To The Moon
You’ve likely heard the joke about the arrogant man who took God to task. He looked up into the heavens and declared, "I can do what you can do! I can create a person out of dust! I understand the systems of life and science!"
God accepted the offer.
"All right," He said. "Let's see what you can do." The man reached down and took a handful of dirt. But before the man could go further, God interrupted him. "I thought you said you could do what I did." "I can." "Then," God instructed, "Get your own dirt.”
Dirt. We are dust, and God has compassion on that.
But somewhere along the way, we tend to bring God down to our level. We want to see eye-to-eye, right? We think we know better.
Our plans are so much more important.
Our words carry so much meaning.
Our influence is critical.
Our presence is necessary.
Our skin needs loving (and others need to know how perfectly comfortable we are in it.)
At PrayFit, we try to see health and illness through the Gospel’s lens and that changes everything. Grace motivates us, humbles us, comforts us and sends us.
In our own way, unique to our vocation, we seek to fund special needs ministry. That’s it. From local respite programs, schools supplies, beach days and dances, we just want to set our eyes on that. Part of our effort will be to fund the collection, restoration and distribution of wheelchairs and we seek to serve the folks at Joni and Friends, the leader in disability ministry around the globe.
TO THE MOON
Gina Spivey of Calvary Community Church once wrote, “When we look at those around us affected by disability, we see people who experience true happiness. At our respite program we get to see our VIP kids dance and sing, while we feel the unquestionable cheer exuding from them. It is enough joy to send a rocket to the moon. The gratification is pure. The bliss is guttural. I am quite sure there is not a room in the world that holds as much happiness.”
Some of you made the sacrifice of time, talents and treasures last week by taking part or donating to The 3rd Annual PrayFit Run to help be a resource to Gina and team. Well….
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
For our part, the gym, studio, box, track, road and the pool are all merely tools we use to put our faith to work. Whether it’s for a local group of families that need to have a blast at respite or a child in need of his first wheelchair in Uganda, I hope you join us. If you’ve yet to watch our story, please do. And if you feel God is calling you to help, you can join the body or simply DONATE monthly to the cause.
But because I’m usually shy about exposing my feelings and expressing my mind, allow me to be transparent. We need generous warriors to come alongside us. We need battle-tested, frail, dependent, broken, grace addicts. We need you. We don’t want sugar. We need salt.
Rest assured, we’re not so concerned with how confident we are in our skin, our “self love,” our PR’s, or if we’re “enough.” We’re on a mission; one you won’t find in the mirror, but in the dirt. We don’t want success but significance. We want our breath to speak to more than merely good and mindful upkeep. We want our health or illness - our striving and our suffering - to last long after the care fades.
Like my sweet preacher, the late Henry Powell would say, “Jimmy boy! Let’s do what we can. Let’s do all that we can. And let’s do it now.” I agree preacher man. How far is it to the moon?
- Jimmy Peña
photo credit: @jakeschaefflerphoto
T-Minus
More and more thoughtful and godly individuals are coming alongside our effort to serve communities. Featured here in our newest RISE T is Brittnei Miller, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Vanguard University of Southern California. You will likely hear and see more of Brittnei here at PrayFit as she helps us prepare this rocket ship, but when she’s not educating students in environmental matters, she’s leading people in live workouts to help them stay healthy inside and out. You can find her on Instagram at @brittneirae.
photo credit: @jakeschaefflerphoto
