Raising Magnolias

Leaving Home

Proverbs 27:17 “Just as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

I was 17 when I left home for College.

22 when I left home for Nebraska.

I’ve lived in Minnesota, South Dakota and three different cities in Nebraska.

I’m not a fan of all those “home is where your heart is” type quotes. My heart is here with my children and my husband.

But home? Well.

Home is where your journey begins.

And I was longing for my Arkansas home when we moved here 4 years ago. Instead, I found the YMCA.

I found strength and I found courage and I found my voice.

Three years ago I started training. My first (and only!) client was hesitant to join the Y so we would walk around Fremont.

Around and around.

I pushed Emma Claire in a jogging stroller and I pretended to know what I was doing and my client pretended I knew what I was doing and she calls herself my Nebraska mom and I would call myself her Nebraska daughter, but she has a Nebraska daughter, so maybe I’m her Arkansas daughter. Anyway.

She said to me today. Can you believe?

Three years ago. We started.

At the time she couldn’t get off the floor without assistance. Yesterday she did 10 push-ups on her toes.

Eventually, she joined the Y.

And so the Fremont Family Y? It’s where my training journey began.

And two weeks ago, I left home.

There are times in our life when we leave behind people or places or circumstances because their wrong or sad or hurtful.

Other times, we leave behind people or places or circumstances that are wonderful and caring and we leave because there’s a tiny voice inside telling us it’s time.

2 weeks before Christmas I wanted a donut. I don’t eat donuts. I mean, yes, I eat donuts, but not alone. I always take children with me so that the donut people will think they’re for my children. But 2 weeks before Christmas, Coulter broke his toe and even though I knew that he had broken his toe and even though I knew there was nothing that could be done about a broken toe, I just wanted to spend the money on an X-Ray so that someone smarter than I could tell me he had a broken toe and that nothing could be done about it. 🙂 All that to say, we had been to the Dr. I had taken Coulter back to school.

And then I went for a donut.

And I saw a “For Lease” sign in the window next door.

Later that day, I told my soon-to-be-husband. I want to rent that space.

We were in the jewelry store looking for his wedding ring and you know what he did? He left and right that minute called the building owner.

Because I wanted a more personal space. A more private place.

Because I wanted to put scriptures up on the wall and I wanted to play Casting Crowns and Jeremy Camp and I wanted a place where my children could hang out after school and—

I wanted a place where my clients could walk in and feel comfortable and not be embarrassed and not be overwhelmed and I wanted a place where I could offer them a cup of tea and a quiet place to talk if that’s what they needed.

I left home at 17 because it was time. Because my parents had raised me to do just that.

I left home at 42 because it was time. Because the people that I had learned from and trained with and been encouraged by prepared me to do just that.

The Fremont Family Y is an incredible facility and I have lovely friends who give their heart and soul to keeping it that way. My husband was there this morning lifting and my boys are there tonight shooting. As I look at my giving statement for last years taxes. It pretty much has two places.

Our church.

And the Y.

Club Fitness 27:17 is not for power lifters. And the only basketball hoop we have is a mini-one hanging over the bathroom door. And while Emma Claire has figured out a way to use the stretching machine as monkey bars, there is no actual place for gymnastics.

We aren’t trying to be the Y. Opening a new place doesn’t come from a place of arrogance, but rather humility. We’re not trying to be better.

We’re trying to be different.

Last week our Oldest pushed-back on the studio. We were talking about idols and he said to his Dad, “Money is your idol. You just want to make money.”

Uhm, OK except I’m pretty sure we lost money last month. And we lost money because I wanted a seated elliptical for my clients who have a hard time standing.

And we’ll probably lose money this month because I want more kettle bells and softer mats and a hot pink punching bag (come one, you know it would be fun to just wall off and hit something without getting in trouble!)

My desire is that the Lord will bless our business, but my greater desire is that the Lord will bless those people who come into our business. My prayer is that this works because I’m having the absolute time of my life, but my greater prayer is that my children will see what it means to find something that you love and make a living from it. My prayer is that God will bless the work of our hands, but my greater prayer is that He will be honored by the work of our hands.

Ok, so. I have a bird’s eye view of the parking lot outside the donut place. And I’m just here to tell you that Fremont’s got room for our studio and many more. 🙂 Come on, Fremont! Let’s get healthy!

Will this work? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I have a husband who believes in me. I have a husband who gave me a training studio, and it wasn’t about money.

It was for no other reason than because I asked.

I guess in the end, I left because my heart found a new love. Maybe “home is where your heart is”, after all.

Please bookmark http://clubfitness2717.com Faith-centered fitness and nutrition blogs coming soon!