On A Personal Note

by Barb Shelton

As stay-at-home moms carrying  a great deal of responsibility in our day-to-day lives, it's easy for us to neglect our own health and physical fitness.  This is not to lay a burden of guilt on anyone, as this is not a "sin issue"!  Being in better physical condition will only give us more energy for the many various demands on our lives.

It has only been in recent years that there has even been a need for women (or men) to make a focused,  separate-from-real-life effort to keep their bodies in good shape.  And by "good shape" I do not mean "buff" -  which can be casually defined as "the opposite of the shape I (Barb Shelton) am in," or more specifically defined as being the physical product of extensive weight training that women are now engaging in...

Body Beautiful?

Nor do I mean we should have an excessive focus on "body beautiful."  I just mean that as "temples of the Holy Spirit" we should have an overall condition of good health and well-being, adequate to complete the tasks required of us in our daily lives without undue discomfort or stress – a.k.a. "huffing and puffing."

In centuries gone by, just performing the regular "housewifely" tasks of cooking, washing, hanging clothes out to dry, fetching and/or pumping water, etc., comprised excellent aerobic exercise in and of themselves!

But with the introduction of automatic washers, dryers, dishwashers, blenders, mixers, all that has changed!  Ever notice that just about everything we use turns on with the mere flip of a switch?!?  Minimal exertion is required!  Even getting everywhere  – at least for the commoner – used to take exercise – walking!  But now cars, subways, busses, elevators, and escalators take us to our destinations with minimal effort.  I recently went to a newly remodeled airport and discovered they now have – I could not believe it – motorized walkways!  They're just like the conveyor belts your groceries get to ride on at the check-out stand, only now we get to be the groceries getting the ride!  I have to admit, with all the luggage I had to carry, it was a welcome relief, but it was also one less expenditure of the stored calories (i.e. FAT) in my body!

I'm not suggesting that you become preoccupied with whipping yourself into shape. But I am going to suggest that, if you are into being a stay-at-home mom for the long-haul, as they say, you will be doing yourself a favor by giving attention to this area. Even if only minimal at first, then working up to whatever seems most fitting for your lifestyle and priorities.

I've heard that walking is the very best exercise for anyone, no matter what their age or level of fitness.  Now isn't that just amazing?!  God's basic invention for fitness wins!

(For my own personal workout, see my catalog write-up on the "Praise Walk" tapes in the Mom's R & R & R section of the catalog.)

Differing Resources

If you read more than one resource on health/fitness/food, you will quickly find out that none of them totally agree. In fact, some are quite contradictory to each other!  I will be weaving my own opinions, for what they're worth, throughout the write-ups on each of the books I recommend in the "Mom's R & R & R" section.  

I do not even pretend to be an expert in the area of health and fitness though!  I just know that if I'm going to serve God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength until death do this earth and I part, I have to take care of the temple that my spirit and soul, along with the Holy Spirit, are housed in.