Faith and Fitness

I love following Jesus. I've been a Christ follower since I was 13 years old. Is it hard at times? Yes.  Worth it? Yes.  Do I struggle following Jesus.  Sure do! But knowing I have a source...no a someone to go to whenever life is good and ugly  gives me such peace. Knowing that the creator of the universe KNOWS me and cares for ME.  With that being said,  I need to take care of this body that Christ has given me.  So thats where fitness comes into play. 

I have always worked out as long as I could remember.  I paid for my own gym membership in high school and loved working out.  It was MY time.  But I remember when that took a different turn and I became obsessed with working out later in life. I was in college and married to my dream guy.  The idea of needing to be thin was put into my mind. I honestly don't know how it crept in, but it did. Satan sure knows how to do that doesn't he?  
I was a "gym rat."  Yes, I didn't have kids so it allowed me to spend 2 hours at the gym. But my passion for fitness was driven by selfish desires, not Christ honoring.   Thinking back I had SO many opportunities to meet people at the gym, build relationships that could of been avenues for me to share Christ.  But because my motive at the gym was for ME, I didn't even think along those lines. We are at the gym working on YOUR health, but it can be so much more then just that. 

Over the years God has given me a passion for people and fitness.  I didn't know how those two could ever go together but they can and have!

I want people to understand that God loves them SO much and that God wants the best from them. When we are working on our health we have more energy to do what God has called us to do.  

Ephesians 2:10 " For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."


Just like following Christ is a discipline, taking care of your body is a discipline. Is it going to be hard? YES.  The days you don't want to workout will be a struggle. The physical/health discipline doesn't just happen over night.  We must be intentional about both following Christ AND taking care of our bodies. Don't get me wrong...spiritual discipline is much more valuable for the Kingdom then physical discipline,but they go hand in hand!  You can do more for Christ when you take care of your body that He gave you. 

Love what Rick Warren says about taking care of your body:

Keeping your body in shape is a spiritual discipline. It’s not just about losing a few pounds, wanting to live longer, or trying to look nicer. God created your body, Jesus died for it, the Holy Spirit lives in it, your body is connected to Christ, and it’s going to be resurrected one day. When it is, God’s going to hold you accountable for how you managed what he gave you.

What is fitness to you?
Maybe God is calling you to change your idea of what it looks like.
Or maybe God is asking you to start a running club with some people and have a short devotion time before that.
Or start a gym in your garage and invite people to workout with you.
DO LIFE WITH PEOPLE.  Show the love of Christ through your fitness journey and see what He can do. 

ME 

Good Bye Summer!

Kids are tucked in bed. 

SO I am going to chat a little bit about WHY I think its so important to capture memories with my camera.

Growing up my mom didn't have a lot of pictures of us through out the house.  Ok, we had school pictures, some cute ones on the fridge...but that was about it.  I don't remember going to get pictures done a lot.  I guess things have changed a lot though since we now have cameras ON OUR PHONES.

But I remember when I was younger I always said " I am going to take a lot of pictures of my family someday and put them up in my house!"  Why?  Because I love seeing those memories around me.  The smiles, the laughter, the little hands and feet.  These are my little people! I don't want these memories stashed away in boxes collecting dust under my bed.

I will say, capturing pictures with a high quality camera makes a HUGE difference.

Thats why I like to offer photo sessions at a great price!

www.mrselkins.wix.com/elkinsphotography

Lets make things simple

Sometimes simple is the hardest for me.

Anyone else?

Maybe its the mom ADD in me, and I make things way harder then it really is.

Like getting rid of kids clothes. A few things here...

1- Why so many clothes? Seriously....its sad and annoying.

2- Do I keep this shirt, pants, shorts?

3- What bin do I put this in? I marked them, so where are these dang bins???

**** This is when coffee is needed ASAP****

Today I was going through what clothes will work for this school year, what new items to buy, what's "out of style"( for Emma Jane) and so on.  My goal this year is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Yes, I have THREE girls and one who LOVES fashion.  But they seriously don't need this many clothes! So we are donating and downsizing this school year!


My main agenda with this SIMPLE clothing idea is that my girls can grasp this verse at a young age. What WE should put on in daily.

STRENGTH.  DIGNITY. CONFIDENCE.
Or as a commentary put it: moral character, vigorous and honorable in her lifestyle.  

Our world is painting a crazy picture of what girls should be like.  It's kinda scary.
I hope and pray my girls get this at an early age and that I can lead by example.  (So hard!)

LOVE fashion, new clothes and all that girly stuff.  But I don't want my girls to get confused on where REAL beauty comes from.

Send me

My journey with Jesus began in my early teenage years. I fully understood my purpose on earth and why I was here. It was a simple yet a HUGE decision. 

A lot of people think that following Christ means life will be easy. Well. It's not. There will be ups and downs and hard times. Frustrating times. Times where you want to throw in the towel. But over the years I've seen the importance of trusting God with EVERY decision and every outcome. Because sometimes the outcome wasn't what I expected. But with Gods love and a lot of grace He came through. Like always. 

The past two days I have kept saying to God, "I'm all in with whatever you have coming. Send me. SEND ME."

I don't want to get too comfortable in my life. 

I want to do something different and help people understand why they are here on earth too.  Who Jesus is and what doing life with Him really means!

I want my kids to help write our familys story. And play a role in it. 

All in the name of Jesus. 

T