Wonder

Every other Monday I leave school a little early and make the trek up to Travelers Rest from Spartanburg for a Zest Quest meeting. Let me just inform you that this is no small trek. It takes me a good hour and fifteen minutes there AND back. When I first found out that I would have to do all this traveling for a meeting, I wasn’t too happy.
However, today was a different story. I found myself secretly enjoying the drive, especially on my way back. I opened up the sun roof to let fresh air in and rolled down my window so I could feel the wind on my face. I turned off the music and just listened as I drove home. It was amazing to say the least. With the seasons changing and fall approaching fast on the heels of summer, the temperature was just right.
Just FYI, fall is my most favorite season, because not only does it feel amazing outside, but it signifies the coming of all my favorite holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ok, back to my sentimental mush…anyways, as I was driving home today and secretly enjoying the fact that I had to drive an hour and fifteen minutes to a meeting, I was caught up in wonder. I was caught up in the beauty of the mountains and the amazing back drop that it creates against the sky. I was caught up in the different smells and the lighting as it fell through the trees and into my car.
I realized that often times we become immune to the wonder of creation. We get caught up in our "To Do" lists and buried under our "piles" of stuff that we fail to look at life with eyes that seek awe and wonder.

“Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of Your universe. Each day enrapture me with Your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.”
-Joshua Abraham Heschel

Glory to Glory

The title of a Wellness Coach can be misleading.
Make sure you hear me out....
When I took the job as a Wellness Coach with Zest Quest little did I know that I was saying yes to what I had always said I would never do….TEACH!
Recently I have found myself eating words that I said long ago. My college roommates, Jessica and Allison, were both education majors. They would spend endless hours preparing for a lesson by cutting out pictures or my favorite, making a life-size Mrs. Gallon. I would always shake my head and say that I would never have to do anything like that for my major. Wellllll, I was wrong.
Over the past two months I have spent endless hours lesson planning, cutting things out, and learning strategies for classroom management. Every day, I teach kiddies the importance of eating healthy and getting physical activity on a daily basis. Some days, I tend to get overwhelmed with all the “teaching” stuff that I lose focus of my purpose as a wellness coach. My main goal is to give these kids hope, to instill in them a passion and enthusiasm for health and wellness, and most importantly to love on them.
I say all this to remind you of two things: 1) be careful of what you say you will never do, because it might come back to bite you in the butt and 2) be flexible! Sometimes God will take you down a path to a place you never envisioned yourself going, but it’s because He is preparing you for what lies ahead. Remember we are all being changed “from glory to glory.”

Ponder this...

Recently, I picked up Robert Elmer's book Practicing God's Presence: Brother Lawrence for today's reader. I have read this book before, but decided that it would be good to refresh my memory. This book is jam packed with great stuff!
The other day, I was reading it and came across something that really stood out to me. Something that made me ponder the motives of my heart, of which I am still pondering....

"We shouldn't get tired of doing little things for God, either, because God doesn't care about the size of the task--only the love behind it."

WOW.

Now, it's your turn to ponder....