Get some coffee..this is gonna be a long one!
At the beginning of 2018, Lisa suggested the book "The Wellness Revelation" by Alisa Keeton and I read it. I read it and highlighted more parts than in any other book I had ever read. Then I joined an online study group hosted by Emily Thomas and reread it again, using a different color of highlighter. Again, so many highlights and even some moments of "revelation" (no pun intended) where I actually spilled my coffee all over a few pages.
Three weeks into the online group, I felt a pull towards something more but told myself:
"relax"
"do the work"
"don't turn this into something more...yet"
Five weeks into the study and after several pulls and tugs and more and more highlighting, I hesitantly told Emily my thoughts outloud about doing more with and for Revelation Wellness without even knowing what it meant. She gushed and said YES! Yes...yes..yes and that's when I pulled back.
As soon as I received a thumbs up on my positive thoughts, I instantly and sadly filled my own head with my own negative thoughts.
I started thinking:
"who do you think you are"
"you are not athletic"
"you are not a fitness person"
"you are already doing to much"
"you don't have time for this"
"you don't qualify for this"
and here is the dumb thing....I DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT I WAS DISQUALIFYING MYSELF FROM but instantly discounted myself from doing whatever it was I was thinking of doing.
I am confident that I am not alone in my thoughts but as always, I throw myself under the bus until you are ready to throw yourself under. Once that happens, we can help each other up, brush ourselves of, give each other a high five, give the enemy the bird and move on. (Hey, that is the only reason there is a middle finger emoji.)
Once my 9 week online book study was done I was ready.
Ready for what?
I didn't know but deep down KNEW that there was a desire to do more and to share this experience with everyone. What I had learned, been reminded of and believed about myself was transformative and I wanted to share it with the world! For me it was a "Go tell it on the mountain" moment and I took the next steps toward looking into what it means to be a Revelation Wellness Instructor. I filled out some paperwork, scheduled a phone call and was all in...again, without really knowing what I was all in for.
During my call with Jamie, she probably thought I was a lunatic because I was so giddy and felt in such alignment with EVERYTHING that I probably startled her. It was the "Don't know where you are going but knowing you are going in the right direction" feeling.
3/4 of the way through the interview she stopped me and said this:
"While you have been talking, I have been stalking you on social media. Why didn't you tell me about the number of followers you have and how did you get them?" I responded just like I have always told you, "I rely on God for my width of reach and I work on the depth of my roots, and if you are asking, NO, I did not buy them"
(yes, you can buy followers)
ugh.
The conversation ended and I prayed about what to do next.
4 days after signing my paperwork to be trained as a Revelation Wellness Instructor, I lost my Instagram account. I lost my followers and forget what I believed, that God would take care of my width of reach. I began to think that I had lost my reach and my ability to share with you about the amazing things I had learned, been reminded of and the renewed confidence and transformation in my heart, mind body and soul.
The enemy didn't want me to share that (middle finger emoji, right? and p.s please do not misunderstand me, I never flip up my middle finger, and if I do, it is in emojis ) I don't want to go into all the instagram drama but if you want to read a little about it, you read about it go here. spoiler alert: I did NOT get my account back.
Fast forward through 9 weeks of online group study, lots of homework and Bible study and last Sunday, I flew to Arizona, got on a bus headed to Williams, AZ. not really knowing what I was headed into but fully expectant that it was going to be good because I knew:
Jesus would be there.
NO FILTER here..(for the girl who doesn't love purple and pink...it meant everything to me.)
It was and is so good. SO GOOD. Just like I say about retreats. It is hard to put into words, but they will come..but guess what? While I was gone to Arizona and without computer access, I got an email from Constant Contact that I had to call them because my account had been compromised, someone had hacked into my account, dumped ALL OF MY CONTACTS OUT and had taken over the account.
I can't make these things up.
LUCKILY, they were on it, saw the attack, froze the account and I had to contact via phone to work towards a resolution. Instead of panicking (okay, I did a tiny bit when I got home) I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
The enemy did not want me to get off that bus, get back on a plane to fly home and then tell you all of this. Pfffttt.. obviously he doesn't know who he is messing with anymore. NOT TODAY SATAN...or tomorrow.
Okay, let's move on.
Here are a few random pictures from my week away and I then I will follow that with what is in my heart and mind for 2019 because IT HAS ALL CHANGED.
This is me sitting at the airport waiting to head to Arizona, I was TOTALLY wiggly inside because I was nervous and equally excited. (I am wiggly as I type this because I had NO IDEA how life changing this was going to be)
This is me and Michelle at the airport in Phoenix. I was overstimulated, overwhelmed by ALL THE PEOPLE buzzing around (there were 200 of us) and I wanted to melt into the wall or really, just wave the surrender flag and go home (seriously)
Remember, I host retreats, I do not go to them so I was way outside my zone. I would have rather been passing out information packs and welcoming the people rather than be "one of the people"
At this point, I needed to be on one of the 5 buses or I was going to tap out. Luckily, we were all in the same mind frame so we calmed each other down.
Once on the bus, we had a 3 hour drive so after photo bombing a few sitting in front of me, I got myself settled in and went to sleep. We had to make a bathroom stop along the way and I am the only one that stayed on the bus because I know me....I just needed to get there and not have the opportunity to maybe miss getting back on the bus. ( I know, I am a weirdo...in a good way)
I am not going to share everything because you know, what happens on the mountain, stays on the mountain but we arrived, met 9 strangers that were going to be my bunkmates and friends for life, grabbed a bunk, got myself settled for about 5 minutes and we were on the go NON STOP for the next 6 days.
Not kidding.
but first, coffee...duh.
Every morning at 5:30 because first workout started shortly there after. This is Kimber. We will be friends for the rest of our lives.
We are part of Platoon 21 and we were in group/cabin 21 so naturally, we are Troop 21. I often yelled out "BLACKJACK!"
We will all be friends for the rest of our lives
okay, so of course, there is much more to all of this which I will continue to share but here is the really exciting part! I am currently leading my first group online and am announcing that registration is open for The Wellness Revelation Online Study - Group Two. This is an online 9 week book & Bible Study via Zoom that begins Monday, March 18 and goes through Monday, April 29th.
Before I give you that info, I want to share this part which is what I came home with in my mind and heart. It is so important that you read this part first, please.
I believe that the right path for living has been marked out by God. I have a choice on what steps to take and sometimes, forget to take God’s path and I go out on my own way. Today, I invite you to face this decision together, going God’s way or following our own way.
I believe that the only way to find true peace and rest for my soul is to walk on God’s path and I would be honored to walk that path along side you.
So here we are, mostly likely “again” standing at the crossroads. Most of us have been here before, but this time, together we are going to actually make a decision that it is finally time.
Time to make a decision.
We will never make a change in our life until we change what we do every day.
This is not a resolution and this is not a goal.
This is surrender.
It takes more than a desire or a dream to get healthy, it takes a decision.
Nothing will change until you choose to change.
The way you think determines the way you feel.
The way you feel determines the way you act.
So, if you want to change how you act, you must begin with changing the way you think.
No longer are we going to be looking back at mistakes and regrets nor are we going to look to tomorrow.
Right now, it is about surrendering all in order to make the most of what we have.
Instead of turning over a “new leaf” we are going to turn over a new life and the ONLY way to do that is to make the decision and live by it.
We are going to put to death our old way of life and surrender ourselves and give up control to God.
It is not going to be easy, it is not going to make sense to many around us and it is absolutely opposite of what the worlds screams for us to do.
As long as we feel stretched and uncomfortable, ready to fight through the hard parts and remember that we cannot do this on our own strength, we are ready.
Here are THREE things we need to start with do in order to achieve success:
- Jesus
- Discipline
- Determination
Here is what we are not going to be able to do to achieve success:
- We are not going to be able to do it on our own. Our will power is not going to be enough.
I do not know what your “___fill in the blank___________” is, but I am willing to bet that you have something you are sick and tired of.
We all do, in fact we may have a few things BUT we are not going to attempt to change everything. We are going to work slow and steady on one thing at a time.
You can have 1001 “reasons” (a.k.a excuses) why you aren’t ready to make a big decision or change but really, there is only one thing standing in your way and that is you.
You and your mind/thoughts.
Here is something you might already know, just forgot to remember: You do not have to believe everything you think.
- You may think you are not capable, but you are. You just need to stop telling yourself you aren’t.
- You may think that you are not worthy but again, you are, and you need to stop telling yourself that as well.
- You may think that you don’t have enough will power and actually, you are correct.
That one thought is true because we were not created to do life on our own. The problem lies in the thought that we think we can and then when we do not succeed, we automatically tear ourselves down, look at it as failure and usually give up or quit. (The antidote to this is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9)
Guilty as charged.
Here is something else that you may know but forgot to remember and is worded perfectly by Alisa Keeton in The Wellness Revelation:
“Desperation and disgust are powerful motivators for change, but they do not lead to lasting results and increasing joy.”
GULP, again.
You might need to stand in front of a mirror, point your own finger at yourself or dare I suggest talk out loud to yourself…whatever you need to do, do it because once you release yourself from your own chains, once you knock down the wall that you have built around yourself and as soon as you get out of your own way, God has got great plans for you to start working on and the sense of freedom you will feel from being free from you is amazing.
You have NOTHING to lose and everything to gain by doing three things:
Show up
Do The work
Be Real
That’s it.
Ready?
Let’s seek spiritual obedience so that we can have physical discipline. It is a win win!
Details on The Wellness Revelation Online Book & Bible Study:
NOTE: I have set a max. group limit of 15 persons per session
- 9 Week Online Study & discussion online via Zoom (we will all see each other in real time!)
- Monday evenings from 5:00-6:30 PST beginning Monday, March 18, 2018 - April 29, 2018
- Weekly Homework/Bible Study for following week discussion
- One on one discussion with me via Zoom within the 9 weeks
- Weekly video from Alisa Keeton on that weeks chapter
- Assigned prayer partners
- Support, ideas, and tips from Revelation Wellness.
Cost for 9 week study all above: $98.00* per person
*book not included (But I just noticed it is on sale via Amazon here!)
Take a moment to watch this video here from Alisa Keeton, Author and Founder of Revelation Wellness: https://vimeo.com/revwell/review/222767074/47fade93a4
Are you ready?
Register below:
Revelation Wellness Online Study - Group Two
