I am so excited about this project! You see, on October 12, 2008 I’m going to walk my very first Marathon in Kelowna, BC, Canada. Who’da thunk it? As I’ve been training for this event I have been struck by how God is speaking to me about my walk with Him and how it compares to Marathon training. As a blogging junkie I thought (hoped?) it might be fun to share some of those insights with others, and inspire some conversation both about walking/fitness/achieving audacious goals, and about what it really means to walk with God. I’d love to have your input and insight along my journey, and I hope we can encourage each other.

You need to know that I am NOT an athlete. I hate sports – except for the occasional World Cup Soccer Championship game on TV – and was always the one no one wanted on their team in school. In fact, I clearly remember a fist fight breaking out between two captains who were adamantly refusing to have me on their team. Sigh. I don’t like sore muscles, heavy breathing or sweat, and for the past five years I’ve been perfecting the art of being a “computer potato” (as opposed to a couch potato).

In September of 2007 my husband started inspiring me to go to the gym 3x a week, and I was sporadically faithful with that, but it wasn’t great. I didn’t really enjoy it. I have been getting more and more frustrated by the extra poundage two large babies and an undisciplined lifestyle have brought me, and I was determined to get it off. I set up a challenge with a friend to get the weight off, and began some intense research about weight loss and fitness.

The first thing I did was get back to my “prayer walking”, a meditation habit where I walked about 5 km while reciting prayers using an Anglican Rosary. I then worked to increase that to 10km a day, and then the purchase of the Nike+iPod system to track my steps – only it doesn’t – then inspired me to push myself ever further, until one day (July 1, 2008) I decided I was going to walk a Marathon.

So, here I am.

What I envision this blog to be is a source of information and encouragement to help others (as well as myself) push themselves to greater health, both physically and spiritually. As it says in the New Testament book of 1 Timothy, Chapter 4, verse 8: For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. That would be my goal!

I thought that Mondays might be a good day to set up some challenges for us to follow together. My goal would be for all of us to grow in a kind of community. Then on Wednesdays I’d talk about what I’m learning physically in a broader sense, and on Fridays I’d share what’s going on with me spiritually, and through those posts invite some good discussion.

I follow the path of Christian Spirituality. It’s quite possible that you don’t and aren’t interested in learning about it. Hey, that’s cool. One thing I have discovered though, is that the more I interest myself in what others believe, the more I understand people who make different choices, and the clearer my own beliefs become. Let me challenge you to do the same. You may find that as I give out challenges for Spiritual fitness on my blog, that they’re able to be adapted to your own beliefs, and will help you grow in your own chosen faith. I hope so.

So I plan to kick this off on Monday with the first challenges. I hope you’ll be there, invite some friends to join us, and that you’ll leave a comment, question, word of encouragement, share a frustration, or celebrate your triumphs with us.

Oh, and don’t worry! I hope to keep the posts MUCH, MUCH shorter than this!