Revelation Wellness - I'm All In

I've got some exciting news to share, I have signed up for the Revelation Wellness Instructor Training! This is something that I've been thinking about for several months and decided that the time is right for me to do this. I was introduced to Revelation Wellness a year ago this month as part of the Asbury Fitness community. I was invited to a fitness class called Arise that met at the seminary at 6:00am twice a week. I went to check it out and loved it. But before I get to that, let me back up a little.

In the spring of 2019, Brian came home one day and said he wanted to do the Daniel Fast for a week. I had heard of the Daniel Fast before and thought it would be good for our family to do, I mean we had just planned for one week. After the first week, we realized it was only one more week until Easter, so we decided to keep going and break the fast on Easter Sunday.  

The Daniel Fast began to make us aware of all of the junk foods we had been putting in our bodies because we felt so much better after eating clean. Soon after this, Brian started seeing a personal trainer at the seminary. Not only was this about working out, but he also wanted Brian to eat well, so Brian began carb cycling. This is sort of like keto in that he doesn't eat carbs. The exception is that he has carb night on two nights a week, where he only eats clean carbs. I didn't do this, but I did cut out the junk food and sweets I had been eating.

We got to the summer, I had lost some weight and felt much better, but I knew I needed to do more. I had worked out some in the past, but it was never something that I really enjoyed. That was when I was invited to the Arise class. I had severe tendonitis in my left rotator cuff, so there was a lot I couldn't do, but the person leading the class helped me modify things like push-ups. I did them on the wall because I couldn't put any weight on that shoulder.  

In September, the class leader, who used Revelation Wellness and is an instructor, invited the class to do a 21 Day Sugar Fast. That was when I really got introduced to Revelation Wellness. The sugar fast was 21 days of no sugar. This meant no food with added sugar, which I was already doing, but I cut out all carbs. This was extremely hard for me, and to be honest, I felt sick most of the 21 days, but I did it. That fall, God also healed me from tendonitis!

In January, I did another program through Revelation Wellness called 31 Days of Weight Loss God's Way. This plan gave me daily workouts and a recommended list of foods to eat and not eat, but it was so much more than that. There were also daily scriptures and devotionals because it wasn't about losing my body's physical weight but losing the weight of bondage to sin.  

In February, my friend, who led the Arise class, also led a book study of the "Wellness Revelation," whom the founder of Revelation Wellness, Alisa Keeton, wrote, so I signed up for that. It was at this point that I felt God's prompting to become a Revelation Wellness Instructor myself. It also helped that my leader friend told me I should look into doing it.  

So here is a little bit about Revelation Wellness from their website:

VISION: We use fitness as a tool to spread the good news Gospel message to the ends of the earth.

MISSION: Helping people love God, get healthy, be whole and love others.

VALUE STATEMENTS: God first. No Gimmicks. Freedom Living

https://www.revelationwellness.org/about/

I love the value statements - God first (not me, not some program, not another person, but God first), No Gimmicks (this isn't something to make money, there aren't products to buy, it is a non-profit) and Freedom Living (to explain this let me show you a picture from two years ago.)

This was our family celebrating the end of summer two years ago. Isaac was about to start kindergarten, and we went to this indoor amusement park. Brian snapped this photo of me and showed it to me later. We were supposed to be having a family fun day, but my face doesn't show fun. Yes, I have lost weight since then, but the woman in that picture wasn't happy, she wasn't confident, didn't like herself, and wasn't free. Through God and what I have learned from Revelation Wellness, I know that I am free. I have joy and confidence because I know God loves me.  

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I have been facing many trials recently, and I have had some bad days. I have been experiencing doubt about myself and who God made me to be. But I will continue to persevere with joy, knowing that with God, I am not lacking anything.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for our family during this time of transition. I would love your continued prayers as I start instructor training in September. I can't wait to tell you more about it!

Grace and Peace,

Cassidy