Well, yesterday was my speaking engagement for the Christian Women’s Small Business Association, and to say it was “good” would be an understatement.
Texas Roadhouse rolls are “good.”
“Man of Steel” was “good.”
A day at the beach is “good.”
Getting through the toughest workout of your life in one piece is, well… Okay that’s sorta great. 😉
However, divine appointments written into your calendar by the infallible finger of Almighty God can be described only with a heavenly vocabulary.
The event went so well not because of my talk or the other two speakers’, but because the Holy Spirit was present, and He was faithfully at work in the hearts of all of us, guest speakers and attendees alike. Everyone there, it seemed, was meant to be there – scheduled, as it were, to connect with someone, to be inspired or convicted by a specific message, even to be encouraged by a simple, single word. Some might have even been uplifted by my impromptu sing-along of The Newsboys’ “God’s Not Dead”!
For those of you who prayed for me and for the event, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Being given the honor to speak before God-fearing, Jesus-loving, passion-pursuing women is always a dream come true.
In Part II of this series, I left off with my writing of Fit for Faith. I emphasized to the ladies yesterday that, as I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, the devil shudders to see us dance; he wants us to remain useless, fruitless, joyless wallflowers. He wickedly desires to keep you in your valley – be it a valley of guilt or discouragement or grief – as long as possible. It’s imperative that we hasten towards the nearest hillside once a few weeks have passed, and leave the valley of heartache to the One who bottles our tears (Psalm 56:8, NLT). I found that doing what I loved both tore my attention away from myself and my sadness and focused it on God and others as I strove to pen a Christ-centered work.
Fast-forward, if you will, from the fall of ’09 to the summer of 2011. (I have to remember this is a blog post, not an autobiography!). I’m engaged to a man I met four months prior through CrossFit. And guess what? He loves Christ, loves loving people, and loves CrossFit – in that order! Right off the romantic, rose-colored bat, we discuss our dream to open a CrossFit gym together and how this business will be more than that; it’s our prayer from the beginning that CrossFit 925 will be a ministry, a place where lives are changed physically and spiritually, as the Holy Spirit leads.[1]
Fast-forward to today. CrossFit 925 will be one year-old on July 9th, and you can bet I will be celebrating with praise to God for His unrelenting faithfulness to make mine and Ben’s dream of opening a gym a reality, and in the most incredible, only-God-could-have-done-this ways. In addition, my book Fit for Faith has been published, and a third inspirational fitness book has been completed (I can’t wait to reveal more about this one!). I share this not to brag on myself, but to boast of Christ, without Whom I can do nothing.[2] The apostle Paul said it best:
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” –Galatians 2:20, NLT
It is my belief and my experience that God not only loves your dream, but that He is the Creator of it, that He regards it with more delight than He does the Omega Nebula or Orion, glittering brilliantly among the stars.
He’s placed dreams within you to bless others, to bring you pleasure, peace, even prosperity, and more than anything, to glorify His son.
“Trusting in the Son of God,” in valleys, on peaks, while dancing or mourning, will protect your dream from the evil one and prepare you for the moment it will break like morning light upon a divinely ordained tomorrow.
Stay fit, stay faithful ~<3 Di
[1] The “925” was inspired by 1st Corinthians 9:25: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (NIV)
[2] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV)