Motivated by More with Melanie Brown

Motivated by More has been a dream of mine for 10+ years. My love for sports and working out goes back to my childhood, and I can vividly remember doing workout videos in the living room to Tammy Lee Webb and Billy Blanks. After high school I had no idea what I wanted study in college. I tried nursing & elementary education but just felt they were not for me. After earning 2 Associate degrees, and realizing I needed to move on from the community college, I decided to declare my major in the field of Exercise Science, in hopes of turning my hobby into a career. Since earning my Masters in Exercise Science from Eastern Illinois University, I have always said I want to have my own gym or fitness business. After college my dream and desire to have my own fitness business continued to grow but the right opportunity never came along. Even though I had the degree, experience from having worked at the YMCA as a Director, years of teaching aerobics, multiple fitness certifications, and had trained for and ran a few marathon, in my mind I never felt good enough, fit enough, thin enough, or strong enough to be a leader in this industry.

About 5 years ago I felt God pushing me to start a fitness ministry at my church. I really felt this was a great opportunity for ME because after having my 2nd child I didn’t have time to go to the gym daily and had given up teaching classes. I missed it and thought this is a way I could serve my church, get my workout in and have some adult interaction (at the time I was running an in home daycare so I loved this opportunity to talk to adults). I approached my church and told them my idea and they said “go for it!” I will never forget our 1st morning workout. I had prepped for our workout and I had even written a devotion, but at the end of the workout when I realized I had to lead these 20 people in prayer, I was moved to tears. You see this was God at work. He knew my gift and He wanted me to use it. He was orchestrating this all along. He gave me this gift. He gave me this desire to want my own gym. He gave me so many opportunities to grow and learn about health and wellness along the way. He placed me in those pews that one Sunday morning when Pastor Brian asked “Where do you serve? How can you serve?” Going into this I thought I was the one benefiting from it, when all along God was preparing me for this journey.

God wants us to be healthy so we can carry out the plans He has for us. To be truly healthy and whole we must have a heart change. We must invite God into this journey of getting healthy and forego the worldly way of quick fixes and crash diets, which often produces results that do not last. Kenneth Cooper, inventor of aerobics once said “In order to be truly fit you must be spiritually AND physically fit.” I can testify that once I asked Jesus into this area of my life, things changed. I may not have 6 pack abs, or be the size I was prior to having kids, but I feel healthier than I have ever felt. Scripture says “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the holy spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

God wants to be a invited into all areas of our lives. As you begin (or continue) your health journey, pray and ask God to help you. Be encouraged and MOTIVATED by MORE than a number on the scale, a pant size, or staying within a certain number of calories. For me, my motivation is that one day, I will look my Creator in the eye and he will say “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21) and that my friends is my WHY.