blog post- movement

What blogging has done to me the past five years is install one line sentences that I'd open a topic with about my life. Trouble is, by the time I have a chance to write them down at the keyboard, I've lost the train of thought. I did fancy myself a decent writer back in the day, but as of late, it seems I just do synopses of my life in paragraphs and pictures. Maybe because my life seems to be lived in paragraphs and pictures. I rarely have a chance to have a long train of thought for more than a few minutes and no, it's not because I've been trained on TV commercials.. It's because I have 2 babies.

Lately however, in an attempt to get this 2 years and 2 babies later post partum body back into some kind of condition, I've had a few 30 minute chunks of time to think while I'm on a walk, or int the pool. And that's been nice... to have a sustained thought. I think there is something about physical exercise that helps the brain also function at higher levels and both are things I've been missing lately! I also process in writing rather than talking most of the time too. So, if someone asks me how I'm doing verbally, my reply won't be all that thought out or deep. Ask me in a letter though and I can answer much better.

So, topic of today's thoughts. Exercise. Oh my. Dave got me a "boot camp" groupon as a Christmas present. 20 bootcamps before May 15th. I have now completed 2 of them and boy do I feel like an old bowl of jello!! Imagine 30 college athletes in a gym doing intense core exercises (pushups, crunches, planks, squat jumps) mixed with cardio exercises like you'd do if you were on a track or soccer team. Then place me, a 31 year old new mom of 2 kids in the middle of it. I feel very, very weak. I do the modified pushups and modified planks (just for me). Put me in the same room 3 years ago and I would have been trying to lead the pushup contests! Things have changed, that is for sure. Though, I do wonder if my left bicep is just as strong as anyone's with holding children for hours a day! So, boot camp... it's very hard. But that's not been all-- I've also been swimming and jogging a couple times. And those times, oh, so sweet. My body is starting from scratch at building up its strength, but I have hope.

I do hope that Josie and Asher will love sport as well. Today I took Josie to her first gymnastics class. She can't even jump on her own yet so you can imagine that when the instructor asks us to do all kinds of jumps on a circut, it doesn't really register much with her. But today was Josie's first time on a trampoline-- she was pretty timid, but had that "I'm scared of it but strangely interested" at the same time approach. Maybe next week will be better. I, on the other hand, LOVED it. Yeah yeah, it was the 1 year olds time to jump, but I got a few jumps in on the big tramp and had a memory of being a kid in gymnastics, able to do cartwheels and trampolines with ease. And somehow, my body remembered being 5 again and what it feels like to be weightless in the air, free. And to be a kid again, excited and full of wonder at what it feels like to being doing something soooo fun that all you can do is laugh.

I've caught a glimpse of the delight from my child's discovery of what she can do. I pray that Josie will also delight in the way God has gifted her in movement someday. I am full of wonder watching this little creation and her joy.

Believe me, squats don't do that for me, but thats the path I'll need to take to get to that powerful run, or perhaps that streamlined swim. I am looking forward to that again so much to the joy of movement. But now is the hard work, the boot camp, the sore legs, the jello middle, the back pains and the tired eyes. But it's worth it. Worth loving to move and showing my own kids that as well. I want them to have a deep joy and gratitude, not only in how they can move, but for the One who gave them movement. I sure am grateful.