Living Simply

John 10:7-10

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.^[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

In the event you missed church this past Sunday at Troy United Methodist Church, Pastor Dennis Price delivered a sermon entitled "Simple:  Life."  The overall theme as I understood it was the need to simplify our lives and make Jesus our number one priority.  One of the examples Pastor Dennis used to demonstrate his point was, "What did you do with that extra hour last week?"  Did you use that extra hour to fit in three more items on a to-do list?  Did you use the hour to sleep?  Did you use the hour to replenish yourself by reading the Bible or praying?

Today being Veteran's Day, my two girls were off of school.  Although sleeping in was on my to-do list, it was not on theirs.  Instead of running errands or taking in an activity outside the home, we decided to simplify our lives today.  Opting to stay in our pajamas for the duration, a leisurely (not necessarily healthful) breakfast of homemade Nutella waffles started our day.  My oldest daughter had written a thank-you letter to a Veteran for a school assignment, so we folded said letter after the breakfast plates were cleared and addressed it to her Great Grandpa O., a radio operator on a B-17 during World War II.  In the meantime, my youngest daughter dug in our craft box and found a soap making kit given to us by our thirteen-year-old neighbor.  We proceeded to create soap (for the first time) and then wrapped it in order to gift it to the same thirteeen-year-old neighbor.  Even I managed to walk a mile with Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home video;  yes, I should have walked the 5 Really Big Miles  as the subtitle suggests, but, hey, one is better than nothing.  After a stint in the kitchen making cake balls out of bundt cake which failed to fully release from the pan, the three of us snuggled in and watched a movie. 

While the hub was downstairs directing the girls in clean-up duties, I took an Epsom salt tub (suggested long ago by woman blessing Jessica Dudley via Faithful Fitness Friends) by candlelight and prayed for some women blessing friends.  

After I finish this post, I plan to load the dishes before the hub and I catch up on a missed episode of Homeland. Then, I am off to bed with a novel I have been meaning to finish for a few weeks now.  Although my family and I spent the day living simply, I feel as if this kind of simplicity allowed me to appreciate the richness of my life.

By Courtney Winkler 

God told me today . . .

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

Just as Paul wrote to fellow Christians back in his day, I write to you. I am by NO means an expert; I make mistakes, miss deadlines and fail at times. Today is a brand new day, a new start, a do-over. Move on from what did not work yesterday, last week last year. Start today and give Him your best self.
I believe strongly that my body is God’s temple, that if I have invited Jesus into my heart, I had better get that guest room up to the standards He deserves.
As many of you know I having been working on my weight, but you may not know exactly how. I want to share with you what’s going on with a little project I call Faithful Fitness Friends. FF started last January and has continued throughout 2012. After much prayer and consideration, I felt the need to share what God has been doing through me with others. I started an on-line Facebook group and asked permission to meet at the church for group workout sessions. We competed in 3 5Ks last year and a couple plank challenges. We want to do that and more this year, and we want you to do it too!

Our Facebook Group is a private group where I attempt to share information daily about what it means to live wholly Holy, in mind body and spirit; encouraging support, accountability and community. We would like to meet face to face, possibly once a month, at the church for the same type of sharing. We are looking into times and spaces available.
For the workouts, we have been using videos by Leslie Sansone, Michelle Spadafora, Brooke Boone. Sessions last 30-45 minutes depending on the video and the amount of energy we can work up together! We are beginning this year with morning sessions @ 5:15 am in the upper Youth area on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are evening sessions being considered once again for Monday or Tuesday nights. Also, I can workout @ 7am on Saturdays. If these times and dates don’t work for you, PLEASE speak up and let us know what will. I want to find a place and people to join you on your journey!
I do not believe in diets, fads and quick fixes; I’m learning the benefits of healthy eating, regular exercise and prayer. With God’s strength and support, I have managed to lose over 50 pounds, probably closer to 75! I feel better than I have in years and am able to do things I have never done before. I invite you to join me and others as we attempt to stay Faithfully Fit in 2013!


Please contact me at FaithfulFitnessTUMC@gmail.com.


Beth Miramonti

Faithful Fitness with Beth Miramonti Wants YOU!

What is Faithful Fitness?
Faithful Fitness is about taking care of our whole bodies. It’s about creating the very best House in which we can best accommodate Jesus Christ, our most Honored Guest. It is a place where we can gather and share ideas, goals, challenges and successes. Where we pray for and encourage one another.

What motivated you to start the Faithful Fitness group?
I had been working out at home to a program on TV called Faithful Workouts http://www.faithfulworkouts.com/. Sharon Wood and I attended a fitness class at First Baptist Church in Maryville last year and enjoyed it so much we wanted to do something similar at our church. Having NO fitness training background, I offered to facilitate a group if people were willing to gather and work out together to a video. I won the Best of Faithful Workouts video (our very first training video) in an online contest, and Faithful Fitness was born. 

What areas have you seen improve or expand and in what areas are you still looking for that growth? What are some future plans? 
We began getting together in Jan 2012 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for a 32 minute video led workout. My original intention was to incorporate prayer, devotion and share time into that hour we’d scheduled to gather. Honestly, timing and schedules have cut that time together to only video time, but some of the newer videos we are using incorporate prayer and devotion into the practice. Aside from the workout time at the church I also formed a Facebook Group called Faithful Fitness Friends. There we can check in daily on each other, share praises and goals. I often post devotions, humorous quotes and pictures to motivate and encourage. Several of us recently completed a 4 week Holy Yoga instructional course with Jill Fisk. There are close to thirty people currently involved in a 30 day Plank Challenge, and about 10 of us are signed up as a team called Fit & Faithful for the St. Louis Color Run coming up August 18th.  

What are the age limitations and expected fitness levels of people in the Faithful Fitness group? Do you have to be a member of TUMC to join? 
Faithful Fitness is for everyone over 12 who is interested in getting or staying physically fit. We have several types of exercise and many options to accommodate all ages and stages.  Some of the new videos we are looking at actually show you a chair option if getting to the floor or back up is a problem. Many of the routines can be "boosted" to accommodate the fittest of the bunch. The exercise bands we use allow a person to decide just how much resistance they want to use for each move. Our " TUMC regulars" include Becky Rushing, Debbie Rakers and Rebecca Ellis. One of my most Faithful Fitness Friends, is Stacey Anderson, a good friend from high school who isn't a member of the church, but is still a major part of our group.  Our daughters have joined when in town, and the workouts give those young 20-somethings a challenge as well. It's all about what you put into it. We will take you wherever you are and work from there. 

Is childcare provided for the workout times?  
A nursery is provided in the evenings and would be available upon request in the mornings. Adrian is currently running a kids fitness group that coincides with our workout time for the 3-12 yr olds. 

What is the current meeting schedule for workouts? 
We are currently meeting at 5 am on Mondays and Wednesdays and "walking" ourselves fit with Leslie Sansone's video's on loan to us from Ruth Alysworth. Originally I had named this Spiritual Stretching with a yoga/pilates focus, but we found these videos and REALLY liked them. Of the ladies who are participating, some need to head to work after so we get a brisk 2-3 mile walk in by 6am. We meet at 7am on Saturday mornings for HOLY YOGA and are using the level 1 DVD included in Brooke Boone's book, Exercise for the Christian Body and Soul, which takes about an hour. And finally, on Tuesday evening at 7 we are currently offering a 32 min Faithful Workout, total body workout. 

Tell us more about the 30 day Plank Challenge. 
The 30-Day Plank Challenge is just something I found online and wanted to do, but wanted to have the accountability to stick to it. The plank pose is one of the best workouts to strengthen your core that has one in push up position or on your forearms and keeping your back straight (like a plank) and holding that position as long as you can. This 30-Day challenge is supposed to get you up to holding that pose for 5 minutes by the end of the month. I posted it on the Faithful Fitness facebook page to see who else would be interested in joining and received quite a bit of feedback. Not only are women from my group doing it, but they are recruiting their husbands, kids, and neighbors to do it with them.

"Get Your Plank On" T shirts available now. Limited quantities for most sizes- $10 each.  All proceeds go to Faithful Fitness videos and equipment!!! Get yours while they last! 

Class times and challenges are scheduled to change in August so contact me, Beth at faithfulfitnessTUMC@gmail.com or Adrian at  Adrian@troyumc.org at Troy United Methodist Church for more information. Come join us; you will be glad you did!