I'm On Fire!

I love it when inspiration smacks me upside the head!!

Before I went on my Walk to Emmaus event, a friend at church said to me, "I can't wait to see you after your Walk! I can't wait to see you on fire!"

I was a little scared.  I knew she wasn't being literal, of course.  But I was scared that I was going to find some deep passion within me at my Walk and I would come back some sort of changed woman with a new life purpose.  And that's scary for me because I know my life purpose, I like my life, I like that I already push boundaries and stretch outside of my comfort zone for God.

It didn't happen.  At least not in that big overhaul kind of way.

I came back with lessons learned.  I came back with my priorities in order.  I came back with a renewed spirit and a connectedness to my "old self."

And today, I am feeling some of that fire.

I've been working for a few months on getting back on track towards my "healthier me" lifestyle.  I signed up for Weight Watchers to give me some discipline (I did my 3 month membership- didn't renew it after the 3 months).  We ended up joining the YMCA in addition to my current gym membership near my office.  Although my schedule continues to be my greatest challenge to focusing on fitness, I can honestly say that I continue to be active and not sedentary.

Today, I'm on fire to find ways to inspire healthy living in others- especially those with a faith base.

A little over a year ago, a friend and I started a healthy living group in our church.  The group met once a week and would have a devotional time and then workout or go walk or run at a nearby park.  I had to step back from the group this past school year but have gotten back into the fold with the start up of a Zumba class every other week.  This summer, I'm stepping back into the group "full time" and am excited to see where we go over the summer and in the year ahead.

I'm on fire.  I've had some inspiration whack me upside the head recently and it's my hope and prayer that the ideas I am trying to record will come to fruition through partnerships with others in my church family.

Here are some of the things I am eager about:

Team Spirit!  We are looking at having dri-wick shirts made up.  These can then be worn anytime our activity loving members do a fitness event- either as a team or an individual.

Health & Wellness Fair - I would love to see an event that would focus on healthy living.  Information on heart health, diabetes, arthritis, maybe a blood drive, and ways to get more fit, active and healthy through groups in our church.

Made to Crave - I happened upon this book and plan to start reading it soon.  Over the summer, I think there will be a Facebook book club with others reading it- when I posted about it, the response from others who have picked up but not yet read the book was pretty big!  In addition, there is a small group study that we could do in the coming school year through our FACE It Healthy Living group at church.

Walk to Jerusalem/Bethlehem - Depending on the time of year, there is a program that is designed to let a congregation log steps/miles to take a virtual journey to Bethlehem (start in September, lead up to Christmas) or Jerusalem (start in January, lead up to Easter).  The program includes devotions, prayer focus,  and resources for learning about the other cultures you "walk" through.

What I am most excited about is the opportunity to work with others in my church family to bring together some of the activities already happening.  We have teams in a local softball league, we have golfers, we've had a bowling league, we have a cycling group that used to be active and is coming back to fruition, we have Zumba every other week, we have a weekly Bible study type group that focuses on taking care of this body and this life to the best of our ability.  If we can bring it all under one umbrella and not have our voices scattered in different places, we will reach further than before!

So I am on fire... Because I was able to get back to who I am and what I believe in.  I am still struggling with my schedule, I still have emotional eating battles when I'm stressed (goal for today- avoid the candy dishes with mini Twix and 3 Musketeers).  But I'm feeling excited about this reignited spark!