Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / When the Holidays Feel Heavy: Faith, Grief & Mental Health | Part 1

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When the Holidays Feel Heavy: Faith, Grief & Mental Health | Part 1 · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey Faithful, welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast. In a moment,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: my dad, Coach Alex Van Houten, will help you honor
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  Speaker 1: God by making the most out of the body God's
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  Speaker 1: given you. Today you can expect truth from the Bible,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: tools from science, and guidance for everyday life. So listen
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: close and get ready. Let's get 1% better today.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: There's a particular kind of loneliness that comes with struggling
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: during a season when everybody seems to expect you to
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: be happy. The decorations go up. The invitations come in.
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  Speaker 2: People ask what you're looking forward to. And maybe you're
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: looking forward to some of it. But you're also tired.
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  Speaker 2: You're carrying something. Or you're looking at a place at
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  Speaker 2: the table where someone you love should be sitting. You
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  Speaker 2: can be thankful for what you have. still feel the
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  Speaker 2: weight of what you've lost. Welcome to Faithful Fitness. I'm
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  Speaker 2: Coach Alex Van Houten, and today we're beginning a series
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  Speaker 2: about mental health, movement, and faith. We're going to talk
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  Speaker 2: about anxiety, depression, attention, the aging brain, and eventually a
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: subject that's deeply personal to me, the lies of suicide.
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  Speaker 2: The purpose is simple. I want you to be better
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  Speaker 2: equipped to help yourself, help someone else, and find help.
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  Speaker 2: Before we get into it, though, here's the scope of
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: this series. I'm speaking as an exercise scientist and health coach,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: and this is education, not individual diagnosis or treatment. Use
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: these practices alongside appropriate professional care. And if you're thinking
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: about suicide, reach out now. In the United States, you
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: can call or text 988, and if there's immediate danger,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: call emergency services. Now, I want to tell you why
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: I'm doing this. Directly following my first COVID infection, I
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: started wrestling with seasonal affective disorder. That experience opened my
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  Speaker 2: eyes to depression and its effects on health and well-being.
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  Speaker 2: I'd always had a heart to help people with their
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  Speaker 2: own personal mental health, but I saw firsthand the importance
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  Speaker 2: of it. There's a difference between knowing about something and
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  Speaker 2: finding yourself wrestling with it. I saw firsthand that there
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  Speaker 2: were things I had control over that actually made a difference.
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  Speaker 2: And I also saw that were things that I did
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  Speaker 2: not control. Getting support mattered. Being vocal about what I
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  Speaker 2: was experiencing mattered. And that distinction is going to be
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  Speaker 2: important throughout this series. We have meaningful opportunities to care
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  Speaker 2: for ourselves. We also need other people. Both are true
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  Speaker 2: at the same time. But the biggest reason this is
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  Speaker 2: important to me is last December, I lost my brother
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  Speaker 2: to suicide. This year, I've worked hard to honor his
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  Speaker 2: memory well. And one way that I'm doing that is
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  Speaker 2: regularly helping people who are struggling to help themselves, also
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  Speaker 2: teaching them how to help others while they find help too.
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  Speaker 2: I want you to know that you don't have to
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  Speaker 2: wait until the final episode of this series to start
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  Speaker 2: speaking up about what you're carrying. We can begin that
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  Speaker 2: conversation today. So let's start by separating a few things
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  Speaker 2: that often get thrown into the same bucket. Holiday stress, grief,
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  Speaker 2: and seasonal affective disorder can often overlap, but they're different experiences.
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  Speaker 2: Holiday stress might sound like this. I have more obligations
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  Speaker 2: than time right now. I'm worried about money. I'm trying
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  Speaker 2: to navigate family relationships. I'm supposed to create wonderful memories,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm already exhausted. Grief, on the other hand, might
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  Speaker 2: sound like this. I want to participate in everything, but
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  Speaker 2: every tradition at this time of year reminds me of
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  Speaker 2: the person who's not there. And separate even from those
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  Speaker 2: two things is seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder is
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  Speaker 2: a form of depression with a recurring seasonal pattern. Winter
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  Speaker 2: pattern seasonal affective disorder commonly brings changes in energy, sleep, appetite,
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  Speaker 2: and interest in ordinary activities. It's more than disliking cold weather.
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  Speaker 2: A clinician looks at that pattern over time and how
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  Speaker 2: the symptoms affect your life. Treatments include light therapy, psychotherapy,
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  Speaker 2: and even medication. Now you might ask, why do we
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  Speaker 2: even make those distinctions between grief or holiday stress or
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  Speaker 2: seasonal affective disorder? I think it's important because naming what
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  Speaker 2: you're experiencing helps you choose your next step. A calendar
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  Speaker 2: problem might require a different commitment, whereas grief might require
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  Speaker 2: room to remember. cry and be with someone who will listen.
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  Speaker 2: And then depression deserves assessment and care. And it's also
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  Speaker 2: possible that one person could need all three at the
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  Speaker 2: same time. As a point of clarity, although many people
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  Speaker 2: do wrestle with seasonal affective disorder in the United States,
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  Speaker 2: it's a well-established fact that the holidays are not the
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  Speaker 2: peak season for suicide in the U.S. November and December
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  Speaker 2: actually tend to have lower rates. But I'm putting this
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  Speaker 2: conversation out on our podcast. Whether you're listening to it
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  Speaker 2: in the summer or the winter, because people need support
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  Speaker 2: in every season, including the one we're in. But right now,
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  Speaker 2: I want you to think about what changes as the
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  Speaker 2: days get shorter. You might leave for work in the
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  Speaker 2: dark and come home in the dark. The walk you
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  Speaker 2: took after dinner could disappear. Outdoor times become something you'll
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  Speaker 2: do when the weather improves. Your evenings fill up, your
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  Speaker 2: bedtimes drift, and you stop seeing the friend that you
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  Speaker 2: used to meet every week. Meanwhile, your responsibilities haven't disappeared,
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  Speaker 2: And in some cases, they've multiplied. I know in our house,
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  Speaker 2: work continues, but often school is sporadic. So our source
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  Speaker 2: of a quiet, peaceful place to actually get work done
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  Speaker 2: turns into a place where we're straining to find the
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  Speaker 2: time to create great family memories. That's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: change to expect yourself to absorb without adjusting how you
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  Speaker 2: care for yourself. Your brain responds to the conditions in
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  Speaker 2: which you live. And light is actually one of the
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  Speaker 2: signals that helps to set your internal clock. That clock
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  Speaker 2: helps coordinate sleep and wakefulness, And when the timing of
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  Speaker 2: light and daily routines changes, your sleep schedule can change
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  Speaker 2: with it. Personally for me, if I don't do anything differently,
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  Speaker 2: my body goes into some sort of hibernate mode in
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  Speaker 2: the winter. I feel like a bear and I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to do anything active. I just want to eat,
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  Speaker 2: lay in a cave, and snore. But that's not an
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  Speaker 2: option for me. It probably isn't for you either. And
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  Speaker 2: so this useful piece of science gives us a practical question.
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  Speaker 2: What signals am I giving my body each day? Am
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  Speaker 2: I making room for daylight? Am I keeping any consistency
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  Speaker 2: around my sleep? Have I stopped moving? Have I quietly
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  Speaker 2: become disconnected from other people? Now these questions give us
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  Speaker 2: somewhere to begin, and I don't want you to hear
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  Speaker 2: them as a verdict on your character. So if you would,
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  Speaker 2: come with me to John chapter 11. In this chapter,
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  Speaker 2: Lazarus has died. His sisters, Mary and Martha, are grieving.
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  Speaker 2: And when Jesus comes into that grief, Mary meets him
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  Speaker 2: with the anguish of someone who knows that he could
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  Speaker 2: have intervened. In verse 32, she says, If he'd been there,
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  Speaker 2: my brother would not have died. Jesus sees her crying
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  Speaker 2: in the grief of the people with her. He's deeply moved.
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  Speaker 2: And then, in verse 35, the shortest verse in the Bible,
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  Speaker 2: it says, Jesus wept. Now, Jesus knows that the story's
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  Speaker 2: not over. He's about to call Lazarus out of the tomb.
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  Speaker 2: Yet he weeps anyway. His tears belong in the story
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  Speaker 2: alongside his power and his love. That matters for the
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  Speaker 2: way we treat one another. Sometimes in our eagerness to
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  Speaker 2: encourage a person, we rush past their pain. We offer
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  Speaker 2: a conclusion before we've listened to what they're experiencing. We
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  Speaker 2: want them to feel better. We don't know what to
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  Speaker 2: do with the fact that they don't. But I want
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  Speaker 2: you to look at Jesus. When he enters the moment,
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  Speaker 2: he is present with grieving people. I think there's a
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  Speaker 2: challenge here for those of us who want to help.
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  Speaker 2: Can you remain present when you don't have an explanation
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  Speaker 2: that makes the hurt go away? Can you sit with
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  Speaker 2: your spouse without turning the conversation into a list of
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  Speaker 2: things they should do? Can you listen to your child
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  Speaker 2: long enough to understand what they're actually saying? Can you
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  Speaker 2: let a friend talk about someone who died, even when
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  Speaker 2: you're afraid of saying the wrong thing? And if you're
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  Speaker 2: the person struggling, can you tell the truth about where
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  Speaker 2: you are? Faithfulness doesn't require pretending. You can pray honestly.
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  Speaker 2: You can tell someone you trust that this season is difficult.
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  Speaker 2: you can receive care. None of those actions puts you
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  Speaker 2: outside the life of faith. We're called to love people.
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes love brings a meal. Sometimes love sits quietly.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes love helps someone make an appointment. And sometimes love
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  Speaker 2: just says, I'm so glad you told me. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: sure what your next step is, but I'm here to
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  Speaker 2: take it with you. Now, full disclosure, one of the
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  Speaker 2: inspirations for this series is a book called Spark, which
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  Speaker 2: explores exercise and the brain. We're going to carry that
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  Speaker 2: curiosity into these conversations and look at their research through
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  Speaker 2: a biblical understanding of stewardship. Here's the starting point. Your
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  Speaker 2: brain is part of your body. I know that sounds obvious,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: but we often approach health as though everything above the
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  Speaker 2: neck runs on a separate system. We talk about exercise
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  Speaker 2: as something that changes your waistline, strengthens your legs, or
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  Speaker 2: improves your cardiovascular fitness. Those are real benefits. but your
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  Speaker 2: mental health belongs in that conversation too. Physical activity can
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  Speaker 2: improve sleep and reduce feelings of anxiety. Research on people
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  Speaker 2: with depression also shows that exercise can reduce depressive symptoms.
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  Speaker 2: A Cochrane review published in 2026 examined 73 studies involving
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  Speaker 2: nearly 5,000 adults. The findings support exercise as one of
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  Speaker 2: the most useful treatment options. That gives us a reason
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  Speaker 2: to act. It doesn't mean that every workout will make
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  Speaker 2: you feel better, or that you caused your depression by
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  Speaker 2: failing to exercise. Here's how I want you to use
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  Speaker 2: this information. Make movement one of the supports. that are
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  Speaker 2: available to you. If you're someone who's ready and able,
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  Speaker 2: that might be a regular strength training program, or you
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  Speaker 2: could even start with a brisk walk. Or for someone
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  Speaker 2: who's struggling with exercise, it could begin with getting dressed
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  Speaker 2: and spending a few minutes moving around the house. When
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  Speaker 2: it comes to exercise, the starting point fits the person.
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  Speaker 2: It might not look the same for everyone. But when
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  Speaker 2: you are active, I want you to pay attention to
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  Speaker 2: what happens around movement. Maybe the walk gives you a
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  Speaker 2: chance to talk to your wife. Maybe meeting a friend
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  Speaker 2: gives you a reason to leave the house. Maybe a
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  Speaker 2: scheduled workout creates one dependable appointment in a week that
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  Speaker 2: otherwise feels chaotic. Those are practical opportunities to care for yourself,
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  Speaker 2: and the research shows that it affects your brain chemistry
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  Speaker 2: in powerful ways. I also want to be clear about
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  Speaker 2: how we measure progress here. It's possible that you can
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  Speaker 2: accomplish a workout and still feel sad afterward. But I
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  Speaker 2: want you to know that you can follow through on
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  Speaker 2: things even when you don't get an immediate emotional reward.
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  Speaker 2: I know when I've been in the depths, the last
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  Speaker 2: thing I want to do is go for a run
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  Speaker 2: or lift weights. And while oftentimes I do feel elevated
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  Speaker 2: mood afterward, in the times that I don't, I still
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  Speaker 2: feel good knowing that I did something good for myself,
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  Speaker 2: especially when I didn't feel like it. I like to
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  Speaker 2: tell my clients that those workouts count extra. You might
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  Speaker 2: not have broken any land speed records, lifted your heaviest weight,
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  Speaker 2: or burned the most calories this session, but a workout
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  Speaker 2: done when you didn't feel like it is a special
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  Speaker 2: kind of victory that's really hard to quantify. My personal
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  Speaker 2: experience with seasonal affective disorder made me pay attention to
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  Speaker 2: the difference between what I could influence and what I
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  Speaker 2: couldn't control. I want you to think about that distinction
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  Speaker 2: for yourself. You can't lengthen the daylight by force of
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  Speaker 2: your will. You can't undo a loss. You can't make
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: every family relationship peaceful. You definitely can't guarantee how you're
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  Speaker 2: going to feel tomorrow morning. But there might be a
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  Speaker 2: phone call you can make. There might be a commitment
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  Speaker 2: that you can simplify. A meal you can prepare. A
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  Speaker 2: walk you can take. Maybe even an appointment that you
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  Speaker 2: can ask someone to help you schedule. Start there. This
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  Speaker 2: is where the 1% better everyday thing can be extremely powerful.
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  Speaker 2: If you need assistance doing one of these things, Asking
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  Speaker 2: for assistance is a meaningful action all by itself. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: we make the mistake of treating responsibility as though it
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  Speaker 2: means doing everything independently. But I want you to look
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  Speaker 2: at how much of Christian life is practiced with other people.
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  Speaker 2: We pray together. We learn together. We serve together. We
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  Speaker 2: carry burdens together. I want you to let that shape
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  Speaker 2: your approach to your health. You're allowed to say, I
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  Speaker 2: know this matters. I'm having a hard time doing it.
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  Speaker 2: Will you help me? That is a sentence worth practicing
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  Speaker 2: before you desperately need it. So, let's put this into action.
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  Speaker 2: For the next seven days, I want you to build
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  Speaker 2: a simple baseline around four words. Light, movement, connection, and honesty. First, light.
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  Speaker 2: Choose a realistic opportunity to spend some time outdoors during daylight.
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  Speaker 2: If it's cold, bundle up. It could be a few
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  Speaker 2: minutes outside after you wake up, or maybe your work
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: schedule makes a lunch break a better option. but I
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: want you to put it somewhere specific in your day
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: and aim for a reasonably consistent wake-up time with enough
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: opportunity to sleep. For me, I have to set my
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  Speaker 2: alarm for 5.30 in the morning every winter day. That
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  Speaker 2: doesn't mean I never sleep in, but I'm pretty darn
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  Speaker 2: consistent about getting up, spending time in the Word, drinking
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  Speaker 2: some coffee, and being consistent with my wake routine keeps
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  Speaker 2: me from being too wound up before I go to sleep.
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  Speaker 2: Now note this is a daily routine practice. Clinical light
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  Speaker 2: therapy is a completely separate treatment. Now the second is movement. Movement,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: particularly exercise, which would be adaptably stressful movement, is a
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  Speaker 2: powerful way to get your blood flowing, to improve your
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  Speaker 2: brain chemistry, and to bring some accomplishment to times when
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  Speaker 2: you're grieved or overwhelmed. Choose something that fits your current
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  Speaker 2: ability and schedule. If walking works for you, try a
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  Speaker 2: short walk. If you already train regularly, decide which sessions
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  Speaker 2: you can realistically protect during a busy week. And if
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: your mobility is limited, choose an accessible form of movement
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: within your care plan. I really don't care what you do.
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  Speaker 2: I just need you to do it. While I have
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: a lot of advice I could offer about how to
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  Speaker 2: personalize this to you, the most important aspect is that
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  Speaker 2: you do it. Make the plan specific enough that you
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: know when it happens. I'll move more is an easy-to-lose-in-the-middle-of-the-day
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: sort of goal. But if you say, after lunch, I
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: will walk for 10 minutes. That gives you an appointment.
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  Speaker 2: If 10 minutes is too little, make it more. Or
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: if it's too much, make it smaller. The purpose is
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  Speaker 2: to establish something you can actually practice. Personally, when I
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: don't feel like lifting, I will always go to my gym,
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  Speaker 2: knock out three sets of pull-ups and three sets of push-ups.
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  Speaker 2: And if by the time I finish those, I feel
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  Speaker 2: like lifting, I'll go ahead and get it done. And
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  Speaker 2: if I don't, I can celebrate that I actually did
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  Speaker 2: something when I didn't want to do anything. And I
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: try to return to it tomorrow. True story. The third
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  Speaker 2: is connection. Choose one person and arrange a real conversation
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  Speaker 2: this week. Bonus points if you're able to combine it
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: with a walk or a hike. But you can also
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: call someone or just sit together over coffee. Ask them
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: about their life and share some of yours. And if
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: you're struggling, tell them something true. I've been having a
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: difficult time lately and I don't want to keep it
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: to myself. Is a perfectly acceptable sentence to start the conversation.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: You don't have to deliver a polished explanation before someone's
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: allowed to care about you. In fact, It's probably better
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: to let that evolve over the conversation. And if you
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: are doing well, think about who might appreciate hearing from you.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Another pro tip, be specific in your invitation. Would you
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  Speaker 2: like to walk with me Saturday is easier to answer
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: than a vague offer to get together sometime. And the
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  Speaker 2: fourth is honesty. Take a minute each evening and ask yourself,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: how is my energy today? How is my interest in
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: the things that I love? What was difficult? What support
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: did I need? Just write a sentence or two. This
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: is a way to notice patterns and give yourself useful
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: information to share. It's not a test that you pass
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: by reporting that everything's fine. That's the honesty part. If
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: your energy really was a 10 out of 10, great.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: But if it was a 2, don't write 8 because
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: you feel better about the number. Be honest. And while
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: we're talking about honesty, let's be honest about the holiday season.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: you can choose one holiday expectation to simplify. Maybe you
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: don't need to host everything this year. Maybe you can
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  Speaker 2: keep one meaningful tradition and let the other one wait.
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  Speaker 2: It's okay to participate honestly in the season you're actually living.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe you'll tell your family in advance that you'll need
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: some quiet time. Or you can schedule your get-togethers or
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: meals in a way that still take care of you
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: in the process. For instance, my whole family knows that
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: on Christmas Day, I will still always go for a run.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: happens to be my birthday, and a promise I keep
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  Speaker 2: to myself every year, regardless of how I'm feeling or
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: regardless of the weather, you can participate honestly in the
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: season that you're actually living it. Now, having said that,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: if any of those four things feel like too much,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: just choose one or two, or ask somebody in your
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: life to help you choose one. Begin with what is
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: manageable today. Now, before we close this first episode, I
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: want to talk about what you notice in the people
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  Speaker 2: around you. During the season, look around for meaningful changes.
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  Speaker 2: You might notice someone withdrawing or losing interest in what
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: they normally enjoy. You might find them struggling with ordinary
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: responsibilities or expressing hopelessness. It's okay to ask about what
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: you've observed without diagnosing them with anything. You might say, hey,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: I've noticed you haven't been joining us lately and I
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: wanted to check in. How have you really been doing?
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Then give them room to answer. If they tell you
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: you're struggling, Resist the urge to build your response around
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: how quickly you can fix it. You can say, hey,
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  Speaker 2: thanks for telling me. Would it help if I sat
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: with you or brought you dinner? Or helped you find
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: someone to talk to? And I have to say this.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: If you are concerned about suicide in someone else, studies
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: have shown that asking directly whether or not they're thinking
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: about suicide does not plant the idea. And we should
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: take the answer seriously. And when it comes to grieving,
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: don't assume that the person wants every mention of their
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: loved one avoided. It's healthy to ask, would you like
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: to talk about them? And let the person guide the conversation.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Maybe they want to share a memory. Maybe they just
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: want some quiet company. It's possible that you can make
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: room for either. You might have a hard time imagining
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: how powerful a listening ear can be. And if you're
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: listening to this and you're the person who needs help,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: here's a practical sentence for an appointment. My mood and
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: energy have changed, and it's affecting my daily life. I'd
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: like some help understanding what's going on. You could begin
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: with a primary care provider or a mental health professional.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: With persistent symptoms, especially over two weeks or with interference
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: in daily functioning, they deserve assessment, whereas severe symptoms need
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: attention sooner. Your friend, your pastor, and your coach can
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: help you take that step and remain alongside you through
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: the process. I've connected many a client with a counselor
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: or mental health professional and still coached them through their
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: exercise and nutrition practice while they were at care. Whether
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: you're doing well or not, I need you to help yourself.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: If you are doing well, find someone to help. And
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: if you're having a hard time, I need you to
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: find some help. So today, we've opened the door. In
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: the episodes ahead, we'll spend more time with the individual
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: challenges and the practical tools that belong with them. Next time,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about anxiety and what happens
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: when your alarm won't turn off and how to respond.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: For this week, I want you to remember those four words. Light, movement, connection,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: and honesty. Choose your starting point and put it on
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: your calendar. Tell someone what you're practicing. And remember John 11.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Jesus wept. Faithfulness does not require pretending. Let me pray
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: for you. Father, thank you that we can come to
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: you honestly. Give us wisdom for the bodies that we
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: care for and the minds you've entrusted to us. Give
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: us courage to speak when we're struggling and the humility
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: to receive help. Teach us to listen well and to
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: love people in practical ways. Be near to those of
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: us who are grieving. Help us take the next faithful
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: step and help us to notice who needs someone beside them.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: In Jesus' name, amen. If you're looking for people to
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: walk alongside you as you put this into practice, I
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: want you to join the Faithful Fitness community. There you'll
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: gain access to the encouragement, the knowledge, and the people
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: that you need to move forward in your faithful fitness journey.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: You can join free at the link in the show notes,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: or you can dive in headfirst with an upgraded core membership.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: We actually have a special podcast offer going on right
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: now that comes with a dedicated coaching call with me
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: to make sure that you get after it. You can
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: find out more at faithfulfitness.co slash podcast. And finally, if
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: this episode brought someone to mind, I want you to
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: reach out to them. Share the episode if you think
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: it'd be helpful. And maybe it'll make room for a
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: conversation you need to have. This has been Coach Alex
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Van Houten on Faithful Fitness. Help yourself, help someone else,
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: and find help. I'll see you next time. And until then,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: train hard, but pray harder. What's up, faithful?
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: This episode helped you. Share it with someone who needs
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to hear it. And don't forget to subscribe and leave
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: a review so more people can find Faithful Fitness. My
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: dad's devotional, Faithful Fitness, is available now. And you can
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: join our Faithful Fitness community by clicking the links in
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: the show notes. We all have a cross to carry,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: but it's lighter when we do it together. See you later, alligator.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: But until then, train hard and pray even harder.