Is Someone Trying To Tell Me Something?

You know, I tried really hard to accomplish that, but it just didn’t work out…maybe it’s not God’s will….. hmmmm.” Have you ever experienced things just not going your way, things just not falling into place? “

I’ve been trying to establish a routine of exercise for the last 77 years… getting into shape, dropping a few pounds, getting healthy. Even as a baby, I was a bit chunky… a few years later the man at the department store suggested I try the “ Huskies….. oh no, not the Huskies.” 

Anyway, several years ago I joined a local gym and went there consistently …it was a routine, a part of my life. Well, Covid showed up and my exercise routine ground to a halt. A few years later, as things eased up, I started back to the gym…. exercising on a treadmill with a mask on. But as I was getting back in shape, I showed up and the gym was closed…the owner caught Covid. Well, a few months went by and I was ready  to give it another try, when I got notice that the gym had closed, out of business. “Yikes…. I guess it’s not God’s will that I exercise, maybe I’m meant to be a Blimp that other blimps can draw solace from….” 

Well months later, my daughter offered to bring me on to her pretty fancy gym membership … free of charge, help with some training sessions….very nice.  Okay, let’s give it another try; maybe it is God’s will. I started anew with my little gym bag, my much larger gym shorts and my will, steeled against intimidation by the Arnold Schwartznager, Jr.s walking around. Okay I got a start, made some progress, my routine was building… and then I felt “funny” one day and I noticed my pulse was up over 130 and my chest was fluttering….yes, an episode of AFib…my first one in over 9 years. Okay just calm down… I get on some new meds and things are sorting out; after a while “I’m back to the gym. Again my routine is building, feeling better, I’m even adding some pickleball to my routine…hey, I’m not too bad for an old codger. Then after a particularly challenging 2 hours game, I noticed my knee was feeling funny; I had tweaked my knee. ( “tweak” is the term we professional athletes use for breaking a leg, or having your head knocked off and rolling down the driveway). Anyway, after a time on “injured reserve”, I’m back at the gym. I had a pretty good session yesterday and am back on track.

So, back to the original title of this BLOG. Is someone trying to tell me something? Is God trying to teach me something…. like perseverance?  Hmmmmmm. I guess I still believe that the Lord wants me to get in some sort of better physical condition. I don’t think I’ve arrived at my new goal…no one is calling me “Skinny or Arnold or Jack LaLanne”. 

I do believe that the Lord wants me to keep at it… to not quit because I’ve had a few setbacks. And if he wants me to keep at my efforts to squeeze a few more years out of this tired body, I’m sure he wants me to double my efforts to strengthen my soul, which has another zillion years of eternity and beyond.  “Lord when we stumble and fall in our spiritual life, help us to get up, dust ourselves off, and start anew.” 

Thank God for confession. Thank God for every new day where new mercies await. (Ps. 118:24) Thank God for all the grace you pour out on us…constantly. And thank God for that beautiful gaze from your beatific face as you see us getting up one more time, as we try again to be your faithful servant. And you know what, one of these days we won’t fall anymore. One of these days, we will be home…in great spiritual shape and with our new heavenly bodies. Wow, is that good news.