Revelation Wellness came into my life almost two years ago. My family moved across the country just a few months prior, to an unfamiliar place. My husband’s job required travel, my children were young, and I was trying to learn a new way of life.  I was where I felt l should be, but the changes challenged my spirit, my mind, my marriage, and my relationship with my 3-year-old daughter, who was completely dependent on me. 

I was surprised when the pantry drew me in with magnetic force at night. Comfort eating was a default I thought I had left behind, but there it was, an old crutch offering me a way to keep afloat without feeling like I needed to get too vulnerable. I tried to keep going during the day, and lots of days were happy, but I filled the holes with food at night. 

One night, when my husband was gone and my kids were in bed, I sat at my kitchen table staring at a partially eaten pile of chocolate and peanut butter in front of me. I was tired of it. I tried to make food my Savior, sometimes with self-inflicted food rules or and sometimes with pantry raids, for years. 

I was spent. I was tired. I had neglected my spirit and my heart, and I knew it.

I gathered it all up- my reservations, my trust (or lack thereof), my unanswered questions, my needs- and I prayed the simplest, most heartfelt prayer I had prayed in a long time.

Jesus, I don’t know what it’s going to look like. I don’t really know what I’m asking for…but would you please help me get healthy in my spirit, my heart, and then my body. I believe you came to give fullness of life, and I want that.

I felt a little uncomfortable and at least a little awkward, but I have yet to regret the words I uttered that night.

I ordered “The Wellness Revelation,” by Alisa Keeton. It was recommended by a couple of bloggers I followed, and the idea of the book was what I was looking for. I “knew” about health and fitness; I felt like I needed help with the part of health not measured with medical equipment.  “The Wellness Revelation” helped me with both and continues to be a catalyst for so much healthy change in my life.

I worked through the book, listened to Revelation Wellness podcasts, journaled, and learned to invite the One Who Made Me to join me as I ate. I told God I was willing to put physical fitness on the back burner while we addressed my spiritual and mental health, but he gave it right back to me. My workout became my favorite place to meet with God and lose mental and emotional burdens I wasn’t meant to carry. I found out later, through Revelation Wellness podcasts, that the work I was doing in those classes was creating new neurons in my brain. The act of bringing physical movement, my thoughts, and the words I said during class helped me to clean out old, unhelpful ways of thinking, and bring new ones in. 

Exercise is still one of my favorite places to meet with God because it is where I get to work on physical, mental, and spiritual health all at once.

At times, I wish I didn’t ask for change. Change brings work I don’t always want and discomfort I don’t always want to feel. But, I will not go back.

I am free.

I know who I am and whose I am, and where to go when I’m stuck. I’m no longer afraid or embarrassed to ask or admit when I am not enough or I’m too much, because I know the one who has access to all the resources of heaven, and I get to work all of that out with him.

Galatians 5:22-23 says God’s spirit in us produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. Invite him in, and the Spirit goes to work. At times, that work has felt uncomfortable and messy, but I get to live with a freer heart, richer relationships, and deeper joy. 

Yes, one hundred times yes, I have bad days and hard days and days I need to apologize and start fresh ten times over.

God’s work in me isn’t finished.

But food is no longer my Savior.

Neither am I.

I am learning who I was made to be, and I am honoring that. I am inviting him in, again and again, to do the beautiful restorative work that he does.

This is why I train.

Why do you train? How have you grown in love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through the work of Revelation Wellness and the grace of Jesus Christ? 

Sarah Koller teaches Revelation Wellness fitness classes and lives in Littleton, Colorado. Her heartbeat is to get free, stay free, and set others free. Email her at sarah.marie.koller@gmail.com

Thank you for reading along on the Revelation Wellness Blog this week! Are you ready for a challenge? Get ready for a 21- Day Sugar Fast. The Sugar Fast begins on September 9 and signups begin August 26th! More info will come soon on social media and our Challenge page!

Workout with us in this #wednesdayworkout! For more workouts like this, visit RevWell TV!

MICHELE’S REV ON THE MAT: YOGA WITH WEIGHTS – “THE FATHER’S LOVE”

This is a great low-impact cardiovascular and muscle-burn workout. Anything goes when you see the word fusion. All kinds of goodness and sweaty fun is coming your way. (ALL LEVELS) (MARK 12:28-30; HAND WEIGHTS & YOGA MAT)