Turner Family Blog

“Lord, please let me sleep a little longer.” (and then I roll over and snuggle up tightly under the covers and sleep for another two hours)

“I think it’s too cold to run outside. I’ll run later when it warms up.” (with no intention of running later or EVER)

“Why do I have to do this? Why don’t I have the ability to eat what I want and not exercise and still look healthy?” (with a list of names of people who seemingly stay fit with no effort)

“It’s raining outside and if I run in the rain, I’ll get sick, and I can’t be sick because I have a family to take of and they do not want me to be sick.” (because water falling from the skies has been shown in numerous studies to cause infectious diseases, right?)

“I don’t wanna go!” (huffy breath and pouty face)

“I’ll do it later. Not now. It’s too early.” (no I will NOT)

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of every excuse under the sun NOT to exercise. Most of them are as lame as these (which are all real ones that I’ve used frequently). Just like Adam and Eve and every person since, I can quickly pass the blame. The only problem is the only person to accept the responsibility is ME. Me alone. Uugh.

This past week, I had two opportunities that could have easily turned into no exercise. Thursday morning was a little cool, and I made a plan to run later while Jett was practicing soccer. I would take my running gear with me and run…yep, I would. That gave me the opportunity to sleep until 6…cue the hallelujah chorus. Don’t you know that the practice got rained out, and I had an easy out. Until Jett said, “Momma, how are you going to run now? You wanna go by the Y on the way home?” Crickets, crickets, crickets. “Sure buddy, let’s go by the Y.” And we did. The rowing machine and elliptical were my friends that day.

Saturday morning came and with an extra three boys at my house, I wanted just a few more minutes of sleep, but alas, the Lord woke me up earlier than any of the kids. There was no excuse not to run and I couldn’t even remember how far I was supposed to go. I got dressed and headed downstairs to see the workout plan on the computer. Four miles. I was hoping for 3. I’m still not back up to running an entire 5K but should be there in the next few weeks. Four miles seemed like an eternity. But out I went. And it was good. The first time in a while where I enjoyed running again.

Progress is slow but it is good. I have exercised six days each of the past three weeks! Woo-hoo!

God alone sustains me. Just as His Word tells us, He holds the breath of every creature in His hand, and my life is no exception. I must honor Him with ALL of my life, and not just the parts that are convenient or easy or acceptable. It is NOT easy and has been a struggle all of my life. But, God is honored most in our struggles when we submit to Him and know that He will receive the glory through our weaknesses.