The Student Body
In preparing for the upcoming fall lectures and courses within PrayFit U, the team is inspecting what we’re expecting, while I am doing my homework. As we prepare to enroll the first class of The Student Body, I’m knee-deep, preparing myself for group studies and my one-on-ones with you.
Sure, the exercise physiology and nutrition time together will make office hours fun, but it’s The School of Grace and Suffering that I’m most excited about. The lectures are intense. It’s where I will probably be spending most of my time. It’s home. Workouts are worship - yes - but suffering is a sermon.
From Spurgeon, to Joni, to Tozer, to Tripp, I am being poured over by giants in the field. Funny, I came to Los Angeles initially to work for a man who was the best in the world at showing off muscle. Now all I want to do is serve those that can’t move a one.
With proceeds from each college to benefit those impacted by special needs through The Body and The Wheelhouse, we are gearing up for a really neat semester. And the the gift we have for trainers and dietitians is a dream come true.
CLARITY
Alistair Begg once said that suffering can clarify things like nothing else can. He’s so right. In fact, when I wrote Extra Lean for Mario Lopez, we had an amazing time educating millions of people on the importance of practical, balanced eating. I remember sitting off-stage on shows like Ellen and The Today Show watching him masterfully deliver his lines. If you can picture me at the curtain’s edge, you’d see me mouthing his next sentence with a grin. And although our book made “the list” and we skyrocketed to publishing’s Cooperstown, I was still pretty fuzzy on my purpose. Success did not bring clarity. It was actually disorienting in ways.
A few years later, I’m in the green room of Regis and Kelly with another friend of mine waiting for our time to be on stage, when Kelly Ripa walked in and asked if her dress was too short. A few in the room thundered, “No!” She looked great, don’t get me wrong, but I reluctantly nodded, “Yes.” She thanked me and eventually changed her dress. Great rooms are often the wrong ones.
Moments like that were mile markers on the road to significance. I’ve made too many mistakes in my life. I battle demons of sin, regret and shame, but grace taught my heart to fear.
Fast-forward to yesterday. I’m in a closet-turned-sound room downstairs in my condo. Those aforementioned awards and accolades are uprooted and somewhere in a box in the garage. Sound-proofing, microphone, script taped on the walls, I am completely alone. Not even an echo challenges me. My team is around the city, the state and the world while I deliver content to 50,000 email subscribers along with context for a tired “faith & fitness” genre. I’ve been where everyone wants to go, but it’s a dead end. (For the fitness expert, that may offend you now, but it will make sense someday.)
Fitness, even if under the guise of faith may not develop character or perseverance, maturity or humility, but suffering will. Fitness may not keep us on track or deepen our insight to God, but suffering can. And you can bet your sweet month of June on this…fitness will reveal what you love, especially when you lose it, leaving God’s glory in its wake.
- Jimmy Peña
PrayFit was born in the fertile landscape of ability but uprooted by the blessing of adversity. The motto of PrayFit Ministries has always been, "We Are The Body." This education center is the natural extension of that mission. Dedicated to excellence in 'higher' education with the mandate to serve those with disabilities, PrayFit U is the field's most accomplished and seasoned coalition, building the most complete array of grace-based curriculum anywhere. Join The Student Body.