When God's Girls Gather Incredible Things Happen
Confession time: I love our "Show Love" interval song in this spring's Body & Soul Fitness session. I love the out-out-in-in ladder run movement and I actually love to hurt through those squat jumps. I know...it's nuts but there you have it, I really do like them. They make us strong and what doesn't kill us has to make us stronger, amen? Well, we are all definitely stronger than when we first started this session and for that I am grateful. Here's the thing though, as instructors, we love making you physically stronger but at Body & Soul , that's not all we are about. We want you to be stronger spiritually, as well. Sometimes God grows us individually but in His infinite wisdom He also lets us grow corporately...as one big family (like the lyrics in the "Show Love" song says).I think that's one of the things that is so unique about Body & Soul. You all really do become family to us.
Each class has its own personality and uniqueness. I have taught my class for almost twelve years and I have seen it ebb and flow with the influence of different students and different seasons of my own life. My class has loved my own little family through becoming a family of 4 and then 5. They filled up my fridge every time I had a baby and showered me with gifts of love and wisdom through all the transitions. They have mothered me and shown me what it looks like to be a good momma and for that I am forever grateful. We celebrate life’s joyful moments together, as a family.
But it’s not only the mountaintop experiences that we share. My ladies drew up alongside my family as we had to walk through the death of my mother-in-law and they surrounded me with astounding love and tenderness as I grieved her loss. They filled my fridge again but more than that they filled an empty place in my heart that was so broken that I could not imagine it not hurting, but they were and continue to be salve to my soul.
Through the ups and downs of life, my students have been like sisters, mothers, aunt, cousins, friends, saints and the hands and feet of Jesus to me. And what I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that I am not the only one who has felt the sisterhood of Body & Soul. I have seen all of you do the very same for your own classes. This sisterhood is not unique to my class. It is, however, unique to this global ministry to which God so graciously invited all of us. What is certain is that when God's girls are gathered together, be it in Sherwood, Arkansas or around the world, He shows up and loves though this special sisterhood. We are sisters. We are Body & Soul. We are all invited to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this unique and wonderful ministry.
Sisters, let's celebrate with the Psalmist who wrote "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when [sisters] dwell in unity." Psalm 133:1. That's you, ladies. May God grant us many more years together as family...one big family.
Tracie Durham is a Cardio Strength Trainer for South Central. She is a former attorney, full-time home schooling mother of three kids (Abbie, Aubrie and Charlie), wife of a Fire Chief (Phillip) and unabashed fan-girl of "all the words" and mostly importantly...of Jesus. Tracie teaches Body & Soul Fitness at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship serving Sherwood & North Little Rock, AR.Body and Soul® Fitness is an international Christian fitness organization that trains and equips instructors to lead a variety of group fitness programs including choreographed aerobics-style Cardio Strength & Flexibility™, cardio dance style Dance Blast™, free-weights-focused Power Strength™, boot camp style FIT360™ and Longevity FIT360™, and GOLD™ - lower impact programming for participants that are pregnant, have weight challenges, injuries, or other medical conditions. These exercise classes meet in church gyms, community centers, gymnasiums, parking lots, schools, etc. across the United States, Europe, and Africa. In-person and virtual fitness classes are available.
Key words: Christian fitness, women's exercise classes, group fitness, dance aerobics classes, Christian group fitness, Christian fitness app, FitTV, Body & Soul, Body and Soul, fitness instuctor training, low impact exercise
