Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I started my personal training career at Golds Gym Harrisburg. The biggest challenge was to turn this career into a forty hour work week. I started teaching BOOTCAMPS and Silver and Fit classes to build up more hours. I eventually got a job in management as the Group Fitness Director for the gym. I was set; the foundation of one on one training, teaching classes and working in management would give me the forty hours I needed to sustain this career.
My career as a personal trainer was taking off until the owners of the gym decided to close the gym down without a lot of notice. The same week the frame on my truck cracked. It felt like my whole world was crumbling. I was trying my best to keep it together. There were still clients I wanted to keep so I had to figure something out. I asked one of my clients to meet me a different gym so I could train him until I figure out what I was going to do. I pulled my bike out from the attic to begin riding to the gym to meet my client only to realize the tires were flat and I had no pump. I ended up riding to the gym on the rims of the bike. I got to the gym, trained my client and then went to Sheetz to get air in my tires.
I ended up on Eisenhower Blvd riding up this huge hill to part time job I had picked up when I got a call from my buddy DK. I told him I feel like I reached my breaking point. He quoted the scripture Jeremiah 29:11. He said that God was trying to redirect my path and I had to submit to the purpose He has for my life.
As I rode up the hill it felt like my mind was riding out of doubt and into faith. The next day I called Golds Gym Linglestown and asked if they were hiring trainers. The owner of the gym, Dianne Czupil, was there and she said she had heard about me. She brought me in for an interview and hired me to teach classes, train, and be the Group Fitness Director at another gym she owned in Camp Hill. Three years later I was Harrisburg Magazine Trainer of the year and two years after that I opened my own gym.
We all face opposition and adversity in life. It makes us feel like we are going backwards but we may just be being redirected and/or developed for a higher calling. Next time you face any opposition in life keep in mind that it not here to break you down but to build you up.
I see my personal training as my ministry so I take Jeremiah 29:11 into it. People come to me with goals of bettering their health by developing strength and endurance. When we start to develop these things the workouts are tough. People often feel like I am breaking them down when I am building them up. It's the ones that push through that breaking point that always get the best results. So, the next time you want to stop and give up keep pushing because the other side of your breaking point lies your blessing.
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