Blossoms on the Trail

During my walk, vibrant yellow blossoms on the trail caught my attention. Smiling, I walked through the brush, bent low for a closer look, and my heart filled with a joyful peace. I had left home overwhelmed, peopled out, and tired, tired, tired. But this […]

God’s Way is Perfect

I love doing things my way. For powerlifters, our setups for each lift are a significant part of our technique. If you ever watch a powerlifting meet, each lifter has a noticeable ritual. If we have to make changes or adjustments, those would come well […]

Shut The Door

Clearing out my husband’s artwork and my father-in-law’s tools was the easy part of renovating this shed. Seven months after starting the work, I finally finished the insulation, and tomorrow, I will purchase drywall. I didn’t get as much done during the winter as I […]

How Agile Are You?

I almost fell during my workout today. I felt light-headed and lost my balance during a set of step-ups onto a bench. Instead of falling, I was able to shift my weight and right myself. After standing still for a moment, I composed my thoughts […]

I Might Be Able To

Nineteen months ago, I had shoulder surgery. So many moments during my recovery made me say, ‘I can’t.’ I can’t lift that, I can’t move my arm like that, I can’t even put a shirt on by myself.  But slowly, so slowly, I don’t even […]

Eat

Nothing But Leaves

For two consecutive days, I woke up with swollen fingers. My ring was tight on my hand, and removing it was painful. During those two days, I had a phrase on my mind: “Nothing but leaves.” It came from this passage of scripture: And seeing […]

Choosing Strong

I’ve been on some form of diet to make myself smaller since I was 16 years old. Diet culture implores us to conform or contort ourselves to fit society’s ever-changing standard of perfection. Looking back, each time I hit my goal weight, the goalpost had […]

Eat

Eat, Move, and Follow

Eat nutrient-dense food, move your body daily, and think positive thoughts to be successful. Three things that I hear touted by health and wellness influencers.  On the other hand, there’s a movement that says, “Eat the cookie, buy the shoes, and live your best life!” […]

Walking Backward

After a sweat-soaked 45 minutes on the treadmill at three mph, I lowered the speed to one mph, held onto the sides, slowly turned around, and started walking backward for five minutes. Why walk backward? I admit that the first time I saw it at […]