Stronger Together
I actually made it to the gym 5 times this week. That has to be a record. Five times! In one week! The reason that I go to the gym is for mental health. Although I do love the idea of being stronger! And Derick and I enjoy being active together. When we were dating, he told me that he wanted a wife that enjoyed being active.
In the almost 15 years that we have known each other, we have played countless hours of catch, we have run hundreds of miles together and we have ridden probably a couple thousand miles on our bikes together. Before he left, he was even teaching me to swim so that I could do triathlons again.
This is our favorite activity to do together. Biking. Quality time and physical activity in one! We have a dream of someday riding across the country together! Maybe for our 20th anniversary...
The last few years have been busy and stressful, so we have been less active that we'd like to be.
Maybe that's part of the mental health aspect. I like that I have an hour to myself first thing in the morning. But I also like the idea that, if I keep at it, Derick and I can be active together for a long time to come. We are stronger together, mentally and physically.
Since he left in November, we started sending pictures to each other to prove that we have actually been physically active.
Derick played on a softball team while he was stationed in Gulfport. They placed second in the league tournament. I just do spin classes now. Maybe when it actually warms up, I'll take a selfie with my bike outside for him.
A little over two years ago, I sprained my ankle. November 30, 2016 - It was horrible. And it was stupid. I missed the bottom step to our basement at 5am. That afternoon, after I got home from the hospital, my brother-in-law called me to pray for me. The next day, December 1, he died. Suddenly. Much too soon. He and my sister had been married 17 years. Carrie and Chad were mine and Derick's best friends. And suddenly he was gone.
And 8 months later, I turned 40.
I know it wasn't all connected, but it felt like it. Turning 40 was a struggle. I felt old and weak. Mentally and physically. I still couldn't walk without a limp. And my whole family, especially my sister and nephews, were still grieving. It wasn't turning 40 that was the struggle. But in my mind, I was suddenly an old woman.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
I appreciate the New King James version of this verse because it uses the phrase "sound mind". Other versions say "self control" or "self discipline". But there is something different with the phrase "sound mind". Or maybe there's not. I can't see how they are synonymous, but maybe they are still connected. Complementary.
After all, it would be quite difficult to have self-discipline without first having a sound mind.
I have struggled with this in the past. As a mom and as a Navy wife, there were times when I thought I just couldn't do this anymore. In 2017, when I turned 40, it seemed especially hard. Secretly, I felt like I was losing my mind. I felt like the pressure is too much and I just can't think straight. I can't make decisions. I can't process information. I can't remember things like I should.
This verse has been in the back of my mind for years. Power. Love. Sound mind. Verse 8 says, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God." That was my brother-in-law. He was loud, and he could be brash and we didn't always see eye to eye. But he was not ashamed!
But wait... there's more!
Verse 9 says God, "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began"
Isn't that a relief?! It takes the pressure off me! Not only was I given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, but God called ME!
God has... given you a spirit of... power and of love and of a sound mind.
Do not be ashamed...
God... saved us and called us with a Holy calling...
before time began.
I know that God called me to be Derick's wife. He called me to be a Navy wife. He knew that Derick needed a mentally stable, strong, active wife to run the household while he is away.
What comfort I find in knowing that this calling, and this gift of God in the form of a sound mind, was planned. It was God ordained!
Before. Time. Began.
In the almost 15 years that we have known each other, we have played countless hours of catch, we have run hundreds of miles together and we have ridden probably a couple thousand miles on our bikes together. Before he left, he was even teaching me to swim so that I could do triathlons again.
This is our favorite activity to do together. Biking. Quality time and physical activity in one! We have a dream of someday riding across the country together! Maybe for our 20th anniversary...
The last few years have been busy and stressful, so we have been less active that we'd like to be.
Maybe that's part of the mental health aspect. I like that I have an hour to myself first thing in the morning. But I also like the idea that, if I keep at it, Derick and I can be active together for a long time to come. We are stronger together, mentally and physically.
Since he left in November, we started sending pictures to each other to prove that we have actually been physically active.
Derick played on a softball team while he was stationed in Gulfport. They placed second in the league tournament. I just do spin classes now. Maybe when it actually warms up, I'll take a selfie with my bike outside for him.
A little over two years ago, I sprained my ankle. November 30, 2016 - It was horrible. And it was stupid. I missed the bottom step to our basement at 5am. That afternoon, after I got home from the hospital, my brother-in-law called me to pray for me. The next day, December 1, he died. Suddenly. Much too soon. He and my sister had been married 17 years. Carrie and Chad were mine and Derick's best friends. And suddenly he was gone.
And 8 months later, I turned 40.
I know it wasn't all connected, but it felt like it. Turning 40 was a struggle. I felt old and weak. Mentally and physically. I still couldn't walk without a limp. And my whole family, especially my sister and nephews, were still grieving. It wasn't turning 40 that was the struggle. But in my mind, I was suddenly an old woman.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
I appreciate the New King James version of this verse because it uses the phrase "sound mind". Other versions say "self control" or "self discipline". But there is something different with the phrase "sound mind". Or maybe there's not. I can't see how they are synonymous, but maybe they are still connected. Complementary.
After all, it would be quite difficult to have self-discipline without first having a sound mind.
I have struggled with this in the past. As a mom and as a Navy wife, there were times when I thought I just couldn't do this anymore. In 2017, when I turned 40, it seemed especially hard. Secretly, I felt like I was losing my mind. I felt like the pressure is too much and I just can't think straight. I can't make decisions. I can't process information. I can't remember things like I should.
This verse has been in the back of my mind for years. Power. Love. Sound mind. Verse 8 says, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God." That was my brother-in-law. He was loud, and he could be brash and we didn't always see eye to eye. But he was not ashamed!
But wait... there's more!
Verse 9 says God, "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began"
Isn't that a relief?! It takes the pressure off me! Not only was I given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, but God called ME!
God has... given you a spirit of... power and of love and of a sound mind.
Do not be ashamed...
God... saved us and called us with a Holy calling...
before time began.
I know that God called me to be Derick's wife. He called me to be a Navy wife. He knew that Derick needed a mentally stable, strong, active wife to run the household while he is away.
What comfort I find in knowing that this calling, and this gift of God in the form of a sound mind, was planned. It was God ordained!
Before. Time. Began.
Comments
Post a Comment