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Christ often stepped away from his disciples and the noise of his followers for a quiet retreat with God. On August 12, women from around Wyoming and Colorado did the same. They stepped into the peaceful quiet of Camp Wyoba. They were attending the women’s retreat S.H.A.P.E. – Up: Taking the Spiritual Fitness Challenge.
Carolyn Yelton and Christy Dallmann from Crossroads Church in Northglenn, CO, lead the retreat as the “coaches.” The purpose of the retreat is to encourage women to become physically fit as they also become spiritually fit. The disciplines have similarities that can drive a person to become fit in that area.
Over the two day retreat Carolyn and Christy emphasized five different aspects.
? The physical discipline of stretching is similar to the spiritual discipline of prayer.
? Healthy habits are similar to solitude, simplicity, and celebration.
? Aerobics is similar to Worship.
? Pilates is similar to Bible reading and study.
? Endurance training is similar to perseverance.
A full physical workout may include each one of these aspects. And a full spiritual workout, and full spiritually fit life, should include each spiritual discipline. There are even spiritual aspects to “warming up” in a work out and “cooling down” in a work out. In our “warm up” to our spiritual work out, we need to fully submit to God and be a servant to God. When we “cool down” we need to take time to listen and meditate on what God has told us, shown us, and given us. In the words of Carolyn and Christy “It is a shifting of our gaze; looking upward instead of inward.”
“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come,” (1 Timothy 4:8). The women of the retreat were encouraged to memorize the verse, and put it in to action in their lives.
Lessons were learned about physical fitness and becoming spiritually fit. Each woman was encouraged to find what works for her to be physically fit, find what made them move, and was enjoying for them to do. The same was encouraged for their spiritual life. They need to find the things that bring them closer to God and work on them with God.
Helen Schindler
Wyoming AB Women’s Ministries President
2010 ABWM Wyoming Report
2008 ABWM Wyoming Report
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