Jesus is Better

It's the day after Christmas and all of our energy is shifting to the new year. All the new year, new you thoughts start creeping into our heads. How can we become the BEST version of ourselves in the upcoming year? How much weight should we set to lose in the upcoming year? How many books will we read? How much quiet time a day should we check off? How many workouts will we get in? How many veggies should we eat every day?

Absolutely none of those things are bad in themselves. We should all strive to honor God by caring for our whole body.

BUT...

What if we invited Jesus into those goals?

What if we considered that ultimately Jesus has our best plans already laid out?

What if, and this is big, we just sought to get closer to God, trusting that if we were close to him none of the other stuff would matter?

Hear me out. I'm not saying your shouldn't or can't lose weight, eat lots of veggies, workout, etc. I'm saying if we get our priorities in order a lot of those things will happen much more organically. If we seek Christ to help us, to come alongside us on our wellness journey, he will do the heavy lifting (pun intended).

I'm not even saying that you can't set goals and do the work to accomplish them. It's so healthy to do that.

I'm saying, Jesus is better. Put your relationship with him first on your list of goals. Make him your priority. He sees so much more of the picture than we could ever imagine, he may have things planned for you that you could never dream of. Don't limit yourself by trying to do it all on your own.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ". Philippians 1:6 

Overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed. 

Not the word that should describe this holiday season, but the one that keeps coming to my mind. The only thing that should feeling overwhelming about Christmas should be the birth of Christ and the impact of his birth on our life.

I've had more than one good cry and a possible explosion of emotions this holiday season because I am completely overwhelmed. Nothing about this comes from Christ, the Prince of Peace.

In our family, my son bought a house that needed some work prior to moving in and my sister was moving across the country. Both of these things required a lot of being out of my normal routine. Spending time working on the house(s), watching a giant puppy for several days, trying to get everything ready for all the fun Faith Fueled Wellness programs in 2024 and then trying to find time to shop for Christmas and do all of the holiday things I love has been nothing short of exhausting.

Much of this iverwhelmed feeling is all on me. I love and crave routine. I can be flexible. But weeks of being out of my routine has definitely impacted me. I haven't been able to always get my quiet time in, or to be as focused on nutrition or even get my workouts in as much. All of these things would have helped tremendously with this feeling. You know how at the end of a vacation you just want to be home, back to the norm? This is similar. It's all really good stuff happening, but it's gotten me all out of sorts.

I want to be celebrating Jesus. I want to be singing Joy to the World. I want to be so grateful for all of the good things going on around me. But it's all coming out as frustration, which only further frustrates me.

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

I'm taking the last few days before Christmas and dropping the feeling of being overwhelmed. I'm going to celebrate and take time to be in awe of our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace!

If you are at all struggling like me this holiday season, lets take the focus off of ourselves and give glory and honor where they are due. In Christ alone.

 

The Lord Will Provide

Recently someone was asking me about the upcoming programming I was going to offer. When I started sharing some of the programming, they responded that I have more energy that they do. I laughed and said "someone has to do it".

I realized later this probably didn't make much sense to them, but it did to me. I want to share the reasoning behind my response with you all!

First, I don't workout or take classes and do any the things because I have a lot of energy. I workout because I don't have a lot of energy. Working out is a daily discipline for me to make sure I move this good body God gave me. And it's true what they say, I've never regretted a workout after it's done. But it often takes a lot of talking myself into that workout first. I also had a boss that instilled in me the importance of always learning and improving, so I've made that a discipline too.

Secondly, my response was geared more to my upcoming classes, not just workouts in general, and here is what I meant:

It is FAR beyond my comfort zone to lead fitness classes, prayer and scripture teaching. But God has led me to do so, therefore, I'm going to do so! It's that simple. 

God said go. 
I'm going.

While I'm working on material for January for these programs, I find myself exhausted just thinking about it all. And I'm not even doing the work yet. I question God sometimes. I'm not sure he got the right person for this work. He assures me every time that he did. 

I worry no one will sign up. He assures me that is not a me problem to worry about. He asked me to provide, not to bring the people to, so I'm providing. 

I'm praying regularly for the following things, and you can join me in this prayer too:

Energy to do the work

Health to do the work

Prepared hearts of other women who want to join me in the work

His words of life and encouragement to speak to the women who show up to do the work

Thank to our Jehovah Jireh - The Lord who provides, I don't have to worry about any of these things. It's all in His control. 

Faith Fueled Wellness

Welcome to Faith Fueled Wellness!

I feel like I just welcomed you back to the blog, and now I'm changing things up again. The blog isn't really changing, it's still going to include all of the things I'd love to talk to you about over a cup of coffee. However the direction of the ministry is changing. I hope you will find it's all for the better!

Why the name change? Why Faith Fueled Wellness and why ditch Mandy's Mission?

Fuel  as defined is to supply or power, or to cause to burn more intensely.
And in this case, the fuel I want to burn comes from my faith in Christ.

Wellness as defined is the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal of physical, mental and spiritual health

Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Collectively, imagine what our lights can do! I hope to be a place to fuel your faith and to encourage you on your wellness journey. I want to help keep your light burning.

I am all about wholeness when I talk about wellness. I personally think wellness comes from the inside out. When we feel better we do better. We tend to focus a lot on the visible, physical changes when we are on a wellness journey. However, if we aren't changing our mindset and our habits, the change will be fleeting.

I want to encourage each of you to be healthy, whole and FREE. Free in Christ. Free to honor Christ with our body by making healthy choices. Not bound to a scale, diet culture or harsh fitness routines.

I know for me, when I started this journey over 10 years ago, I had to start healing myself spiritually before I could work on any physical health goals. I needed to reposition myself closer to Christ to make sure he was the rock I was leaning on when things were hard. And making healthy choices can be hard.

When I stopped leaning on Christ as my rock, when I thought I had it all under control and could handle it by myself, that's when things started slipping. I went from becoming obsessive about workouts and food choices to not paying much attention to the choices I was making. Neither is a good place to be.

This year I've been working on repositioning myself again closer to Christ. As a result, I've also begun working on simple consistency and awareness of my physical health. Daily movement and tracking food. I feel markedly better already.

Along with a new name will come a new focus of my social media feed, which is why I am ditching "Mandy's Mission". This is less about me and my journey, not nothing, but less. None of this was ever suppose to be about me anyway. The goal was always intended to be a way to point others to Christ. Some of the times I did better than others in those regards. The information on social media will be more general wellness and about my ongoing programming. Don't worry, I will share more of my personal journey in smaller groups with those participating in my programming, I still need the accountability too!

So what is this new programming you ask?

Burn Fit Club - In Person (Women Only)

Saturday mornings (beginning January 6, 2024)

Faith based workouts that will include strength training, cardiovascular training, prayer, scripture and positive and uplifting music, all in a shame free zone!

Burn Fit Club - Online (Women Only)
Four week online programs

Five scheduled workouts a week - a combination of strength and cardio workouts

Hand weights suggested, but no equipment required

Weekly scripture focus and devotionals

First program begins January 1, 2024

The Wellness Revelation 10 week Book Study (Women Only)

Beginning January 11, 2024 6:30 Pm 

***Limited seats available

Sign up link for all programs will be coming soon! Feel free to message me if you have any questions!