Personal Trainer

I recently hired a personal trainer for four weeks. I’ve been fighting this never-ending battle of the bulge for far too long, and I’ve decided it’s time to call in reinforcements. Also, my gym had a deal going that was too good to pass up, so I figured why not. I met Siri a month ago, and I already knew we would have very little in common. First of all, she’s never had Nutella, which was a surefire sign that we’d have very little to talk about. But at any rate, she came highly recommended, and we commenced our training.

Let me tell you, Siri is tough! She doesn’t suffer fools, especially this one. She completely ignored any little excuse that I could come up with and then found a way to scare me into doing whatever she wanted. Siri is about 5’2″ and walks around the gym in a ponytail and pink sneakers. But make no mistake, Siri’s got so much muscle on her that if she tells you to do a burpee, you do a burpee (whatever those are).

Final Check-In

Today was my four-week check-in and the end of my time with Siri. The moment of truth came: I got on the scale, ready to see all of my amazing results. To my and Siri’s disappointment, not only did I not lose any weight, but I’d gained a couple of pounds since beginning training sessions four weeks ago. Siri was shocked!

“What went wrong?! You’ve been working so hard here at the gym and home!”

“At home?!” I replied.

Apparently, I was meant to have taken what I learned from Siri at the gym and continue the work at home. I failed to do that. It certainly didn’t help that my friends and I had instituted Pancake Tuesdays, Donut Fridays, and Sushi Sundays. I thought that since I worked out so hard at the gym, I could coast for the rest of the week and see the pounds melt off! But here I am with nothing to show for all the time and money spent.

I find that I do the same thing with my spiritual life. I attend church once a week and maybe a retreat once a year. And I come out of those experiences feeling spiritually healthier and stronger. But it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t take the time to build my spiritual muscle daily.

Also, I hear that Jesus is a much better personal trainer than Siri!

“Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night” (Deuteronomy 11:18-20, The Message.)

If you liked this, you might also enjoy Wisdom from the Gym | Exercise Your Faith: 3 Ways to Build Spiritual Muscles

Jael Amador writes from New York.

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