The Little Things

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Jazzercise.  It gave me the energy and strength I needed after becoming a mom, provided a fun outlet for stress, and gave me a grown up version of my college dorm room dance parties to enjoy multiple times a week!  After finding my ideal workout, Jazzercise was another aspect of Memphis that I hated leave.  It didn't hurt that our class met in the church across the street from my house; it doesn't get much more convenient than that!  

Just a few of the ladies from my Midtown Jazzercise class in Memphis with newborn Rhett.  After watching my entire pregnancy, you can imagine how thrilled they were that my water broke in class! They dubbed him their first "Jazzerbaby!"

In the Oklahoma City area, there were only Jazzercise centers in Edmond and in Northwest OKC, both way too far from my home to be practical as a regular part of my routine.  To make matters worse, my area of town doesn't have many good options when it comes to gyms, and the few options we do have did not offer group classes that worked with my schedule.  (I know for a fact that group exercise is the only form of fitness that works for me.  Apparently I have enough pride that working out with others is the only thing that will keep me from quitting! ;)  Even if I had been able to find a Jazzercise class here, I worried that I just had a really great instructor in Memphis and that maybe Jazzercise wasn't that great after all.

Jody, my amazing instructor, who pushed me to my limits when I was trying to get in shape after Riggins, and who encouraged me to keep going throughout my pregnancy with Rhett.  

Last month, I was officially discouraged.  Five months after having Rhett, I felt in worse shape than I did at 9 months pregnant when I was still doing Jazzercise a few times a week.  I had lost the baby weight, but my energy and strength were depleted; the muscle tone I had built over the last year and a half was quickly softening.  The lack of options had me frustrated and the whole situation began to represent some of my overall discontented feelings with this current transitional stage in our lives. 

Finally, I had a come to Jesus moment.  I told myself to stop making excuses, to accept the situation for what it was, and to buck it up and go join a gym that next week and make the most of it.  I told myself that my situation in Memphs--my ideal workout, across the street from my house--was a unique situation that was unlikely to ever happen again and that I could not make comparisons.  I also repented for clinging to another stronghold of discontent with what God has given us and where he has led us.  

The next day, I got a postcard in the mail from Jazzercise.  Assuming it was forwarded mail from Memphis, I was immediately annoyed at the reminder of what I was missing.  Then I flipped it over and realized that it was not from Memphis at all; it was an invitation to join the new Jazzercise center that was forming in our new town!  I looked at the address and recognized the street name as the one that runs perpendicular to ours.  I plugged it into Google maps, and when the results popped on the screen my eyes filled with tears.

It is right behind our house, just a two minute walk away!  

In that moment, it was as if God was saying, "Yeah, it probably was unrealistic to expect me to give you a Jazzercise center across the street from your house...but I can do around the corner!"  

Now I realize that my workout plans are a tiny, unimportant aspect of life.  In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.  And I certainly don't proclaim a Gospel in which God constantly gives us the petty things that we want all the time.  But in that moment, I received a reminder that God cares about the intimate details of our lives, about the tiniest things that matter to our hearts.  I received a reminder that God sees me.  He knows me.  I had been feeling the sting of all our life changes so keenly, and something small like my favorite workout class around the corner was a sweet reminder that God provides for everything I need, and exceeds that by providing sweet blessings in the little things that matter to me.  

I am happy to say that Jazzercise is great wherever you go!  This new center has great instructors and I am loving being back in the groove of dancing my cares away several times a week.  If you're in my area and would like to join, they are running a great special through the end of the year.  Let me know if you'd like information on the class!