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A Special Message From Coach Alex · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

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  Speaker 1: What's up, Faithful coach Alex van Houghten, Here grace and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: peace to you. If you've been listening to the Faithful
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Fitness podcast for a while, you may have noticed that
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  Speaker 1: the episodes haven't been showing up quite as consistently over
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  Speaker 1: the past few months. I wanted to take a moment
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  Speaker 1: today and speak directly to you about why and also
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  Speaker 1: about what's coming next. The truth is this, this last
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  Speaker 1: season of life has been very full for me, some
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  Speaker 1: of it incredibly joyful and some of it incredibly heavy.
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  Speaker 1: Many of you know that this is the year we
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  Speaker 1: fondly launched the Faithful Fitness devotional, a project that's been
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  Speaker 1: years in the making. What started as a handful of
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  Speaker 1: reflections on stewardship, discipline, and honoring God with our bodies
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  Speaker 1: has now become a forty day journey that people are
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  Speaker 1: reading all over the country right now. Seeing photos of
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  Speaker 1: the book in your homes, hearing stories of people reading
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  Speaker 1: it with friends watching it becomes something that God is
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  Speaker 1: actually using in people lives that has been deeply humbling.
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  Speaker 1: At the same time, we also launch something that has
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  Speaker 1: been quietly growing behind the scenes for years, the Faithful
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  Speaker 1: Fitness app which many of you previously knew as better.
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  Speaker 1: Daily that community has become something really special too. Inside
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  Speaker 1: the app, we're running challenges, coaching calls, daily encouragement, and
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  Speaker 1: people are showing up every day to practice what we
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  Speaker 1: talk about here integrity, grit, growth, and awe. And the
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  Speaker 1: transformation we're seeing is remarkable. People are restoring their health,
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  Speaker 1: people are rebuilding discipline. People are reconnecting their physical lives
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  Speaker 1: with their spiritual lives in a way that I've never
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  Speaker 1: gotten to see before. But alongside all that growth, there
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  Speaker 1: was a season of grief in my own life. Earlier
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  Speaker 1: this year, I lost my brother to addiction and suicide,
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  Speaker 1: and it took some time away, a kind of sabbatical,
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  Speaker 1: to process that loss, to be present with my family,
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  Speaker 1: and to allow the Lord to do some deeper work
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  Speaker 1: in my own heart. If you've ever walked through that
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  Speaker 1: sort of grief, you know that it changes you, It
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  Speaker 1: slows you down. It also refocuses you on what matters most.
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  Speaker 1: In many ways, it deepened my conviction about the work
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  Speaker 1: that we're doing here together. Because the stewardship of the body,
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  Speaker 1: stewardship of our habits, stewardship of this life that God's
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  Speaker 1: given us. These things really matter, and they matter deeply.
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  Speaker 1: Even in that difficult season, many of you continued listening,
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  Speaker 1: continued sharing the podcast, and continued reaching out with encouragement.
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  Speaker 1: I just want to say thank you truly. Your messages,
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  Speaker 1: your prayers, and your support have meant more than you
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  Speaker 1: probably realize. And while the podcast slowed down for a season,
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  Speaker 1: the mission of Faithful Fitness has actually been growing faster
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  Speaker 1: than ever. Right now, we have people reading the devotional together.
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  Speaker 1: We have our Faithful forty challenge underway inside the app.
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  Speaker 1: Right now, communities are starting to form around this work,
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  Speaker 1: including recently a group in Lubbock, Texas, who meets up
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  Speaker 1: for runs and praise before every meeting. They included the
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  Speaker 1: devotional in their newsletter. We've also just recently scheduled an
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  Speaker 1: author signing event at a local coffee shop, the very
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  Speaker 1: place that I wrote much of the devotional. Watching this
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  Speaker 1: message move from an idea to a book, to a
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  Speaker 1: community to people actually practicing stewardship together has been one
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  Speaker 1: of the most encouraging things I've ever experienced in my life.
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  Speaker 1: It feels like we're just getting started, though, because Season
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  Speaker 1: two of the Faithful Fitness Podcast is going to go
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  Speaker 1: even deeper. This year, I'll be appearing on more podcasts
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  Speaker 1: around the country to share the message. You're going to
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  Speaker 1: hear more conversations here as well, including some episodes with
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  Speaker 1: my wife Kristin, whom many of you have asked to
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  Speaker 1: hear from. And we've got some incredible guests lined up
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  Speaker 1: who are going to help us to think more deeply
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  Speaker 1: about faith, health, discipline, and what it really means to
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  Speaker 1: make the most out of the body God's given us.
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  Speaker 1: But if you want to go beyond listening, if you
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  Speaker 1: want to actually practice this way of life with us,
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  Speaker 1: I want to invite you into the Faithful Fitness community
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  Speaker 1: inside the app. That's where the daily practices happen. That's
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  Speaker 1: where the challenges happen, the coaching calls, the accountability, the encouragement.
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  Speaker 1: It's where real people stop just learning about stewardship and
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  Speaker 1: actually begin living it. And in honor of season two
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  Speaker 1: of the podcast, we're offering a discounted annual premium membership
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  Speaker 1: for those who want to step deeper with us. Well.
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  Speaker 1: There are many powerful resources, and we add more every month.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to think of it less like buying
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  Speaker 1: access and more like casting a vote, a vote that
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  Speaker 1: says I want to grow, I want to practice disc
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  Speaker 1: I want to be a part of building something better together.
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  Speaker 1: If that resonates with you, you can find a link to
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  Speaker 1: join in the show notes below, But whether you decide
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  Speaker 1: to step in there or simply keep listening here, I'm
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  Speaker 1: grateful you're a part of this journey. More episodes are
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  Speaker 1: coming soon, but until then this has been coach Alex
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  Speaker 1: Van Houghton on the Faithful Fitness podcast. Train hard, but
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  Speaker 1: pray harder.