Day 8: Water of Life

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Rev 21:6

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are so glad you have joined us for Week 5, Lesson 2, Water Week, of our journey to greater spiritual and physical health. Jane and I are praying God’s peace and grace over you this day. Listed below is your Faith & Fit work for today. Please click on the links or the play buttons to access each resource. Remember to leave a comment about your experience at the Speak Your Mind section at the bottom of the page. In Christ, we can grow stronger. Let’s do it!

 

Everyday Faith Teaching Video:

Everyday Faith Scripture Reading

To access Everyday Faith Scripture Reading for Day Twelve, please click the link below:

Week 5, Lesson 2 Scripture Reading

 

 

Everyday Fit Physical Challenge:

 

Water Week

For week 5  we have been focusing focus on a simple exercise that almost everyone can do: walking. You can choose to walk indoors or outdoors. Weather permitting, my preference is to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and sunshine (get that Vitamin D!). We will also give you options to supplement with some other types of exercise in Extra Fit for those who would like to.
For those of you who prefer to walk indoors, you can use a treadmill, or I would recommend Leslie Sansone’s Walking DVDs. Her DVDs are available for purchase in stores like Target and Walmart, on her website, for live streaming on Walk TV , and some for free on her site when you sign up (free) for her Walk Social Club.

One fun way to track your walking is to use a pedometer and aim for a certain number of steps per day. The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps each day. We will work up to that. Ten thousand steps is approximately 5 miles, but that is based on an average stride being 2.5 feet. Your total may differ from that based on the length of your stride.
Pedometers can be found in just about any sports or discount store and range in price from about $10 to $125 for more elaborate ones with additional features. I use a Fitbit to track my steps each day. It also tracts flights of stairs climbed, calories burned, miles walked, hours slept, and the time. It also allows me to set a silent, vibrating alarm. It syncs with an website, which includes many more features.

Basic Walking Guidelines

Begin your walk with a warm up. This basically means start walking slowly for a few minutes, giving your body time to warm up. Save any stretching for the end of your walk, as you should not stretch cold muscles. If you have body parts that are very tense and need to be stretched before your main walk, do your warm-up first and then stretch them. You should also still follow your walk with a stretch at the end.

The Walking Site has some wonderful stretches for walkers, and here is a link to their stretching page.
As you are walking, walk tall, pull in your stomach and tighten your bottom.
When you have finished your exercise for the day, be sure to let the Faith and Fit group know by posting on our Facebook page. Great job!

Beginner Level Exercise:

For the rest of this week, we are going to set the goal of walking 1.5 miles or the rough equivalent of 3000 steps. If you wear a pedometer all day long, this is in addition to the total that is already showing on your pedometer. So, when it is time to log your walk, check your pedometer and note how many steps/miles you have already walked that day. Add 3000 steps or 1.5 miles to that total and begin walking. When you get to that total you may stop. If you are fairly fit and would rather choose the goal of two miles, then aim for 4000 steps on your pedometer or another 2 miles on the total.

Experienced Level: Today make it your goal to walk for 60 minutes. Walk at a pace you are comfortable with and that your are able to carry on a conversation. By the end of your walk you should be sweaty and tired but not exhausted. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge!

For an extra challenge try jogging today! If you have never jogged before set your goal for walk a half mile jog for a half mile. If you are an experienced jogger run your usual route and up it by a half mile! you can do it!

Coach Dan has Day Five Lower Body Focus all ready for us! Let’s do it! Try this once every day.

Rainy Day? Too hot? No worries! click on the link below for a great indoor workout with Leslie Sansone!

Five Fast Miles!

 

Everyday Fit Food Challenge:

Water Week

Today we will look at an article on the importance of water during exercise. The page also links to several other articles on water as well. An important factor I want to point out is that if you are buying your water in plastic bottles, you need to be sure that the plastic is marked as being BPA-free. Here’s an article on BPA so you understand the possible danger it presents.

 

Extra Faith:

Need a little extra spiritual challenge added to your day? Take advantage of the following resources!

I love this YouTube video by the Salvation Army on prayer walking. What a great idea for our Faith & Fit study!

 

Extra Fit

Need an extra challenge? Get your abs in shape with Team Beachbody Coach and Founder of Team Let’s Go Fitness at Dan Vukmirovich. Dan’s videos are short, effective and productive! Let’s go! Try these once every day.

Remember to post on our Facebook page or at the bottom of this page!

 

 

 

 

 

We are so glad you are back for Week 5, Lesson 1 of Faith & Fit: Water Week. You have made great progress! If you have a few sore muscles take a day off if needed from the Physical Challenge. Remember, hardship means growth. Fight the good fight and finish your race! Listed below is your Faith & Fit work for today. Please click on the links or the play buttons to access each resource. Remember to leave a comment about your experience at the Speak Your Mind section at the bottom of the page. In Christ, we can grow stronger.  Let’s do it!

 

Everyday Faith Teaching Video:

Everyday Faith Scripture Reading:

 

I apologize for for the mix up on the Week 4, Lesson 2 Bible study. Week 4 Lesson 2 is under today’s Bible study link. Please click on the link below to access Everyday Faith Bible Study:

                               Week 5, Lesson 1 Bible Study

 

Everyday Fit Physical Challenge:

 

 

Beginner Level: Today make it your goal to walk for 1.5-2 miles. Walk at a pace that you are comfortable with and that you are still able to carry on a conversation. If you want to switch it up a bit, try riding your bike for 2 miles. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge! For more information, please read the following article on how to begin a walking program: Walking Program

Experienced Level: Today make it your goal to walk or ride your bike for 45 minutes. Walk or ride at a pace you are comfortable with and that your are able to carry on a conversation. By the end of your walk/ride you should be sweaty and tired but not exhausted. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any physical workout to be sure you are up for the challenge! Let’s continue push-ups with Coach Dan!

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Rainy day? Don’t worry! Click on the link below for a great challenging indoor work out with Leslie Sansone!

4 Fast Miles!

 

 

Everyday Fit Food Challenge:

Water Week:

Today we want to be aware of how much water we are drinking. If you’re like me, it’s easy to get lost in your day and forget to take a water break as the hours pass by. However, we all know how important drinking water is. Every system in our body depends on water. According to this excellent article by the Mayo Clinic, Water: How Much Should You Drink Every Day? everyone’s needs for water differ. “You may need to modify your total fluid intake depending on how active you are, the climate you live in, your health status, and if you’re pregnant or breast-feeding,” states the article.

Mary is very good about getting her water in each day. She packs a large water bottle for school every morning and makes sure she finishes it by the end of the day. Do you have any tips to share that help you remember to keep yourself hydrated? Please share them on our Facebook page or at the bottom of this post.

Here is my tip: I love to add a slice of lemon to my water. It makes it seem extra refreshing. In addition to that, in the summer I snip a few sprigs of mint from my herb plants and add them to my water. Mint really gives the water a zing. Here are some fun Pinterest water recipes that I can’t wait to try.

Recommended Reading: Hearing God by Dallas Willard

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with GodBy Dallas Willard / Inter-Varsity Press

 

Extra Faith:

Need a little extra spiritual challenge added to your day? Take advantage of the following resources!

 Joyce Meyer Anatomy of a Habit Part 2

Extra Fit

Need an extra challenge? Get your abs in shape with Team Beachbody Coach and Founder of Team Let’s Go Fitness at Dan Vukmirovich. Dan’s videos are short, effective and productive! Let’s go!

You are doing great! You have made it to Week 5. Keep up the good work and share what you’ve been learning so far.

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

Read John 5: 1-9

Don’t you just love that Jesus isn’t afraid to live His life on the edge?

As chapter five opens, we see that Jesus is once again in the middle of a group of people who aren’t the up and comers of Jerusalem: they are all blind, lame, or paralyzed (v 4). Can’t you just picture Jesus walking by the Sheep Gate and being drawn to the crowd of helpless people lying by the pool? Jesus always has the poor, the orphans, the helpless, and the sick on his radar, and I can just imagine Him making a beeline for the worst one there. Verse six tells us that Jesus learns that one of the men has been sick for 38 years.

Jesus then asks him what seems to be an obvious question: “Do you want to get well?”

Why would Jesus ask this question when the man has been lame for 38 years? Surely the answer has to be yes. I wonder if Jesus did this because the man has lost hope, accepting this affliction as his permanent reality. Perhaps Jesus needs to reawaken in this man his dreams of a normal life and a healthy body.

You’ll notice that the man doesn’t directly answer Jesus’ question with a yes or no. He instead offers an explanation as to why he hasn’t received healing—he has no one to help him in the pool when the water is stirred, so someone else always gets there first. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder the man is discouraged.

Probably every day a friend or family member on his way to work carries the lame man to the pool and then picks him up on the way home. All day the lame man simply waits and watches the water—we don’t even know how often the Spirit stirs the water. Every day, week, or month? At the first ripple of water, the man desperately tries to crawl or roll to the pool, but for 38 years, someone else always gets there first.

I can just imagine that Jesus stays quiet until the lame man stops talking. Jesus locks eyes with the man and tells him “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” And just like that, he does. Thirty-eight years of atrophy gone in one second.

What can our friend from the pool of Bethesda teach us?

• A vibrant faith reawakens hope in our lives. When the lame man meets Jesus, he sees the power of God in Jesus. This ignites his faith, and Jesus heals him.

• A vibrant faith sometimes requires us to make a move. The lame man has to act on that faith. He takes Jesus at his word, picks up his mat, and stands up.

Where has hope died in your life? Jesus is trying to get your attention, look you in the eye, and shake you out of your spiritual paralysis.

What is he asking you to move out of and on to in your life? Like the lame man did, we need to pick up our mats and leave behind the years that crippled us. Faith flies in the face of years of bad habits, patterns, and stagnation and moves us toward health and healing and possibilities.

This is the first blog in our faith series. Please leave a comment below on your thoughts, feelings, or experiences in growing your faith.

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