DEVOTIONALS
"BALANCE" by Kristine Marriotti
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17
Lately I have really felt compelled to tackle the subject of balance - since it seems to be one that many people struggle with - both in the physical fitness world and in real everyday life. It seems that more than ever many people are just completely overwhelmed with life. Their schedules and calendars are filled with tons of social events, school projects, running the kids to and from soccer or dance, with little time left in the day to really devote themselves to pursuing a deeper relationship with Christ. As I write this, I'm raising my own hand! Honestly, at the end of the night, when we put the kids to bed, I just want to decompress and mindlessly scroll through Instagram or Facebook. Oftentimes I don't have the mental acuity at that point in the evening to delve into scripture. So how can I achieve this balance of being both spiritually and physically fit?
First of all, we need to address why it is important to maintain balance. As in exercise, balance helps to stabilize muscles and joints to prevent injury, such as falling. Improving your balance can also help you build better posture, allow for faster recovery time from injury, enhance coordination, and increase muscular power. It takes practice to improve your balance, and it’s something we can struggle with as we get older. In the spiritual sense, living a balanced life tends to bring more peace and breathing room for the unexpected things that come our way. It allows us to truly rely on the Lord’s grace as we actively pursue deepening our relationships with Him. And in real life - in the everyday hustle and bustle - I need His grace one hundred times over!
I used to be a gymnast when I was really young (between the ages of 4 and 8). I loved doing cartwheels and handstands, but when it came to doing work on the balance beam, I would panic. Having to do a cartwheel or a flip on this thin piece of wood that is at least 4-feet off the ground, was terrifying to me as a 5-year-old. As long as someone was holding my hand or supporting me in some way, I could do it. As I got a little older and in more advanced gymnastics classes, it was assumed that you already knew how to do unassisted work on the balance beam. Everytime it was my turn to do a cartwheel, I would make up some excuse about how I wasn’t feeling good or my hand was hurting (or something super lame). Eventually my coach caught on to my game, and made me do a cartwheel. I ended up falling and hitting my head on the balance beam in front of all my fellow gymnasts. I cried in the corner and vowed I would never do gymnastics again. The fear of the balance beam was enough to cause me to quit.
Balance is a tricky thing to learn. Even now as an adult, although I am no longer a gymnast, I still find myself performing movements that are gymnastics in nature (i.e. handstand holds, pistol squats, one-legged deadlifts, wall walks, etc.) Anytime I have to go upside down though, I get that same panicky feeling I got as a kid trying to perform on the balance beam. I am afraid of falling and hurting myself - still. And I realize that this is a similar struggle I have in real life: how to balance everything going on in my life without fear of failing.
You see, I saw falling off the balance beam as a failure. I saw it as not being a good enough gymnast, when most of the other girls my age were total divas on that thing. Even now, as a wife, mom, worship leader, friend, sister, aunt…I feel as if somehow I have failed if I can’t do all the things. And given that I am a first-born perfectionist on top of it all, I have a hard time accepting failure. Now, as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to let a lot of that go. It’s not worth the extra stress, the gray hairs, the back aches. I’ve had to learn to find the balance.
Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (NIV) Every morning when I wake up, I have to commit the day to Him. I have to ask Him to supernaturally fill me with His strength as I wipe the sleep from my eyes and put my 3-year-old on the potty and then go make everyone breakfast. It’s like from the moment I open my eyes, chaos ensues. It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed - like I might fall off the balance beam, but I have to stop myself and remember that everything I do, I do it as unto the Lord. Everything I do for my kids, my husband, and even for myself - I do for the Lord.
There are 5 things I have recently begun to apply more in my life on a daily basis (and I am by no means perfect at this, but still learning):
- Let the dishes go. I HATE when there is a sink-full of dishes. It drives me crazy! And it is one of my goals each day to make sure the dishes are washed or put in the dishwasher before my husband comes home. However, sometimes my kids want/need my attention. It never seems to fail that when I go over to the sink to start doing dishes, amazingly my 3-year-old daughter, who is as sassy, independent, and as strong-willed as they come, appears and wants me to hold her or cuddle with her. I have had to learn to let the dishes go and cuddle with her because I know this season is going to be gone before I know it and there will come a time when she will no longer want to cuddle with me. The dishes can wait. My children come first. I choose to relish the moment!
- Sometimes it’s okay to say no to things. This one is particularly tough for me because I have a tendency to be a people pleaser and I hate letting anyone down. (Again - the fear of failure.) When you are involved in ministry it’s easy to begin to make involvement or FOMO (fear of missing out) more of the priority. While we definitely need to be committed to whatever areas of ministry we are called to, if we begin to feel obligated, or forced, or just burnt out, it’s okay to take a little break or say no to participating in an event from time to time. Or maybe just set a limit. It’s going to be okay and church will go on. Maybe for you it’s not church ministry, but work obligations or extended family obligations. The same principle applies. I’ve heard it said, “I believe the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.” Sometimes that requires us to have to say no to things and it’s okay.
- Have a fun day. Unplug, unwind, and set time aside for you and your family to be with each other and go do something fun! Enjoy God’s creation and get outdoors! Go to the park or take a hike. Don’t answer your phone or e-mails. Work, ministry, or laundry can be on a hold for a bit as you relax and make fun memories with your kids. It’s something that will be etched in their minds forever!
- Never make exercise a priority over more important things. I endeavor 4-5 days a week to get a workout in. Exercise should be a priority, but only to a certain extent. Lately I have had to bring my kiddos out in the garage with me, which can sometimes be a bit chaotic. But, if something comes up that takes precedence over a workout I have learned that it’s okay. Missing a workout is not the end of the world.
- Make time for you and Jesus. This one has been the hardest for me to implement. Sometimes my moments with Jesus are spontaneous and unplanned. Most of the time it's when I'm doing the dishes! Or while I'm taking a shower. Or when I'm alone in the car. I rarely have moments of solitude during the day, but I can find moments here and there to talk to Jesus. I love the YouVersion Bible app where you can download awesome devotionals in all kinds of different categories. I have downloaded devotionals for motherhood, and even some for physical fitness. I've been so blessed by those. I try to carve out some time in the day to sit and read through one. They are usually very short and don't take a whole lot of time but enough to get the Word into my heart. Thankfully Jesus has never demanded perfection from us. He only wants our attention and our hearts. And just like I am fervent in getting my workouts in, I want to be fervent in my love and devotion and attention to Jesus, my Lord and Savior!
The same principle of finding balance can also be applied in terms of nutrition. I don’t believe in depriving yourself of anything you want to eat, but that doesn’t mean you should have a free-for-all and binge out on Krispy Kreme donuts or fried chicken. I choose a balanced nutrition approach in my life and that has been a life-changing and sustainable way of eating for me. It is very easy to get consumed, and even obsessed with, counting calories or macros to the point where it controls you. While I do count macros, I also allow myself the flexibility to occasionally eat other things that I haven’t accounted for. BALANCE IS KEY!
In all I do, whether it is working out, cooking dinner, doing laundry, leading worship at church, having lunch with a friend, I do it as unto the Lord. He has blessed me tremendously with the family I have, the body I have, the friends I have, and the church I have that I want to give Him all the glory in return.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
- What are some areas in your life where you might be finding difficulty maintaining balance?
- What are some changes you can make this week to help you achieve more balance in your life?
- How does Colossians 3:17 speak to you personally?
"STRETCH" by Kristine Marriotti
If you have had any experience with exercise - whatever that may be - you've probably heard it said that stretching and warming up beforehand is important. I will be the first to admit that I HATE stretching before I work out. I just want to get out in my garage and get at it. I often feel like stretching is just a waste of my precious time (the very little I have while my babies might still be sleeping). But I will also admit that when I choose not to stretch beforehand, I end up paying the price usually in the form of some type of injury - like a pulled muscle or tendon. I'm learning that as I have now officially entered my 40s that I am not a spring chicken anymore and my muscles and joints are like delicate baby angels in need of protection. Thus - I must stretch!
According to an article written by Harvard Medical School called The Importance of Stretching, "Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage. " So should we stretch before (and even after) we work out? Yes. Yes, we should.
Just as it is vitally important to stretch our muscles before we endure activity, it is absolutely imperative that we allow the Lord to stretch us spiritually. Just as physical bodily stretching can oftentimes be uncomfortable and even a bit painful, so can spiritual stretching. It is quite the vulnerable and humble place to be before Him when He begins to test our faith and trust in Him. The pain He allows us to experience, the sorrow He allows us to feel, the agony we may be brought to at times has one ultimate goal: for us to be brought ever closer to Jesus and have our faith strengthened like never before. When we allow Him to stretch us we become stronger.
“A rubber band isn’t much use unless it is stretched. Similarly, we will not achieve the peak of our potential unless we are stretched by God.” (Dean Deppe).
So stretching in exercise can allow us to go deeper into our movements, endure cardio a little bit longer, and not injure ourselves in the process. Spiritually the Lord brings us through times of stretching as a refinement process. Remember Job? God allowed Job to be tested by Satan, knowing full well that in the end he was going to remain steadfast in his love and adoration for God. It didn't mean that he didn't have moments of doubt - we see it clearly in Scripture (Job 19:1-24) that he did. But even still, the conclusion he comes to is as follows:
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
(Job 19:25-27)
Job was able to look past his afflictions (and he had many! Our “afflictions” may pale in comparison) and hold things with an eternal perspective - seeing God! The refining process of sanctification is not always filled with sunshine and rainbows. That word refining means “the process of reducing the impurities in a substance; to become pure or perfected.” Do you have a gold ring or a chain? The process in which that gold you wear becomes wearable, is a tedious, but necessary task. Gold has to go through a trial by fire at a refinery. In an exciting process called refining, it is re-liquified in a furnace and then heaped with generous amounts of soda ash and borax. This effectively separates the gold from impurities and other metal traces. There are actually a range of interesting scientific and technological ways gold can be refined. Whatever the method, what remains is the purest gold on the planet and it is cast into a beautiful bar that glitters like the sun. Job understood this on the spiritual level.
But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
(Job 23:10)
So allow Him to stretch you. Allow Him to refine you. Allow the pain you might endure to make you stronger. And in the end, may you come forth as gold!