There is No God Like Jehovah!

Well let me start out by saying this will be a more personal post and is not clinic/ministry related. It may be a bit rambly (is that a word really?) but I want to solidify my commitment to personal health by publicly posting about this journey I'm currently on.

Last fall I started to seriously think about increasing my activity level and start exercising. The good old contemplation stage! The thinking stage moved into me doing an occasional dance DVD workout. Then our schedule got busier, my parents came to visit and I just didn't make the time to exercise. Shortly after my parents left I came down with malaria and pneumonia and wound up in the hospital with a two-month recovery after my discharge.

Finally at the end of Feb I was ready to start. I decided I was going to do it the Kenyan way, by running. Deep inside somewhere I've always wanted to run but never really have. Well with my current physical condition, running was seeming like light years away. But I began to faithfully get up and walk/jog. Mostly walking! Lots of sweating! In just days I had rubbed some blisters. I pressed on and the blisters broke open, bled and became extremely painful.

So I started in with some exercise DVD's while I waited for my heels to heal. Last week marked five weeks of exercising for at least 20 - 40 minutes between 4 and 5 times a week. William and I will be in the USA this fall and my goal is to be able to run a 5K for breast cancer research while we are there.

I had decided that this week it was going to be time to get back outside. However I tried a new DVD a friend loaned me on Saturday and spent the next two days in excruciating pain (the good kind though) after facing "Billy's Bootcamp Workout". So Monday didn't happen, Tues I did an aerobics DVD because of rain, and yesterday exercise didn't happen due to a combo of sleeping in and a busy afternoon/evening.

Today I'm heading out for a two-day leadership conference. So I realized last night if I hope to even make three days of exercise this week, I was going to have to get up and do it in the morning. I dragged myself out the door at 5:45 AM for my first jogging attempt since the "great blister breakdown".

I'll be honest it was tough this morning. My friend and colleague, Juli, has told me that she wants to walk/jog this journey with me. She has repeatedly encouraged me and told me that next week she is going to start joining me for my morning jaunts. As I was struggling down the road this morning I was full of negativity. "Who are you kidding to think you can run a 5K in October? You can barely walk/jog 2K's!" "Juli shouldn't put herself through this, it's a joke watching me try to amble down the road. She climbed Kilimanjaro for goodness sakes!" And the kicker was that after five weeks of exercise I've only lost two lbs. (Definitely need to attack the eating patterns next!) I was again discouraged, tired, and my muscles and ankles were screaming at me that my body was not meant to do this.

When I walk/jog I carry my CD player with an inspirational CD that I burned at the start of this exercise journey. As I began to get closer to my home Twila Paris singing "Days of Elijah" came on. I decided that with her song, I could jog the rest of the way home. As the song moved into the chorus it began to repeat the phrase "There is NO god like Jehovah!" My eyes suddenly filled with tears.

I realized that I am not on this journey alone. There really is NO god like MY JEHOVAH! Suddenly it was time to run. I ran the rest of the way home. I was jumping over rocks and my heart was soaring. I was thinking about how many things my Jehovah has brought me through. Why is it that this journey should be any different than the past? He has taken me through the loss of people I love. He walked with my family through my father's cancer. He held my hand through the Post-Election-Violence in Kenya and spared our lives during that time and later when we were in a serious car accident on an African road. He truly is a great and mighty! And I cannot tell you how glorious it felt to actually run (even if it was only a few meters).

So I share this with you, the general public of the blogging world, for several reasons. First I want to tell you that there really is no God like my Jehovah. He has walked me through the fire in the past and will walk me through this journey as well. Wherever you are in your life today He wants to meet you there. He will walk through the journey with you if you just ask him. It doesn't matter how high the mountain may be or how low the valley may dip. Once you ask him to join your life's journey, he will NEVER leave or forsake you!

Secondly I want to put my commitment to a healthier lifestyle out there for the public to see. I want the accountability to keep pressing on in this journey. By just reading this you are somehow joining me in that journey.

Thirdly, when I get discouraged I want to come back and read this post and remember that my God will give me the strength and energy to continue down this road to a new me!