03/02/14

Want to sit awhile and read my thoughts?

I want to talk about the heart.

Since last November, when my Daddy had to have surgery to help his circulation in his legs, I seem to have been surrounded by heart issues.  

In January, my Daddy's brother had a heart attack which caused a wreck.... which actually led to saving his life.  He is now getting the correct help he needs from a doctor.

Daddy had two more surgeries to correct the blockages in his legs that had to be scheduled at different times because the stress they can cause on the body.

My uncle passed away last week from a massive heart attack.

Now, this weekend, my mom's sister (the aunt who is the twin to the uncle that died last week) was taken to the hospital with heart issues... a possible heart attack but we won't know until further tests are made this week.

There is a lot that can clog those arteries to our heart and, unfortunately, some of my relatives (not all... my Dad, especially) have not taken the initiative to watch that.   It seems to take something like what I have mentioned above to make someone realize it is time to do a change.

Change what is eaten.

Change in activity.. you actually need MORE exercise the older you get.

Change in realizing that you are not "super-human" and can "handle it yourself."

In my journey for weight loss, I have begun to realize it isn't so much about the weight LOSS, but the body strengthening.  

That includes my heart.

On days when I do not feel like getting up and doing any exercising, I MAKE myself do it because I know my heart needs it, as well as all of my body systems.  I haven't seen the change in the scale that I have been desiring, but I have noticed a difference in stamina.  For that, I am thankful.

Exercising has now become a part of my life for so many reasons, but here lately my heart has been on my mind each time because of all that has happened in my family.  

I never regret a time I have exercised!

 

Let's turn this a different direction.....

How is your spiritual heart?  

Does it have some calcification?  Are their blockages?  Are you using it and exercising it as you should?

Sometimes we need a wake up call spiritually.  Calcification can occur because of a hardening of the heart towards the things of the Lord.  The Lord has been trying to tell us that some changes need to be made, but we choose to continue our own spiritual lifestyle.  We only want to get "fixed" when something goes wrong.  We don't look at the "preventative measures" that can be taken.

How can we exercise spiritually?

The most important way is to ask the Lord to:

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

What does that look like?

Reading God's Word.  Daily.  (Not just a verse or two, but digging deep just like when one exercises!)

Praying.

Confessing sin. (that calcification) 

Exercising faith in the Lord.... which is realizing that we cannot do anything in our life on our own.  We must have the Lord's strength.

I am learning that when I exercise spiritually, my stamina in the Lord increases and I am stronger because of Him.

What about you?  How is your heart?  

Take the time to exercise it... physically and spiritually. 

You will never regret it.