I have had many hobbies in my life that eventually faded away. I once began to self teach myself to play the guitar, as a kid I was a skateboarding enthusiast, I once became a sketch artist in my spare time, and I even gave becoming a rap artist a chance….if you know me personally you see how far those got!
There is one thing besides writing that started as a hobby, then became an escape from stress, now it has grown as my deepest form of connection with God.
I am speaking of fitness. For many people fitness may only be a means of living a healthy life style and longevity, which are amazing reasons. I too love fitness for these two reasons, but it goes much deeper than that.
For a while now, working out has been an escape for me. The gym for me has become a place for me to get away from negativity. In my hometown environment, there are many not so positive things that could have gripped my attention over the years: two of the biggest are drugs and voilence. Fitness is a passion than I now realize God had placed in my heart in order to sway my attention from things that have never and will never mean me any good.
It was a moment in a gym 2 years ago that I met a awesome guy named Steven Lee that invited me to bible studies at his home that changed my life forever. It was after that moment and after many nights of bible studies that I began to take my walk with Christ serious and let go of all the things that hindered me from doing so. As a result of that moment in the crossfit gym two years ago, I met a community of believers and a community of a few brothers that helped me overcome my stuggle with porn and masturbation.
Before that moment, I had been saved for 3 years, but after that moment is when I truly encountered God in ways I never had before. As a result of that moment I soon went from dipping my toe in the water to jumping in head first.
God knew that even years after I had given my life to Him that I would still be in a place of stagnant place, so He planned to call me deeper that day in that moment shared between me and Steven in the Crossfit Thelo.
I soon came to realize just how connected the physical journey with Christ and the Spriritual journey are. As a result of that moment and many moments after, my walk with Christ became whole hearted and fitness for me became a deep connection with the Father (as though it had been His way of speaking to me all along without me even realizing it).
Now everytime I go to pick up the barbell I go into an intimate place with My Father. When I am in the middle of a workout and I feel like I am about to puke my guts up, I keep moving for the glory of The Kingdom. When my hands are ripped and it hurts to wrap them around the bar, I find strength in Him. When the weight feels heavy and I fail time after time, I keep trying because He didn’t quit on me. When I wake on mornings where I can barely feel my legs, I still train because I know the pain I feel is nothing compared to the pain that Jesus went through for me. When everything in me tells me to drop the bar, stop running, or let the rings go, I fight the voices and push till I can’t anymore.
So for me, fitness is not just a hobby. To me it is synonymous with life and living out the meaning of being a follower of Christ.
I am not only passionate about fitness training and sports ministry because I want to see people’s bodies as healthy as possible; I am also passionate because it promotes an oulet of positivity many people may not have otherwise, it teaches life skills,and I want to live my life sharing with others the love/beauty of Jesus in the environment where I truly experienced it first.
