Latest / Fostering Faith / Movement as Stewardship

Transcript

Movement as Stewardship · Fostering Faith

0:00
Welcome back to Fostering Faith, guys. And so
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we're going to do something different with these
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episodes. And so we're going to call these little
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bonus episodes. And we're going to be fostering
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our faith and fitness. And so in these episodes,
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there are going to be little tidbits on health
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and wellness and exercise. And right out of the
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gate, we know that this is not personal medical
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advice. We know that I am not your provider.
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We know that you're gonna seek the guidance from
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your providers that you guys see. And this is
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just to supplement our faith in our fitness because
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to be a follower of Christ means that we appreciate
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and we move with purpose because we know that
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God can use us no matter our fitness levels,
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that we have to be a good steward over what he's
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given us. This is not our body. This is our temple.
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This is what has been bought and paid for by
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Jesus And so that's why it's just so important
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for us just to walk like this And so if you guys
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don't know me, my name is Tracy Foster and so
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I am a person that has walked through every stage
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of fitness and it's about going through and allowing
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us to Walk through our fitness journeys together
1:02
No matter where you're starting out whether it's
1:04
in you're doing your first 5k or you're doing
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your first mile your first Hey, I just bought
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walking shoes And so these episodes are going
1:12
to be for you. I've been there. I've done it.
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And so if you're new to this channel, my name
1:16
is Tracy. And so we are just walking through
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faith and fitness together. We don't have it
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all figured out. But again, you don't have to
1:22
have it all figured out to follow Christ. And
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so we're just walking through this together.
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We hope that these new videos are going to be
1:28
inspiring and encouraging. If you know someone
1:30
that needs these, make sure that you send it
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to them and let's grow our little podcast. And
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so before anybody hears the word fitness and
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thinks immediately, well, this is not for me.
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Stay with me. It's not just about for runners
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or people that go to the gym. It's not for people
1:45
who already have it all figured out because this
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ain't your girl. We don't have it all figured
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out here. This is for people walking to the mailbox
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for a person starting over for the 15th time
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because I've been there. It's for the person
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who wants to take better care of themselves,
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but honestly doesn't know where to start. And
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so today we're going to be talking about one
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simple truth movement. is not punishment. It's
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movement is a gift. And I need you to hear me
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say that clearly because for many years people
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don't, I didn't see it that way. I have to, I
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gotta grind and I gotta punish this body and
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it's gonna submit and no. And so I want you to
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know where I began. And so I played basketball
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in high school. I did track. I did weightlifting.
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We did fitness PE. We did all that things. And
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I was a heavier person back then. And so that
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was just my, I felt my lot in life. This is how
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I was gonna be. And I have a mom that cooks so
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much good food. And that's kind of what my friends
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even knew her for was cooking and it didn't stop
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in high school Even she would bring up snack
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as I worked at the hospital on weekends and her
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food was so good and so unhealthy and there's
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no shade in that because she's an amazing cook
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and she inspired me of how to cook now and so
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It's just about taking those amazing recipes
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that she had whenever I was little and just kind
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of tweaking them and making a healthier version
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of those things. And so I started off in my adult
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life whenever I was pregnant with Gia. And so
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I did P90X. I worked out. I did all those things
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up to whenever before I had Gia. And so I did
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P90X until I was up to six months pregnant with
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Gia. I had gestational diabetes with Gia. I also
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have Hashimoto's. So I have an autoimmune disease
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and then I had another autoimmune disease attached.
3:23
that and so I gained 106 -ish pounds. I weighed
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in at 300 pounds whenever I delivered Gia and
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so that was now 15 years ago and so I've been
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able to take that weight off and maintain it.
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And so I know what it is like to be uncomfortable
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in your own body. I know what it's like not to
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be able to bend over. I know what it's like to
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put Ted hose on because you're so full of water
3:49
that you have to have a fan pointed at you and
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you're sweating because you're so out of shape
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and out of reality is horrible. It's just so
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bad. I just couldn't even get shoes on my last
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couple days of work because my feet were so swollen
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Yes, that was nine months, but you know what
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being 300 pounds for that long that I had enough
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that was enough And so I wanted to be that mom
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that my daughter could go into my closet and
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borrow my clothes. I wanted to be that mom that
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could chase my daughter through the yard. I want
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to be the mom that can let's go play basketball.
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Let's go do this. I didn't have that kind of
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growing up. And that's not the culture that it
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was back then. And so nowadays, 40, 50, 60 year
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old, 70 year old, 80 year old grandmas are out
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there crushing it. And so I want to set that
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tone for my daughter. And so I want her to be
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able to see. that women can do incredible things
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and so as we began that health journey after
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whenever she was born went back on my I was still
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on a low carb diet because I was had the gestational
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I was on insulin and all the things and so even
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before then we did a kind of different eating
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patterns and all these things and so I went low
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carb exercise I was able to get that weight off
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and I've met it off and just increased my exercise
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and not eat less and do more I'm just using food
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as fuel and not hating life and sticking to low
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fat and all this other jazz, we don't do that.
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And so one day I was like Just I'm done, let's
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keep going. And so it wasn't the magical of poof,
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I lost 160 pounds. It was no, it was consistently
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showing up after day, doing workouts whenever
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she was napping, doing things and moving, getting
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out her in the stroller and just using and doing
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what we used to call Gia Bredo curls. And so
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we used to put her in a little blanket and we
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would do baby Gia curls. And so just using what
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you have is going to be so important. And some
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days that movement is not real impressive. And
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so we used to have nap time. Workouts that were
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just maybe ten minutes long because whenever
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you're that out of shape and that overweight
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It's so hard to move and so just moving for five
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minutes ten minutes Some days are gonna be slow
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some days are gonna be hard some days You don't
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want to do it at all and that's okay But little
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by little movement stopped feeling like something
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that I had to do because I hated my body It was
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because something I chose to do to care for what
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God was doing for me. He allowed me to have a
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daughter. And so I wanted her to be able to see
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this mom that could be in shape. And she doesn't,
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of course, she doesn't remember me being that
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heavy or ever out of shape. And so whenever I
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recently did this, I've done five K's and I've
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done several runs, half marathons, several of
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those. And then we recently got into an ultra
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marathon. And so we were able to do our first
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ultra marathon all in one day. And it covered
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34 -ish miles on a technical trail. So it was
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a trail run. It wasn't a flat run. Climb over
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rocks, ran through woods, crossed terrain, up
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to these hills. And just seeing all the rocks
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that were like, I'm just like, and I had never
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ran a trail before. And I was just like, what
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in the world did I get into today? And you kept
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moving. And for 10 hours, in like minutes, you
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just kept moving, one foot in front of the other.
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And so listen, the woman who weighed 300 pounds
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finished... an ultra marathon. The woman that
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was on over 100 units of insulin a day. The woman
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that was seen by different providers and said
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that they had Hashimoto's and put on medicine
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and never felt any better. It was an ultra marathon.
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It was like, let's go. And so I'm not telling
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you this because everybody needs to go run 34
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miles. Nope, you don't have to do that. But please
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do not, please don't hear that. I'm telling you
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because we are so quick to decide what we will
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never be able to do. I've had so many patients
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come in and never thought that they would be
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able to fast. I have patients that have came
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in and thought that they would never be able
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to weigh 300 pounds again. I have patients that
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have never thought that they would be able to
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lose 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 80 pounds. But you know
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what? They did. And they consistently show up.
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And so whether we look at where we're at today
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and assume that we'll never be there, you're
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never gonna get there. But God can do so much
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more through one Faithful step at a time and
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so that ultra was not built in one day It was
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built through ordinary mornings my five o 'clock
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mornings that no one sees Yes, I post videos
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about my cooldowns and my husband asked Why do
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you always do them after you cool them because
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you're so short of breath shut your face It was
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built on getting out the door putting on the
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shoes. It was about doing it when I didn't feel
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like it It was about the long ones are short
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ones the tempo runs. It was about using my weighted
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vest It was about just you know, I do this Like
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can't even do that, you know about the long runs
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the walks the tired legs the good days the sore
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days It's about mobility days. It was about mobility
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Thursdays It was about allowing myself to have
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those days where I just needed rest and I needed
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to walk Every day needs to be a PR. Nope. Some
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days McGarman here just doesn't like me. I'm
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like there with a good pace I feel great like
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I can get and he's like negative four cool. Thanks.
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Love you, too. So it's about slowing down those
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counts. It's about resting whenever we need to.
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Movement doesn't have to look fast. It's just
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forward. And so whenever movement becomes a punishment,
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somewhere, some days along the way, we turn into
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like, I just hate myself and I ate too much and
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so I have to go work it off or I don't want to
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look like this in the mirror. So you need to
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punish yourself in the gym. No, we use movement
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pay like just celebrate the fact that we can
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move and so we attack ourselves We act like we
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have to earn the right to be good to ourselves
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and so that mindset will wear you out Don't do
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it. And so if exercise is always a punishment,
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you're always gonna dread it And so if you tell
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yours, hey, I hate working out I hate work out
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you're gonna hate it and so like you keep telling
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yourself that you hate something You're never
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gonna enjoy it flip the script. Don't miss a
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negative. So if you Want to walk walk in the
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fresh air if we're working out is about you disliking
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yourself You're never gonna enjoy doing it because
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you're doing it because you hate yourself and
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you have to love yourself You really do you really
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have to? Embrace the fact that you know what
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I can do hard things and it always feels a sentence
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it always feels like you're serving you know
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their master and so What if you move because
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you were grateful that your legs could carry
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you? What if you walked because that fresh air
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clears your head? What if you lifted weights?
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because you want to stay strong enough to play
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with those children and great grandchildren.
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And so Gia often asks, like, when you do this,
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I'm like, I want to give your kids something
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that you never had, which is grandparents that
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could move and like, and run and like you to
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the mall and go to your games and like, let's
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go run a marathon, go do something outside, let's
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go play baseball, let's go play basketball and
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I will win. Those things that I want your kids
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to have something that she's never had, which
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is grandparents that could be active and move
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and just go and do. And so what if movement became
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a way of saying, God, thank you for this life.
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Help me take care of it. And so that doesn't
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mean that you have to love working out every
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day. I certainly don't love every mile. And by
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mile three, I've done talked myself out of it.
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And I'm like, this is dumb. I'm even doing this
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and just keep going. And you're like, you know
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what? Oh my gosh. Thank you. And sometimes it's
11:29
hot. Sometimes it's real hot. That's why you
11:31
start early. It's real humid and like you even
11:33
wonder am I even sweating or am I just collecting
11:35
the dew off of the air? Your legs feel really
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heavy. Sometimes your arms work really heavy
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But then I also kind of get excited the next
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day that I'm really sore because I can feel all
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those some little muscles that I didn't know
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that I really had and It's just oh my gosh. I
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was able to do that Like you because again like
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have people in our lives that don't have the
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ability to move freely And to move freely is
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such a gift and I just never want to take that
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for granted. And so the huge difference between
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discipline and punishment. Discipline says, this
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is hard, but it's helping me grow. Punishment
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says, I deserve to suffer because I'm not good
12:17
enough. That second voice is not the voice of
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God. That is not the voice of your creator, the
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one that made you in his image. You don't deserve
12:27
because you are not good enough. In scripture
12:30
we have Genesis 1 and he called everything good
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except for us. He called us very good and he
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made us in our image. And so scripture tells
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us in Romans 12 1 it says, Notice that Paul begins
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with mercies of God. He does not begin with shame.
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He doesn't mention anything about shame. He does
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not say, present your body to God once it looks
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a certain way. He doesn't say, hey, once your
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scale hits 140, 160, 200, then present yourself.
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He does not give us a number of that scale or
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the size of your clothes. You gotta be a size
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two, you gotta be a size four, you gotta be a
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size 12, or you gotta do a six minute mile. He
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didn't say anything about that. He says, bring
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your actual bodies to God. The body that you
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have today, right now, Through which you love
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people, you serve people, you worship, you work,
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you hug your kids, your grandkids. Sit beside
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someone who is hurting. Walk into church with.
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You're carrying all of what God is calling you
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through this one body. And so 1 Corinthians 6
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20 says, for you have been bought for a price.
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Let me stop right there. And so you have been
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bought by a price. This temple is not for free.
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Someone paid their life for us to have this life
13:56
today. And so therefore, glorify God in your
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body. Again, it is not God demanding that you
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look perfect. It is a reminder that our bodies
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belong to Him. And there's choices that can honor
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Him. We don't move to earn His love. We move
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from place that we've already loved. I am so
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loved by God. And that's where, if you are not
14:20
a follower of Christ, you may not get that. But
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I get to move. I get to work out. I get to use
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this body. I get to have breath in my lungs.
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and it's such an amazing honor just for God to
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have chosen me for today, to wake me up, to be
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able to have this life. I'm so excited to be
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able to go out and run, to go out there and walk
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with my husband, to go out there and do hard
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things because I not promised tomorrow, but he's
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given me legs and arms today, so I'm gonna use
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those. And so movement is a gift, but rest is
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also a gift. Wisdom is knowing which one you
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need today. And so do I run every day? No. Do
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I move every morning? Yes. And so whether it
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is a walk, whether it's a weighted walk, whether
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it's run, whether it's a movement, Thursday,
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you have to know what your body is. I was saying
15:11
to you, if you're hurt, don't go out there. If
15:14
your body battery on your fitness thing, or you
15:18
don't even have a fitness thing, if it's saying
15:20
zero, sit down, rest. And so like you out there,
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you're grinding it and you're pushing it. There's
15:25
no point. And so start where you are at today.
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And so what does faith in motion actually look
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like in real life? It starts with dropping the
15:34
all or nothing attitude because if you're all
15:36
or nothing, it's not gonna go well. You don't
15:39
need to go run a marathon. You don't need a gym
15:41
membership. Fitness and faith are free. So you
15:44
don't need expensive clothes. You don't need
15:46
fancy shoes. An hour of free time because your
15:48
girl's not working out for an hour. I have about
15:50
40 minutes at lunchtime. I have about 40 minutes
15:52
in the morning. And so that's where I get it
15:54
in. And so you don't have to wait until the next
15:56
Monday. The first of the month. When life comes
15:59
down, because please know that probably a thing
16:00
will never happen. We know that life is what
16:04
it is and we're never promised tomorrow and so
16:06
you start with today. You can start with a walk.
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One minute walk, five minute walk. Just walk
16:11
for five minutes. Walk out to your mailbox. Walk
16:14
out the door. You can stand up from your chair
16:16
a few times. If you're watching this video, just
16:19
stand up and so sit down. And so just do that
16:23
10 times. You can stretch while you're brewing
16:26
your coffee. You can do 10 air squats whenever
16:28
your coffee is heating up in the morning. You
16:30
can park a little further away. You can take
16:33
the stairs. I've never taken elevators. We always
16:35
go the stairs. So if we're on the fourth floor
16:38
or fifth floor of like things, I will say I kind
16:40
of on our last vacation that I did take the elevator.
16:44
But then also too I turned it in for a walk up
16:46
a volcano. So there's that we can park the farthest
16:49
away can around the ball field as our kids are
16:52
in practice and we're not like watching them
16:54
they're just practicing we can take a walk around
16:56
the ballpark stop comparing your beginning to
16:59
someone else's 30 miles you don't have to have
17:03
this long training expenditure you don't have
17:06
to you don't need to be where they're at they
17:09
start off where you are someone always has to
17:12
have a day one and they don't all look the same.
17:16
There is no shame in starting small. There's
17:19
no shame in starting and stopping. It's just
17:22
about not starting at all. And so think about
17:24
your faith. Most of the time God grows us through
17:27
daily choices that no one else sees. One prayer,
17:32
one page of scripture, one act of obedience,
17:35
one decision to trust him again. Our physical
17:38
lives often grow the same way. One walk, one
17:42
glass of water instead of soda. earlier morning,
17:45
one earlier bedtime, one choice to get back up
17:49
after we missed a day. And so we missed Monday.
17:51
I'm just gonna skip the whole week, but you know
17:53
what? We've got a Tuesday, so let's do it a Tuesday.
17:56
And so here's a simple challenge. And so here's
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what I want you to do this week. Choose 10 minutes,
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not an hour, not a complete life overhaul. Just
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10 minutes, move your body in a way that works
18:07
for you. Walk outside, walk through Walmart,
18:10
march in place. March sitting down in a chair.
18:13
Stretch. Dance in the kitchen. Turn on some worship
18:17
music and just dance. Ride a bike. Do a simple
18:21
few stretching videos. Tons of stuff on YouTube,
18:24
free. If 10 minutes is too much right now, choose
18:27
five. If five is too much, choose two. You move.
18:31
Don't spend it criticizing your body like, can't
18:33
you do this and you're too slow and you're that.
18:36
No. Thank God something in your body allows you
18:40
to do it. And say thank you God, my legs are
18:43
carrying me today. Thank you that my arms can
18:46
give my child a hug. Thank you that I can breathe
18:49
this air. Thank you that I am still here and
18:52
I get another opportunity to start again today.
18:55
And so if you are walking and you see somebody
18:57
else moving, encourage them. Just did a video
19:00
on this before I reported this podcast and it
19:03
was about give someone a high five And so if
19:05
you're running on a trail if you're running outside,
19:06
I don't know. It's like And just that encourages
19:13
that other person to encourage you because you
19:14
feel good because you would inspire somebody
19:15
else now I will say there's people on the trails
19:18
that do not they are just like That's great that
19:21
you don't need encouragement. I need encouragement.
19:23
So encourage someone keep going. Let's keep showing
19:26
up And so you have no idea what it took for that
19:30
person to get outside that day. Your encouragement
19:33
might be the very thing that keeps them going.
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And so not just even on the trail, but let's
19:38
be kind in our workplace at Walmart. The stores
19:41
is hard. I know what happened if you just walk
19:44
up to somebody, hey, good job. I know life is
19:46
hard, but you made the choice. You got it out
19:49
of your house today. You're going to Walmart.
19:51
You're going to Kmart. I don't know if there's
19:53
Kmarts around anymore. They're in the grocery
19:56
stores. Wherever God has put you exactly where
19:59
you need to be encourage that one Person and
20:02
so you don't need more people who celebrate being
20:05
more people to celebrate versus competing with
20:08
other people Whether somebody is moving a quarter
20:10
mile one mile 34 miles a hundred miles. They
20:13
are out there doing something hard Encourage
20:16
them they put their shoes on today and often
20:19
that same encouragement You can turn back to
20:22
yourself. Hey, you know what? I put my shoes
20:23
on today. Hey, I walked for 10 minutes today.
20:27
Hey, instead of choosing a soda, I chose water.
20:30
Little habits make big impacts. And so I thank
20:34
you so much for turning in to this bonus episode.
20:36
If this encouraged you, leave some comment. Leave
20:39
us a message because I'm not gonna waste my time
20:41
or your time if it's not encouraging to you guys.
20:44
And so this was a little bit longer. I thought
20:46
it was gonna be like 15 minutes, but it's 23
20:48
minutes. because I love talking about wealth
20:50
and health and fitness and just the wealth of
20:53
knowledge that I think that I have over fitness
20:55
and health just to be able to move and just coming
20:58
from that 300 pound life to the healthy life
21:01
that I have right now because I choose hard things
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because I choose to get up every morning because
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God has allowed me the gift of movement. I never
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would hate that for granted. And so we would
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love to pray for you guys. Dear Heavenly Father,
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thank you so much for these listeners. Thank
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you so much for giving us another opportunity
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today. Thank you that this is not our body. Thank
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you that you're going to just teach us and show
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us how to be a good steward over this temple
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that you bought for with your life. Thank you
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for choosing us. Thank you for loving us. Thank
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you for the breath in our lungs. Thank you for
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the ability to lift our arms and worship you.
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Thank you for the ability to move our legs. Thank
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you for everything that you do for us. In Jesus
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name I pray, Amen. We hope this message encouraged
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you guys. Have a great day. High five.