Faith took on a whole new meaning for me when I became an Army wife. For the first time in my life there were things that were completely out of my control. Sure, there have always been things "out of my control" but when your husband's safety is involved in takes on a whole new meaning. I think back to a cold and dark October night in 2009. It's the kind of night that looms over your head with intense feelings of fear, sorrow, and heart ache for that dreaded day: deployment day. You know it's coming for months, you do your best to absorb every last memory, making every second count. However, with such unrealistic expectations of these "wonderful moments" that you have to have before he leaves.. it just causes more tension, stress, and disappointment. Many wives will likely agree that the days or weeks leading up to deployment are worse than the actual deployment itself. It's tough and the empty feeling that you have once that bus pulls away is like no other. It hurts, almost as bad as the trials and stress that come with the deployment. I recall one morning where the burden of deployment was higher than ever, everything had gone wrong and I just couldn't take the stress anymore. I fell to my knees right there in my bathroom, crying and I told God I just couldn't do it anymore. I had no more strength. I gave it all to him.. I gave him my husband, every situation that was broken in my life an every obstacle that I was being forced to face in the upcoming months. I surrendered to him and for the first time in that deployment I had FAITH. Faith that he was going to protect Jeremy, that everything was going to work out just fine. You know what.. I came up off my knees feeling stronger. Even as a baby Christian, new to faith, I knew that God was bigger than me and all the obstacles ahead of me.

Having faith is not just for those big scary moments in our life, it can be applied to every area of our life, including our health and fitness journey. Remember when I told you that God cares about you, even the little details of your life? This is no different. If we can have faith in God to take care of the big things, we can have faith that God will help us with the little things. Taking those steps to living a healthier lifestyle requires a lot of faith in my opinion. It can be quite the emotional rollercoaster with many highs and lows. Some days we have it all figured out and have the self control to make good food choices and get those workouts in, other days we just can't stop messing up!! What is up with that?!  This is the perfect time to pray and ask God for strength.. strength to help you fight the laziness, the temptation, and the lack of self discipline. Ask Him to help you in the steps you need to take to reach your goals. God wants you to be healthy and he wants you to take care of the body he gave you, invite him in and have faith that everything will work out. 2 Cor 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight". When everything around us is going badly, when the scale is not budging, when we are seeing no progress despite our hard work, it can be discouraging, so much so that we'd rather quit than continue moving forward. This is when we need to walk by faith. Work hard to make good decisions that will move your forward and  take your focus off that darn scale and put your focus on God. Have faith in him that he will get you to your goal. If you are doing your part, he will do His.

One thing I've learned is that often times the situations that require the most faith are also the times in my life that I've grown closer in my relationship with God. God desires this personal close relationship with us and he's all about helping us grow and become stronger better people. So, don't feel discouraged my friend. Draw near to your Father in Heaven and have faith that he wants the absolute best for you. He will get you to your goal. Have faith and see what impossible things he can make possible in your life!



So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief;

for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed,

you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,'

and it will move; and nothing will be

impossible for you."

Matthew 17:20