood there and laughed and thanked the Lord for this sweet blessing.

Well, my husband mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he wanted to go garage saling with me. The outside said, “oh honey, that’s so sweet; I’d love for you to go”. The inside, on the other hand, thought, “I really enjoy when he goes with me, but this is the guy who likes to at least try and sleep in on Saturday, and I leave the house before 7am, and he needs his sleep or he is, how shall I say, a little on the grumpy side, and he won’t have time to eat breakfast, which he can’t go without, and he’ll have to go to the bathroom, and we’ll have to stop somewhere, and he won’t like the traffic (which can be quite dangerous where there are neighborhood sales—more to come on that shortly), and he’ll get tired and frustrated, ........” But when my alarm went off Saturday morning, he hopped out of bed before I did. So off we went, destination—a neighborhood sale, and did we have an adventure. At one point a pickup truck ran us off the road and into someone’s yard; I’m glad Robert was driving. I did find some goodies, and Robert even got out of the car a few times, once to look at old record albums, and when I found a “treasure”, a mint, new condition 1986 Ovation guitar with a custom case. When I saw it, I called, “honey, could you look at this?” Now, of course, I don’t want the seller to see my interest in it, because I always offer less than the asking price on almost everything I buy (except maybe if the price is 25 cents; anything priced higher than that is up for negotiation ). After Robert confirmed that this was, indeed, a “treasure” and we found out the asking price, I proceeded to nonchalantly make the guy an offer, adding a “please” as I got out my cash. The guitar now proudly hangs in my living room, ready for me to play . I’m teaching myself—always wanted to learn; now I’ll have some time since I won’t be making any more school lunches in the near future.

So, that got me to thinking how we, especially women, often like to do things ourselves, because, of course, we know it will be done the right way, at our pace, no one would do it like we would, we don’t want have to go behind someone else’s mess and clean up if we don’t have to, etc, etc. But I realized a long time ago that those “speed bumps” in life where things don’t necessarily go as planned often slow us down enough to help us see and enjoy the blessings along the way. Case in point—when my children were little, I had them cooking, preparing food, making cookies, etc. in the kitchen with me. It would have been much easier and faster to have done it myself, but my girls and I would not have had those experiences and memories together. And I have a daughter who’s a chef and has a passion for her craft (she taught an excellent class!). Sure, things were spilled and messes were made (sometimes by me), but they could cleaned up. And it’s in those little detours of life that our children watch us most closely, seeing how we react when things don’t go as planned. And that’s the key. We can’t control most of what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it. And does our reaction change what just happened? Of course not; it already happened and is now history. No rewind and re-record capabilities here. So what is the point of getting so bent out of shape over something you cannot change? We often put too much pressure on ourselves by trying to handle everything ourselves. I realized that I would not have bought the guitar if Robert had not been with me, seen it and confirmed that it was worth purchasing. So I was truly blessed from his going with me.

So if even your best laid plans go awry, be flexible. Ask what God is trying to teach you in the midst of it all. Be willing to have a helper or two. You will find that your willingness to let others participate in your activity can lead to a wonderful blessing for everyone involved. I think we would all agree that we would like a little less stress in our lives. And stress has been proven to affect our health. It interferes with our immune system, is linked to heart problems such as high blood pressure , is linked to low fertility, and makes stomach, lung, and skin problems worse, just to name a few. Not to mention it makes me just plain cranky. Most of you have probably heard of the Serenity Prayer. God grant me the serenity…and the wisdom to know the difference. But read the whole thing:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr

For me, here is my pathway to peace:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3, 5-6

Now, the official MOPS fitness challenge might be ending in five days, but I hope that you continue to make healthy lifestyle choices from this point on. I would love to hear about some of the changes you have made and how they have impacted your life. Remember, it is a lifelong journey. The following Bible verses are favorites of mine: "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 you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) That is enough for me to want to take care of myself. It's a holy dwelling place.

Well, gals, my time of blogging for the MOPS fitness challenge has come to a close. I want to thank each of you for allowing me to share what the Lord has laid on my heart. If something that I have written has touched your heart, I am truly thankful and humbled, for it is all Him. To God be the glory!! Blessings —Suzanne.