Fitness, Freedom, and Reality TV

Confession: I LOVE REALITY TV. You can tell me 100x that it is not reality, but so help me...I cannot get enough of it. Why? I fall in love with the people, I resonate with their stories, and I feel like I get to be a part of their story (even if by just cheering for them along the way). But before you peg me as one to sit at home night after night watching any and every reality TV show imaginable, I should clarify. I am particularly fond of two shows. 

1. Survivor

AND

2. The Biggest Loser
Admittedly I got hooked on Biggest Loser while in college. A few friends and I would get together each week, eat junk food as we watched the contestants work out, and then try the exercises they did in the show during the commercials. Probably not what the creators of the show were hoping to inspire in their viewers, but it was fun.

With the Biggest Loser, although I loved being able to see how far each contestant had come, the parts of the show I loved the most were when you got to hear the stories of the contestants. The moments when the trainer would take them outside of the gym and they would sit on the stairs and dig into the deeper parts of why they gained the weight, why they believe the lies they do about themselves, etc. I think the reason I loved this was because it was in some of those moments that the contestants began to experience FREEDOM. Something I believe we all long for, whether we know and acknowledge it or not.
I had NO IDEA that I would encounter similar moments in my own journey towards living a healthier life...because I thought that was "just on TV".

Fairly soon after I began pursuing a healthier lifestyle I joined on as a coach because I wanted to pursue and share with others the results I was experiencing. I quickly realized that although this was a perfectly good reason to do so, when faced with opposition it was not a strong enough reason for me to stick with coaching. When push came to shove, it would be easier for me to just quit than to worry about what others thought or would say to me about promoting the product that has been changing my life so drastically.

The thing is...I don't want to quit. I really enjoy sharing the knowledge I've been learning, watching my friends and family experience their own AMAZING results, and celebrating FREEDOM with them.

So I began my search for WHY. What is it that is a non-negotiable for me when it comes to coaching? What is it that will hold up against judgment? What is it that stirs a fire in me to push forward? I really wrestled through what I had gained the most from my own experience and why I passionately wanted to share it with others.

Here is where I landed.

I am learning to live in FREEDOM – in FAR more than a physical way.

What is funny is that it was not in the walls of a church, on a missions trip, or while leading worship that God led me into these particular revelations of His freedom for me...this time, it was through something as simple as a workout program.

As a worship leader I always drive home the idea to my bands that we cannot expect to lead others into a place we don’t already know ourselves. And we certainly cannot expect others to follow us into the presence of God if we are leading them there blindly. I think the same is true here.

So here is my dream and my heart behind my pursuit of coaching. I want to lead others into FREEDOM! Through the medium of a fitness program, a challenge group (for community and support), and nutrition, I want to give people an opportunity to experience freedom (maybe even for the first time) physically, financially, and also in those deeper parts of who they are.

I don’t want to spiritualize working out, but I think our physical often reflects some of our deeper roots and I don’t think it is beyond the Lord to use something that I am becoming passionate about (like pursuing health and fitness), to share His truth and freedom.

When I think about journeying with others through health and fitness with this as an end goal, I could care less what others think about me pursuing it…because it has nothing to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with Jesus…and that is my greatest passion. HE is my why.

Frozen Nose Hairs

Having done my post-secondary education in Saskatchewan, I am no stranger to cold weather. In fact, if asked what my favourite season of the year would be I would likely respond with winter.

I love layering up, bundling in blankets, drinking tea, playing board games by the fire, wearing toques, and everything else that goes along with "surviving" a winter season. I also do not need convincing to place myself on two pieces of material that are waxed on the bottom, and hurl myself down the side of a mountain (what most call downhill skiing!). I just love everything about winter, including walking out when it is so cold that your nose hairs freeze (hence the title of this post).

Ask one of my co-workers this year whether that is true and they'll say different. They'll suggest that there is one thing I don't like. Christmas music. Now let me clarify before you begin thinking, "how on earth could a worship pastor not like Christmas music."

Back in October one of my co-workers was prepping for the Christmas season and to get in the spirit of her work was listening to Christmas music. I stomped into her office with a silly grin on my face and told her this was not the time or place to be playing Christmas music. I mean, really, OCTOBER! I love winter, and LOVE Christmas, but even I have a "no Christmas music until December 1" policy (mostly because as a worship pastor I not only listen to Christmas music, but also arrange it, practice it, and lead it - equalling a LOT of time with those songs).

Well this whole situation led me to be known as "Scrooge" around the office, which I jokingly and lovingly embraced with many "bah humbugs".

So I thought in an effort to redeem myself (and now that it is December), I would share with you my top 5 favourite Christmas albums.

1) Boney M - The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World

This was a staple in the Mabbett house and to this day I cannot sing "Mary's Boy Child" without adding a little Boney M to it :)









2) Faith Hill - Joy To The World

This is a stunningly beautiful Christmas album. If you ever get an opportunity to watch the live performance she did while recording the album, it makes it that much more enjoyable!








3) Relient K - Let It Snow Baby...Let It Reindeer

I love how they put a new twist on some of the classic tunes










4) The Hotel Cafe presents WinterSongs

A compilation album of artists such as Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat, KT Tunstall, Katy Perry, and more. This one surprised me...a LOT. But it is on my Christmas playlist.









5) Hey, It's Christmas

Another compilation album that a bunch of my friends in college put together. This is the FIRST album I listen to each year. It is unreal! They even put out a second one this year. I cannot wait to give it a listen. Follow this link if you're interested in giving it a listen:
Hey, It's Christmas:
http://heyitschristmas2011.bandcamp.com

Hey, It's Christmas (again): https://rivieresounds.bandcamp.com/releases

You might be thinking, "where is Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby," or maybe you're even looking for Mariah Carey on this list. Let me assure you, those artists all grace my home with their beautiful Christmas tunes as well but the five albums listed above are non-negotiable for me.

I would love to hear what you love to listen to at Christmas time. Post below!

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Pearls

I was about to turn six years old. Many of the other girls in my kindergarten class had their ears pierced, so for my birthday I asked if I could get my ears pierced. A few days before my birthday my mom took me to the mall after school and she surprised me by leading us to the beauty shop where you could get your ears pierced. I was ecstatic! I carefully picked out small turquoise colored earrings (my birthstone) and marched proudly to the chair with the store associate. We lined everything up and just before he made the first hole I asked, “does this hurt?” He smiled and replied with a hand gesture to follow him back to the sales desk in the store. Here he pulled out a piece of paper and a stapler. He placed the paper in the stapler and quickly stapled the piece of paper. Looking back on this event I suppose his illustration was to show how quickly it would happen, but for a 5 year old child who was just learning in school NOT to staple herself with the stapler, I ran out of the store screaming.

It was not until I was 22 years old that I finally found myself back in that chair to get my ears pierced for the first time. The first earrings I had were small diamonds, but I could not wait for the day that I could “upgrade” to some of the fun earrings I had seen others wear. As soon as I made this switch I found that I would pull a sweater over my head and catch and pull them out, or my hair would get caught in them. So, the hunt began for the perfect earring - something that looked good with an array of outfits, but was not the bane of my existence.

Then I found pearl earrings. 

The smooth and round features of this earring allowed for a no-catch sweater experience, they never got caught in my hair, and they dressed up and down quite nicely. What I did not know was that these earrings would become much more important to me than I first realized.

In between my third and fourth year in college I became very sick with an undiagnosed illness. I was living with a kind of chronic chest pain that plagued me 24/7 for, what I would find out in the end was, 2 years.

During this time I found myself at a David Crowder concert. In the second verse of his song “Everything Glorious” Crowder sings, “my eyes are small but they have seen/the beauty of enormous things/which leads me to believe/there’s light enough to see.” I stood there during the concert, listening to these words, and my immediate reaction was to grab my chest. I questioned how this pain could be beautiful.

On the drive home I continued to wrestle with this question. It was in the quiet space of my car, driving along a flat and straight road in Saskatchewan that I heard the Lord speak, “Becca, the beautiful thing about your pain is that you will not be the same person you were when this is all said and done. I am doing a good work in your life. I am molding and shaping you, drawing you to myself, and you will be changed by it. That, my dear girl, is an enormously beautiful thing.”

Then the image of a pearl came to mind. When a pearl has a brown spot or damage it has lost value, but there is a process in which you can remove a layer(s) from the surface of the pearl and in doing so restore it free from blemishes and return or even increase its value. I understood then that although the pain in my life was not beautiful, that the process I was going through was as if the layers would be stripped away and it was the end product of that life journey that would be beautiful.

So I wear my pearls daily, not only for convenience, but because they remind me that no matter what I am journeying through GOD MAKES DAMAGED, BROKEN, and UGLY THINGS BEAUTIFUL.

Telling Lies

Lies need to look as much like the truth as possible, without actually being the truth. Otherwise we wouldn’t believe them.

I’ve been learning in the last couple months how easily influenced we can be by media and society. To the point that we have allowed them to feed the small lies that we have told ourselves, or that others have told us.

Lies like: I am not beautiful, I’m not worth it, I don’t measure up, I will never be good enough, etc. These are lies I’ve believed.

But I’m choosing to stand and live on truth instead…and the truth is that those things ARE LIES!

In the garden, right after Adam and Eve choose independence from God and ate the fruit in disobedience, God looked for them. He didn’t come with fire and lightening bolts in a rage, ready to destroy them. Rather, he came walking in the garden in concern and with questions. Of all the questions he could have asked, his was this. “Who told you that you were naked?” I read that and hear a God whose heart broke when man disobeyed because, in listening to the lies of the snake, they abandoned the full and rich life He had made for them.

This song comes from that passage. I wrote it because I believe he is asking us that question also. WHO TOLD YOU…you weren’t beautiful, you weren’t worth it, you weren’t enough, etc? Those are lies. 

Out with the Hymns, In with the New?

I’ve often been told that my position as a worship pastor may be one of the more difficult positions to hold within the church. Thankfully I had a professor in college prepare me in such a way that this type of descriptor for my job comes as no surprise. You see music is and always will be controversial. Everyone has their own opinion on it, and it seems that in regards to music, many speak openly with their opinion. This is not new. It can be traced all throughout the history of the church AND it can be traced in mainstream music as well.

Now before I open what is easily one of the biggest cans of worms in my profession, I’m going to direct my focus a little bit.

I recently had a conversation with a man who suggested that I consider removing hymns from my repertoire of worship songs as I lead. His premise was that with all the new music that is out there, why bother with the stuffy old (sometimes cheesy) songs?

Carefully and thoughtfully I responded to his suggestion.

As long as I lead, I choose not to reject all of the songs that have gone before me simply because they may be dated. Each generation has offered something different and unique. Are there songs that should probably never be sung again? Sure. But are there some gems that have been offered to the church through the many saints the Lord has blessed with the gift of music. Absolutely. I believe the same will be said of some of the music we are putting out today. I think it is healthy, respectful, and appropriate for us to draw from all generations of worship music, keeping in mind the congregation we are leading.

So, how do we make a choice of which pieces fit in each of these categories?

1) Is it biblically sound?

If I am picking a song for worship, I am less concerned with when the song was written and more concerned with how it stacks up against scripture. I believe that as worship leaders, we are given the RESPONSIBILITY of choosing the songs/words that people will sing/say to GOD! Think about that for a second…that is HUGE. In light of that responsibility, do you want to just sing fluffy, thoughtlessly chosen words? I don’t.

2) Will it be a distraction to your people?

I believe that part of our job as worship leaders is to give people an opportunity to enter into the presence of God as they worship through music. Removing distraction is part of that. If you’re rocking out to a bunch of newer worship songs and then throw in an older song arranged the way they did it when it was first written, that might not be a great fit…but it doesn’t mean you should not do the song. Perhaps those words are exactly what you need to fill that space. Be creative; try out a new arrangement (yours or someone else’s…there are many modern takes on the classics).

3) Consider the theology

As I studied hymns (in particular) while I was in college I discovered something interesting. Many of the hymns that are still current were not written by worship pastors but rather by the lead pastors of the church. They recognized the power of a song. If you take a popular tune that people know and place lyrics that teach on it, people will take that home with them. So, many pastors would write songs that held the rich theological teaching from their sermons so that their congregants would have that as an easy reminder of what they had been taught. Think about some of the worship music that is currently trending. Is it giving us biblical and theological truths that we can find our roots in?

Could I go on forever about this topic. Yes. Could I go on tangents here, there, and everywhere from parts I already touched on. Yes. But I’ll end with this.

People will leave church on any given Sunday morning repeating the words they have sung before they’ll go home quoting pieces of the sermon. They are also more likely to follow up Sunday by playing a CD than they are to read a theology book.

As worship leaders, songwriters, and congregants who think carefully about what we are singing, my charge for us is to be diligent in choosing, writing, and singing music that is biblically and theologically sound, and that removes distractions. Let's not put so much emphasis on when and where it came from and dig into the roots of what we are singing. I think if we begin to do this, we may gain a new found appreciation for the many generations in our churches.

All or Nothing

Being the youngest of 4 children, that are significantly spaced out in age, I've been held responsible with the beautiful opportunity of finishing well the journey my siblings began. That is a nice way of saying that I got cut lots of slack, was the object of much spoiling, and probably received the most tears when I moved away because the house was no longer inhabited by young punks. Another one of the advantages I had in being the youngest was that as my siblings moved out I got more time one on one with my parents. Being a bit of a homebody I welcomed this advantage, and most certainly can say I am a Daddy's girl. Though, not in the traditional sense that most assume with such a statement. Rather than being pampered by Daddy to get everything and anything I wanted, my experience of being Daddy's girl is consumed in the countless hours we spent together playing sports, motorcycling, and going to car races.

One of my Dad's favourite racers, Mario Andretti, once said this, "Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek." It is words like this that have shaped and moulded who I am and how I approach life, and I have asked and navigated questions of what determination, commitment, excellence, and success look like in our current reality. What does it actually mean to commit to something, in a day when we toss almost anything for the next great thing? What does it look like to pursue something 100% without it become an idol in your life, or something that is unhealthy? How do we measure success?

Most of these questions, I have found, lend their answers to circumstances and individuals, but as I navigate this current season of my life I want to look particularly at one of them. What does it look like to commit to something and how do we do this effectively?

Like many others, I have often fallen prey to good marketing. I have everything I need - times ten, and yet a commercial, informercial, or even an ad on the side of a website can easily catch my eye and tell me what I do not have and need! I have made countless purchases because of this. A few of those purchases were for workout programs. I would buy the program, and do the workouts. Yet, for some reason unknown to me I never saw any results, and concluded that such programs were a SCAM.

Even with that conclusion drawn, I purchased yet another program not much more than a month ago. But there was a significant difference this time around, and it all had to do with commitment. I have no problem deciding I want to go for something, and committing to it...for a day or so...maybe even a week. But if you are like me, you know that it is easy to get sidetracked. So what has made this time around different?

1) Community
       This time I decided what I wanted to do, I put forward my first step of commitment (day one), and on day two when I was sore and would rather have slept in...I continued. Why? I continued because I had a community (in my case a closed Facebook group) that knew what I had committed to and followed up with me. They encouraged, supported, challenged, inspired, and taught me.

2) Goals
       In this group, we set goals. Long term ones (ex. I want to fit into this particular outfit), and short term ones (ex. I want to commit to getting up at 7am each morning this week to do my workouts). Some seemed distant and even impossible, and others were small and easily achievable. We defined why we were doing what we were doing. These things gave us vision and purpose.

3) Planning
       We set ourselves up for success before failure was an option. We did not dive head into the program without first setting our goals, asking our why's, and preparing our plan of attack. We made meal plans, and learned how to overcome struggles we would face.

I believe that these are some of the key reasons why I went from a decision, to a commitment, to finally SUCCESS.

So for those of you reading these words, may I encourage/challenge/inspire you to decide to commit, surrounded by these three things. I think this is applicable to any area of our lives (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually). So let's not commit to the pattern of our old ways any more. This time, surround yourself with community that will hold you accountable to your journey. Be vulnerable with them, give them 100% of who you are. Set goals of where you want to go and how you're going to get there...and then let your community know. If you keep these things to yourself it is much easier to deny that you ever made them in the first place when you struggle and/or fail. The beautiful thing in community, is that when we struggle and when we fail they will help pick us back up and help guide us back to the right path. Finally, set yourself up for success before failure is even an option. Make a plan and stick with it. When you struggle or fail, learn from it, then get back to your plan stronger for knowing where your weaknesses are and how you can combat them.

We're in this together, friends. Press on!