First Baptist Church of Herndon

Your Personal Trainer

Linda Soller | Mar 31, 2014

Last week I wrote about our Drop-In Class topic for March which has been – Self Help by the Book. Over the four weeks of class we listed some of the different things we seek to change by using a self help book. Sometimes we want to lose weight, we may want to start exercising, or we may want to get our homes/lives organized. No matter what we’re searching to improve we find that we’re often told to seek a partner to help us start and stick with our plan. We had some laughs using Lyle and Bob as examples of walking buddies. One always there at the prescribed meeting point, ready to go (irritatingly enthusiastic), and the other full of excuses; together their goal was to get their walk done and offer support to the other. Have you ever intentionally connected to someone or a group to reach a goal? What were your expectations? Maybe you were looking for companionship so your task was not so boring, or maybe you knew that you require someone to hold you accountable.  The same reasons justify hiring/using a personal trainer.

My vision of a perfect personal trainer is someone who’d be waiting at our meeting point at our regular time, smiling (friendly is important to me), and ready to encourage me toward my goal. I’m not the boot camp kind of person. I don’t feel motivated by the thought of being embarrassed in front of others or being yelled at. I’m more that – you go girl – kind of person. My trainer would start by asking how I was feeling that day and if I was ready to get to work. In other words, my trainer would be with me in the process, not kicking me down the road. Did I mention that I think you can have personal trainers in almost anything you do? The term is most often connected to physical training, but I think it carries over to other areas. That neighbor you see walking every morning while you stand in your robe and slippers sipping coffee and munching on your donut, could be a personal trainer if they just invited you to join them, and encouraged you toward an active start to your day. That parent who, instead of yelling at you to clean your room, offered some ideas on how to organize your belongings so it was easier to keep the room clean is functioning as a personal trainer. If that parent can explain why having a clean room makes a difference, then they are an even better personal trainer. The choir director who tells you yes you can sing alto, and then helps you do it is a personal trainer. You may be a personal trainer for someone else and not even really be aware of it. If someone watches to see how you handle situations or problems they are learning from you and you are inadvertently training them for the next time they face similar situations.

In the area of our Christian faith we’re lucky to have a variety of personal trainers to select from. The Bible is full of people who mess up, and we learn what not to do. At the same time there are countless stories and situations where we see how to do the right thing. Jesus is the best example of a personal trainer that I know of. He’s good about explaining what we need to do and why it’s the right thing to do. He’s so patient with us, and he’s in the process with us all the way. He’s friendly and kind when we need it, but he can be firm and commanding.  We learn so much from our personal trainers, and what they give us in our area/time of need we are able to use again and again in our life.  If you aren’t sure about Jesus’ value as a personal trainer I encourage you to read Psalm 23: 1-6. Is it time for you to find and work with your personal trainer? He will be there waiting!

Have a great week!  :o)  Linda