Today we're going to talk about how do our daily choices and daily routines show us what we're walking towards and what we're choosing to walk away from?

Welcome to Faith Filled Living, the podcast for women who want to find joy again, grow closer to God, and rediscover the woman he created you to be.

I'm your host, Kristin Fitch.

Each week you'll find encouragement, honest conversations, biblical perspective, and practical tools to help you experience more joy, purpose, and peace in everyday life.

Because the woman God created you to be is still there, and it's never too late to come alive to the life he created you to live.

Okay, so I read someone's post, I think, a couple days ago, and it was basically about their older neighbor that was that would get up at 5:15 every morning and walk a woman.

And anyway, so the post is explaining, you know, that the younger neighbor, maybe she's 15 years younger or maybe 20 years younger, she always thought, my goodness, she's dedicated and it's early when she gets up.

And so she finally had a chance to talk to her neighbor.

And the older neighbor said, well, you know, when I was 62, the doctor told me if I wasn't careful, then I was going to have.

I don't know if she used brittle bones or osteo, whatever, whichever one it was, but basically she needed to be more active, right?

And she needed to use her body more.

But the whole point is that she explained, the older woman explained to the younger woman why she cared.

And the reason was, is she said, I know too many people that as they got older, their world got smaller.

Right?

And that hit me right there because it's so true.

Now, this can happen to us at any age.

How many people feel isolated or lonely today, even when they physically can maybe do everything, we sadly live in a world where while we're more connected than ever with our phones and computers and devices, it can keep us from actually being out in the world with other people.

But my point of talking about this is when the older woman said she doesn't want her world to get smaller as she gets older.

In other words, she wants to live and have vitality.

Well, it got me thinking, what are you walking towards?

In other words, what is the objective out on the horizon?

What's the goals you're moving towards?

And then what are you saying no to?

And why does this matter?

Well, it matters for a multitude of reasons.

One reason is if as you age and this doesn't matter if you're 30 or you're 65 right now, or give or take another, you know, 10 or 20 years.

Do you want to be in your best possible health at any age?

Because if we have vitality, no matter how young or old we are, we can do more, right?

We can.

We can go places and see beautiful things.

We can explore the world, or we can just show up for the people we love.

And as we get older, if we are in better health, we also will not.

We won't have to have people, at least for very long, take care of us.

And so what is.

What are the things, right, that are important to you that you're walking towards?

In other words, that you're making a priority in your life.

Life.

And for some of us, we're so busy that we're not looking beyond today or this month, right?

We might just be focused on, like, I'm just trying to figure out what's going to get on the table for dinner tonight or how I'm going to pay this extra medical bill or.

Or what am I going to do now that I have more free time.

But we want to look forward.

You want to look to the future, because when we do that, we can make daily choices that add up and just to stay on the health idea for a minute.

So I am in my early 40 50s.

Excuse me.

And one of the things that I have learned over the last decade is as you are getting a little bit older, meaning that you're not 18 or 25, you learn that you want to keep using your body because as you get older, a lot of people don't sit on the ground, they don't squat.

They may not have a lot of flexibility or they can't get up off the ground.

And so I try to incorporate things of some people that I follow, but they talk about how you want to be using your body.

In other words, the more you act like a child with your movements, the more you do functional things, the more you're going to keep those abilities.

So I try to make sure that I. I get into a squat sitting position.

I will do, like, rolls on the ground, and then you go into a crawling type position.

But I'll do different things.

There's like a one where you kind of kick up, like, as if you're about to go do a.

Maybe a. I don't know if it's a back bend or what it's called.

You could do cartwheels, whatever it might be.

And I'm not saying if you're not doing any of this, you should just go start, obviously, you have to assess where you're at and then add in things that are at your ability.

But the more we keep doing things, the more we're going to keep it.

And I think what happens is for a lot of us, once we're not children, we stop doing the things children do, right?

They play on the ground and they get up quickly and they run and they laugh and they skip.

But as we get older, we often don't do as many of these things.

And then we wonder why we can't do them anymore.

Well, it's because we're not using our bodies in as many ways.

And we're not.

They're like children are not trying to exercise.

They're just joyfully moving throughout their day because they're able to.

Well, a lot of us, I think, have lost that.

And while today's episode is not just about movement, it's about, you know, what are you moving towards, what are your priorities, and are you actually doing things daily to.

To move towards that?

It's also what do you want to move away from?

Meaning if you want to be healthy as you get older, then you have to do the things now to keep you healthy.

Maybe it's that you want to leave a bigger legacy, right, for your family or just future generations.

Because of course, the Bible talks to us about this, but we have to be thinking of it now so that we're doing things right.

We're leaving things, or we're writing things, or we're building things, planting tree, a tree, whatever it might be, that will be for our children's children or generations to come.

And so I just thought that that woman walking every day at 5:15 is so that she has the future she wants.

We can't wait 20 years and go, well, why?

Why is this not how I want it to be?

We have to plant the seeds today and tomorrow and the next day to build on the foundation that we want that will give us health or vitality or will give us, help us leave something for future generations.

And so I did want to share some scriptures just about this idea.

And a lot of it is on building something for future generations or a legacy and, or multiplying what God's entrusted us to.

And by that is the better mental and physical health we're in, the longer we'll be able to show up and partner with God and do what he's calling us to do.

If we lose our physical or mental health, we aren't going to be able to be used for as long, right, to do good and to serve our communities, to serve our families, and to serve the world.

Right?

To share our gifts and our talents with other people.

So God wants us healthy.

And like I said, it's not that this whole episode is about health, but it is quite important, actually.

Okay.

I want to share a couple quotes and scriptures with you that really speak to what is it that we're calling into our lives, what is it that we're walking towards, and is it what God has for us?

And then I'm also going to share a free resource with you that I think will really help you if you want to dig more into this topic.

Okay, so the first quote that I want to share with you is by Pastor Rick Warren, and it says the greatest tragedy this year would be for you to stand at the edge of your destiny, but to be afraid to enter into all that God has planned for you.

Your obedience and moving forward, to take risks and step out in faith will release God's power in your life.

And this is much about what I said now, not just specifically about health, but it's, are we willing to keep moving forward?

Are we willing to go towards being our best selves?

But by our best selves, I mean getting in the word, spending time with God and then doing things that are going to enrich us to serve and to step into the gifts that God's given us.

That's what we're talking about.

And another quote that I really like is by Emily P. Freeman.

She's an author, a spiritual director, and she says, when we embrace the beauty of our design, when we recognize that he has made us to be unique expressions of Himself, when we receive the gifts he has equipped us with and have the courage to pour them out, we worship.

What else would it be, Right?

And that's the thing, is we don't want our worlds to shrink as we get older or because we are allowing things that aren't helping us, right?

So whether that's that you've just felt more alone, you've felt, you know, uncertain about what you're doing or what's next, or whether it's just because you're not making time to make, to prioritize yourself, right?

Your health, your mental health, you know, connections with other people to a faith community.

And so that's what we're talking about, is we just want to make sure we're prioritizing this.

And I have a workbook that you can go and grab.

It's@kristenfitch.com and it's called Create a Life.

You Love.

But the whole point of this is that as you have time, it's a journaling workbook of lists.

And basically it.

Sorry, I'm just trying to find here.

It has different pages.

It's like, write down what are.

What's important to you?

What are your values and priorities?

What.

What vision do you have for your life?

What do you want to step into?

What is God calling you into?

What are you grateful for?

And then what are your goals in different areas of your life?

What are your health goals?

What are you grateful for?

So it's just there's so many pieces.

What do you need to prune from your life?

But this is a great.

The workbook's a lot of pages.

I don't even know how long it is.

But it's mostly things that you can fill in as you're able.

It has a section that's what are you grateful for today?

What are you praying for?

That you can print those every day.

But it's just a really powerful workbook, and I hope you'll go and grab it.

Like I said, it's completely free.

Just go to KristenFitch.com, go to my workbooks page, and if you scroll down, it's at least halfway down the page.

All right.

And then I want to share this scripture with you.

It's one most of us have heard often.

It's Luke 1:37, and it's for with God, nothing shall be impossible.

But I think when we look at some of these simpler, or when I say simpler, I mean straightforward, short scriptures or part of scripture, I think it just keeps us focused on that God is almighty.

He is powerful, all powerful.

He is working to our benefit in every moment.

Even we can't see it.

And so.

So I just encourage you.

Write down, what are you walking towards?

What are you moving forward towards?

What is the legacy that you're creating or that you want to create for the world or for your family, for the kingdom?

And then what is it that you want to do different?

Right?

Which is kind of like what you're walking towards.

What do you want the next couple decades to look like?

And are you doing the things that you need to do in order to move towards that vision as best that you're able to?

Obviously, at the end of the day, some things are out of our hands, right?

Or out of our circumstances, but we can move towards the thing.

So I want to be like the woman that gets up super early in the morning, and every day she walks because she wants to be able to do things as she gets into her 70s and 80s.

And I want to be that person, too.

Now, I may not get up at that time to walk every day, but I'm doing lots of things to try to strengthen my body, to strengthen my mind, to renew my mind, you know, in Christ, and to deepen my relationships and to keep doing work that matters to other people, but also, you know, fulfills me up and also matters to the kingdom.

So until next time, I hope you have a great week.

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