Tag Archives: choosejoy

Working Out Isn’t The Same Anymore

15936768_1356573141031717_7480876603427658376_oI remember clear as day, the swarm of feelings that came after having our first son…

Unconditional love, awe and utter amazement. This warm, smooth, and giggly bundle made us see each other in new light as we began to watch each new milestone being crossed.

What I didn’t expect was how disheartened I would be. My body had gone through a change that puberty could never top. The days went slow, but the months flew by as I began to become even more down and out about my reflection and the way my body sort of just fell past the place it used to sit firm.

TEARS came you guys. Actual TEARS over the thoughts of never being the same again. This poor attitude I had toward my image, pushed me to begin a 12-week workout program, about 12 months post-baby. “I’m going to prove to myself that I can get my body back” was my motivation the length of the time.

This is not a Mother’s sympathy blog, so please keep reading…IMG_9768

Some of us are still pushing ourselves to attain those 6-pack abs and slim thighs. And I’m here to dig past those surface-thoughts to the real reason we want those features. When it gets down to the heart of it, we all actually just want to be lavishly-loved and showered-on with adoration.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1-2

If you are like me, a serious re-wiring of your mind needs to happen when it comes to the approach on fitness [and food]. Love and affection has always been something I certainly craved to hear and to feel. Isn’t this what most of us seek out as we strive towards perfect bodies?

You my dear, are called for something so much greater than a sulking face of discontent. You are meant to be absolutely lavished on with the love of Christ, continually.  It’s this crazy kind of love that produces a fearless heart. I endlessly strived to perfect my figure to the best that it’s ever looked. I trained myself so hard because I believed that if I shaped up again, I would be happy. The striving for stronger, sleeker, sexier bodies is NOTHING compared to the results you receive from a life lived out of the LOVE God has for you. You are literally inseparable from it AND those results last forever, unlike our gym-commitments!

“But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” (Ephesians 4:22-24, MSG)

DAUGHTERS of GOD! He has the power to renew your mind and the negative attitude you might hold. We like to trap ourselves to standards of beauty don’t we? Standards that require obsessive training and meal plans. Standards that make you believe that you are totally right in thinking that happiness comes with a thigh gap and your body back. Standards cradle the feelings of “I’m not good enough”.

The Re-Wiring

Repentance took place in my heart when I realized the chase I was in: working out to tighten up my chest, lift the booty and erase arm-flab. I was driven by fear of not being attractive enough for my husband or friends to love me. I repented of this deceit when I realized that I was already loved. The chase is done. No longer do I workout to make my body perfect and lovable because I know that I already am.

This is the starting place.

Know that you are already loved more than you can even imagine.

Work out, eat, and live from this place of security in Christ and no longer will you “throw in the towel” when you cheat on a diet or miss a week of exercise.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1-2

If you are contemplating starting a lifestyle of health and fitness, setting the view of yourself now is more important than any goals you will set for the future.

Your view must be how God sees you or else it will be an endless chase after something that will distract you from the joy of a body that beautifully reflects what God has done to your soul.

Sister, there is nothing you need to do in order to win true love. You already have it.

Your are already loved with perfect love.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3:16

Working out and my pursuit of health is not the same anymore. The chase for perfection is over and I’m ready to see  everlasting results.

How about you?

If you are contemplating  a lifestyle of fitness and/or want to know more of what this love of Jesus is all about, shoot me an email or DM!

I am happy to be there for you in your beginnings. 🙂

Love,

Bri Joy

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Gaining Definition

 “…your life is hidden with Christ.”

Colossians 3:3

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Gaining definition in my legs, arms and back are all good signs that my body is getting stronger and healthier. It feels incredible to know what a strong and agile physique feels like, without a doubt!

Although, the anatomical definition of muscles cannot be the only definition we have as women. Although a lot of blood, sweat and tears go into physical training, it’s not enough because you are more than what you see in the mirror. Yesterday I asked my son who is 4, “Owen, who would God say I am?” He looked up at me like the question was a joke and replied, ” Mommy”. That was easy. As we get older though, we easily make self-discovery a lot bigger than is. It’s automatic to let titles completely define us– daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, gardener, artist, musician, athlete, doctor, and so on. Like muscle definition, titles and hobbies cannot merely be what we hold onto for proof that we are something. It’s great to have those things be a part of us, but according to the Bible, our life, wholeness, freedom and true sense of calling is HIDDEN in Christ.

Why is it hidden? Why does it need to be something unraveled and discovered? Simply because God wants to be the one to define us. He wants to be the one to tell us who we are. He knows that when we hold onto what others [or ourselves] tell us, or when we try to make a name [or a body] for ourselves, our spirit and soul is compressed and the wonders of what God can do in us is limited.

Friends, we’ve all heard of the “fitness journey” but let’s talk about the “faith journey” which has an even more significant outcome.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith most certainly ties in with fitness. Fitness takes on the appearance of being super physical. It’s what we see, that’s why we go into these journeys aiming to be toned, sleek and flab-free! I talk about fitness as a very integrated thing…meaning there’s more to you than BODY. Your body holds the abillity to do what you are called to do. You have a mind that is very influenced by your environment. You have a soul that inhabits the body, and that holds dreams, ambitions, and desires. You also have this mighty thing called a Spirit. Your Spirit is where you have the ability to know God! Fitness is all inclusive–body, mind, spirit, and soul! This is where FAITH comes in. Unlike the body, you cannot see FAITH. Faith would’t be faith if you could see it. The benefits far out weigh the perks of physical fitness if you can believe that!

There was a man named Abraham who lived a long time ago, and his story is is written in the Bible. He was a hundred years old, but God filled him in on all of the things that He still had planned for Abraham, including having a child with his infertile wife. When all seemed impossible, Abraham kept BELIEVING and living out His life trusting God and His promises.

“Without weakening his FAITH,  Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead…Yet he did not waver through unbelief…but was STRENGTHENED in his FAITH.” Romans 4:19-25

The enemy wants to make us believe that fitness is all about that one thing: booty-poppin’-show-stoppin’ bod. Acknowledge when those thoughts try to own your mind, and let them drive right back out. Instead, let’s focus on the truth and what God defines us by.

We are redeemed, daughter’s of the King, free from the chains of sin and guilt, accepted, Temples of His spirit, friends of Jesus, justified, chosen, inseparable from the love of Christ, and entrusted with a calling.                           All of which are from God and happen to be ETERNAL.

“…put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; be made new in the attitude of your minds” Ephesians 4:22-24

Abraham was FULLY PERSUADED that God had power to do what He promised. Faith made Him strong in who he was, who God told him he was and in those truths he did not back down. #neverbackdown

If you plan to start a new pattern of movement and health in your life, GO FOR IT! Press into it knowing that there is more to you than BODY. The WHOLE-self needs fine tuning–body, mind, spirit and soul. A bikini body plan, that begins and ends with Summer is just not enough.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:1-4

Read those verses above again, then come back.

God is our personal trainer–you might want to call him your personal pruner instead! It is GOD who makes us perfect and beautiful. He is our HEALER. He makes us clean by His word. That’s where we will gain a FAITH that is RESILIENT. I know it’s heavy, but I am urging you to do some heavy lifting today. Ready for this? Lift the WORD of God. See what He has to say about who you are and wait to see His plan for your life unfold. Your attitude towards yourself will be made NEW.

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

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My besties came to visit this weekend. We took care of our bodies by riding bikes and laughing a lot–this is getting fit in my eyes!

Is Fitness Godly?

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8

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For a long time, God had no part of my fitness world. It really didn’t even come into my thinking that it could be something that involved Him.

For a long time, my physical health was simply that…mine. It’s not like I didn’t want God to make me whole or heal me, it’s just that I really didn’t think to go to Him with my health.

With great ease, I took control of my own health and physical fitness. Not with intent to disown God, but I really hadn’t learned this area of relationship with Him ( I’m still working on it).

God is not advertised in everything we see with our eyes. We often see fitness paired with sexiness, appeal to the opposite sex, perfection, guilt, vanity and obsession. Which really is opposite from all that God is. It makes sense that plugging God into our health journey might be foreign to us.

I’ve had a plethora of symptoms that pre-curse Auto-immune disease for the past 2 years. Constantly limiting myself from foods (and even limiting exercise) has been a big part of trying to heal myself. While I’ve learned a lot, I’ve also realized how much control I’ve held on my health.

“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!”  1 Thessalonians 5:23

When I get stressed out, I know that I don’t have God first in an area of my life. I know if He was first, He would be responsible for that area and I would be at peace. Stress is the main symptom that reveals my heart is in the wrong place. When we give every single area of our life to God’s control–meaning we completely entrust them to Him without worry– we then become complete in His fulness. Which is: peace, joy, hope, blessing, health and greatness through His righteousness.

Beautiful women! God was the one who laid the foundations of the earth; Who told the seas where to end, and owns the storehouses of snow, rain and hail. He doesn’t let the birds go without food or the flowers without color. We absolutely NEED Him in our health journey. Why? Because sin brought into this world disease, sickness, and ailments. When we turn to Christ and turn from sin, He makes us shameless and forgives us completely. The chains of sin are broken from us and in doing so, healing from what sin brought with it is possible too!

“You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.”1 Corinthians 3:16-17

When we make our health and fitness a way to pursue God and honor Him, it is most certainly Godly. On the other hand, feeding our bodies anything WE want OR trying super hard to make them look like what WE want them to look like OR even not caring …is incredibly destructive.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

God has a beautiful plan for your WHOLE body. Your body, mind and soul together make up a choir of melodies that can sing His songs and reflect His love and light. It takes a BRAVE and FAITHFUL woman (or man) to boldly step onto this path of faith and fitness. Your eyes see the reflection in the mirror, the pretty girl on Instagram or the drool-worthy double chocolate chunk ice cream in your freezer.

FAITH sees God, it sees the cross where Jesus died and disease and sin were cancelled.                                                                                                          FAITH sees God making you WHOLE and HOLY through this process.                           FAITH sees the promises of God and His faithfulness.

With every ounce of sweat and frustration, you are tested and your character is built. You let go of excuses and you run the race in front of you. When we are exercising, our body is tested, challenged and drained. Likewise, our spirit will be affected the same through all sorts of trials. In all respects we are given a choice to believe God is with us and he is dependable through trials which results in JOY. Or we can choose to believe that we have it under control and we will find a way to help ourselves. #choosejoy

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:1-3

Look at this journey with your FAITH instead of your eyes, and ask God if this is an area of your life you need to trust Him better with. If you are starting a faith and fitness journey for the first time, PLEASE email me. I’d love to hear where you are starting at and where you want to go.k

“What the eye of faith sees, the hand of faith appropriates.” F.F. Bosworth

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