The Dwelling Place of the Holy Spirit

I have been married 101 months (8 1/2 yrs). Out of those 101 months I have been pregnant 50 months (so far) and nursing 41 months. That leaves 10 months of my marriage where I wasn't pregnant or nursing. As a result I have finally come to the point of exhaustion. My body is tired, worn out, and in need of healing. Every time I am pregnant I have horrible morning sickness.... vomiting between 5-14 times a day. It is always the worst in the first trimester although I have had three pregnancies where it lasted nearly the whole 9 months.

In addition to the vomiting is the normal fatigue that comes during the first trimester. Then there is the rest of the family... sleepless nights, feedings in the nights, bed wetting (for the current potty trainer), sometimes the sickness (croup or vomiting). You know the normal life of have four little kids under 7 yrs old. In the midst of this trying to find the energy to be the enthusiastic home school teacher, lover, house cleaner, and dog trainer. After years of virtually no uninterrupted REM sleep, my body has finally said... I need a time out. The hard part is that I am five months pregnant. I know that I am just in a season and take refuge in that there will be a day when I will miss having little ones around. So I am enjoying them, the moments of silliness!

However, I admit I have sacrificed a lot of "myself." Out of "selflessness," thinking I was being such a great mom because of it. Viewing myself almost as a martyr, which was completely sinful and arrogant in a weird kind of way. The Lord write many times about the body of Christ hereon earth, doing His Works. I thought of "working out" as a waste of time. I thought I could better the kingdom with the time spent in ministry or with my kids. The truth is though that in neglecting to take care of the earthly body Christ gave me I have been sinning against Him. I have not been taking care of the temple "where the Holy Spirit dwells."

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have recieved from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefor, honor God with your body." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." 1 Cor. 3:16 NIV

These verses speak so loadly to me that we are stewards of the bodies he has given us... caretakers if you will. If we do not do our best to take care of our bodies and our children's, teaching them how to take care of their bodies by example... we then aren't honoring His creation. We aren't allowing ourselves to be used at any capacity for His service. We all have our limitations of course. However, we are to do the best with what we have. Asking Him, the Healer, to do the healing and to make us able to be used by Him.

For me, keeping up with my kids and living a long life to leave a purposeful legacy is a huge purpose. I also look forward to the day when my kids are old enough to do missions with me and to be "actively" ministering in the community. There are many motivations I could think of; however, the most important motivation is to please my Lord. To take care of the temple His Spirit dwells in so the spirit can use me to do God's works here on earth. My life is so short in the scheme of things. To do the most with it is the goal. I know God created me for a reason. To love and serve Him by serving others. If my back is hurt and I can not take care of my family... I will do all I can with the power of GOd and prayer... to heal and serve. Obviously, God had a plan in teaching my family and I a very valueable lesson inrecieving love and care. However, the lesson doesn't end there. I have to take time for myself to get exercise.

Back in the agricultural years, most people lived on farms. Their lives were filled with hard labor and "exercise" of sorts. They were healthier. In Genesis God tells us that we will work hard in the land. With how technologically driven our society has become less people are having to work hard. They have mechanical maids such as dishwashers, washing machines, running water, etc... While these machines are a blessing and I have each of these myself. The consequence is less excerise and more sitting. More calorie intake because of artificial foods and less calorie burning. No wonder obesity is killing so many Americans.

I am not suggesting that we all go join gyms and excerise for 2-3 hours everyday. I am merely saying that we should get up, get outside, go for long walks, hikes with our kids. We should work out in a gym if we don't have hard labor to do at home. We have 3 acres so there is plenty of upkeep with the yard and garden. We are planting a vineyard and have animals. More labor. However, because of my back condition I am still very limited in what I can do. So I did join a gym and have been doing water therapy... swimming, water aerobics. I have to say it has been helping tremendously. I have more energy, flexiblity and my back has been feeling better. I am thankful for the water. Also, because I live in Oregon where it rains 8-10 months out of the year (which has its benefits) I need to be able to work out inside during points of the year.

All in all I am praying God heals me for His service. I feel confidant that I am doing my part in trying to heal and get healthier in the form of exercise.