Last weekend we went to our home church here in Austin called Gateway or Gateway Church. Their motto is “Come As You Are”, which literally means come as you are. You don’t have wear a tie or a coat or dress or anything fancy. You can come dressed in your latest fitness gear. No one judges, no one snickers and everyone seems very welcoming. For those that like the door opened for them, well they have door greeters with happy smiles, ready to welcome you in.
This week we had the privilege of hearing a sermon from Ted Beasley, a teaching pastor at Gateway. Just prior to Ted taking the stage we glanced over and noticed he had lost a ton of weight. Later while speaking Ted said he had lost 70 lbs. Think about that for a second. That is like losing a not so small child or 3 25 pound weights.
During the Sermon Ted talked about how a lady had come up to him and basically said “Ted you’re fat and we don’t want to lose you to bad health.” This was Ted’s wake up call to get healthy. Now of course this isn’t the approach many fat people might welcome, but in Ted’s case, it was exactly what he needed to push him towards fitness and becoming healthier.
Being physically healthy plays a role in how you experience life, which can impact your relationships, faith, and joy. Busy schedules and convenient access to unhealthy food makes maintaining a healthy lifestyle challenging, but in the end, hard work and dedication almost always pay dividends and in Ted’s case it was very obvious.
Please check out this video. It’s well worth your time and afterwords we hope it makes you want to be more engaged with faith and fitness and a healthier you.
