Our bodies are amazing. I don’t mean, wow-look at that six pack amazing. Our bodies, created by the creator Himself are amazing. As I finished my run early this afternoon(which I really had to talk myself into doing-yesterday…), I pushed to open up my stride to finish strong. Gasping for air and dripping sweat(on another mild October day), a voice called out, “How much did you run?” Huffing and puffing, I pulled myself together and said, “Just two miles (kicking myself for adding the just!). An older gentlemen approached me, ready for his workout, shared how he used to be a runner back in his 20’s. He was running 10k’s and doing a 6:05 mile. Now as he’s approaching 60 he’s starting to run again. He shared his weight loss journey and how he’s down about 45 pounds but has a bit more to go and how last week he ran a quarter of a mile. He was sweet and totally enthusiastic about reigniting his love for running again. I wished him well as we parted ways and as I dragged my butt home, I turned around and saw him running, I don’t know much about this man except his name, but to myself I whispered, way to go, happy for him that he is taking the first steps towards his goal. This conversation and exchange made my run worth it today. It made me start to think, our bodies truly are amazing. They are capable of so much! They are complex and full of so many different parts, organs each with a different job, and so much more, and all these parts working together, make us able to do more than I can even imagine. Our bodies are capable of healing and growth. They are strong, but can be trained to be even stronger. Women’s bodies can carry human beings for crying out loud, that in and of itself is amazing. Not all bodies are made the same though, some are missing parts or chromosomes. Some are sick with disease. Some can’t make or carry new life. But each body, each person regardless of what they have or what they don’t are amazing beings.

When I think about the bodies ability to heal, I think of my boys and their injuries over the years. That a bone can heal from being fractured, that once it is set in place, the bones can actually fuse themselves back together blows my mind. Or that skin with a deep and nasty cut can grow new skin with the help of stitches holding things in place, wow! Or that a concussion can be recovered from with resting your brain (which seems impossible). Even my own struggles with adrenal fatigue and my bodies amazing ability to heal with vitamins, whole foods, rest, and a new mindset. We can heal in other ways too, ways that are not physical but mental. God and science are amazing.

We even have the ability to push our bodies and minds to learn and to do new things. We can go from a completely sedentary lifestyle to an active and healthy one. We can learn new skills or change career paths, locations, friendships, hobbies… We can practically reinvent ourselves. We are never stuck or fixed at one point. God gives grace, mercy, forgiveness, and healing. He never leaves us stuck, though often times we feel it. The procrastinator(like me) can change to a person who does things early(working on it), the person who is chronically late can change and begin to arrive everywhere ten minutes early(working on it). The introvert(like me) can get out of her comfort zone and challenge herself to go to an event by herself and interact with someone new. The messy person can decide to clean(working on it). The disorganized can become organized(working on it). Most of these speak to me in one way or another.

All of this made me think about the fact that we are not responsible for the actions of others. We may somehow be affected by others bad choices, but we are not responsible. Sometimes it is hard to wrap our heads around that. Like if our kids make a bad choice we may blame ourselves, or if our spouse does something that hurts our feelings we may think, what did I do to deserve that, or sometimes parents make bad choices and while it is not their child’s responsibility to fix it or even help fix it, children can take ownership of their parents bad choices and wonder if there was something they could have done differently or maybe they don’t love me enough or even think they are not good enough. All of this, is mental, and hear me here, there is healing and hope for hurt and broken relationships. God can fix and heal anything, perhaps not in the way we want it, but in a way that is perfect and pleasing to Him.

So whether you are carrying hurt from a relationship, are physically hurting from an injury or illness, or are looking to just change a habit or a personality trait perhaps, I want to encourage you that you can. It will not be easy and it will not happen over night-but small steps in faith will carry you to a bigger goal-whatever that may be.

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