Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:7-8, ESV

It’s been over a year since I’ve been able to consistently go to a gym. In fact, about a week before I got sick in September of last year was the first time I ever did a deadlift. That’s one of the reasons that I thought I’d just thrown my back out or something instead of a rheumatic disease.

I am so thankful that I’m healthy enough to work out again. I have to take it really slow, though. Today was the third time in the past two weeks that I’ve been to the gym. Yesterday, I struggled through 6 minutes on a treadmill running before feeling like throwing up… 6 minutes! That’s humbling. I “power walked” another three minutes or so, ran another two minutes, and had to cool down and quit.

Slow and steady wins the race. It’s going to take a while to get into shape, but I’m committed. I have to be. When I got sick, it wasn’t just my joints that were affected; this disease attacks your heart, too. On top of that, from a combination of factors including a year of inactivity, my cholesterol went up really high and I gained a bunch of weight.

Basically, I have to get in shape, but I’m actually enjoying myself, too. I just spent 2.5 hours at the gym without really thinking about it. Time flies when you’re having fun. This time, I was mainly on the elliptical machine and did some very light weight training.

Please pray for this process! I don’t want to sound cheesy or “overly spiritual”, but I want this to be a part of “training [my]self for godliness”. Please pray that Katya and I both continue to get more and more healthy spiritually and physically.