Day Two Hundred And Nine - What You Work For

I have been blessed with a good body. I have a high metabolism, I was taught very well as a child to stop eating when I'm full and not eat when I'm not hungry. I have a small bone structure on top of it. I've always been little, and I've never had to work for it. But it was all show. There was nothing there. I got winded faster than anyone my age has any right to. I couldn't run. I couldn't lift. Enjoying sports was a joke, they were a torment on the earth. I almost never sweated. I was blessed, but I never worked for my body. So whenever it came time to actually do something, I'd tap out before the first burn.

And then... then I didn't have a choice. The idea of working out always seemed pleasant, but I couldn't ever find the time. I wanted the body that was worked for. God knows my fitness guru friends encouraged me to do it. And I wanted to, I really did. But my ass stayed seated on my couch. And then I got my new job. I walk 11-13 miles a day for my job. The first two weeks my muscles would be so tight when I got home, I thought I could strum them like a guitar. Now, I don't really notice it. And I've stepped it up. I work out outside of work now. Baby steps, but slow and steady none the less. Adding a bit more, and actually going through with it, more and more. 

And I love it. I love the feel of it. I love watching my body get stronger, leaner, tougher. I love knowing that I've earned this body. I love knowing what it can do and pushing it to do more. Now, I'm finally more than show. I'm getting what I'm working for. 

I feel as if, at least in my life, this is an exact parallel to my faith. I've always been blessed. I've loved God since I was a kid. Theology came to me as easy as English did. I've never really worked at my faith. Sure, I've fought through some hard things, but the discipline, the actually setting aside time each day to STUDY and FOCUS and WORK as the Bible tells us to... nope. I've never done that. And my faith shows it. 

Like my body, my faith is capable of doing anything I could possibly desire... if I put the work in. Like exercise, the idea has always seemed good, I've always sort of wanted to, but just couldn't find the time. Now I will. I've watched my body change, felt it change, incredibly over the past 4 weeks with minimal effort on my part. I know faith, unlike the body, yields fruit that is exponential to what it sown due to the help of the Holy Spirit. 

I'm glad God blessed me with a good body, and with a faith that comes easy to me, they're fantastic starting points. But they're only starting points. I want more than this from my body, and I definitely want more than this from my faith. Because you get what you work for. And I'm ready to work.