This week has been pretty exhausting. I’ve only exercised 3 days which just made it that much worse. On Friday, I dragged myself to the gym for what I thought would be thirty lonesome minutes of riding the stationary bike. I was dreading it but knew, after only working out twice this week, I had to go. To my surprise Dr. Osula was already in the bike room.
On Mondays and Wednesday’s, there’s a spin class at the gym and with the recent low temps and rain, I started going occasionally. I met Dr. Osula in that class and he is always chipper and smiling so I was pleased to see a biking companion on this dreary afternoon! After an exchange of hellos and high fives we decided to have our own structured spin class. I told him that I’ve been lifting light weights during the easier part of biking and he told me he’s been pretending to climb mountains to make it harder. We incorporated both of those techniques into what turned into a fun, encouraging, and tough 45 minute spin class.
I share all of this with you so that I can brag on what a wonderful and Godly human being Dr. Osula is. I’ve only just met him, but what an impression he leaves! We talked about everything from travel to positive attitudes and I learned so much in just that short amount of time. He shared with me how he stays positive no matter what and how our mood and mind follows our thinking and words. We discussed negative people, positive people, sick people, healthy people and everything in between. He really encouraged me to continue changing and growing with the Lord.
The next morning I went with Janey’s church to Birmingham to serve lunch at a homeless shelter. Honestly, I went only because I wanted to be there for Janey and have the chance to help others together, but I also wanted to get my little brother, Jacob there. He has been making poor choices and I wanted him to see how helping others can help. I met quite a few people there but can’t share their names. Jacob played the guitar while the men ate lunch and Janey served food in the line. There were quite a few helpers so my job ended up being just to mingle-which is perfect for me! Afterwards, I volunteered to wash the pots; {the young-uns weren’t too quick to volunteer for that one} which is easy for me thanks to all my food service experience from college. A man we will call Chuck helped me and I asked home what brought him here. He said he just works at different shelters around town, but that wasn’t enough for me. After prying, I found out that he had “served some time” and if he works at the shelters for a certain period of time, he is able to get an apartment. He said, after that, he wants to find a wife and settle down. Now, I am always awkward when trying to tell people about God because I don’t want to sound cheesy or superficial, and I especially don’t want to scare them away! But talking to Chuck was easy! I told him he should work on a relationship with God before trying to find a wife or he will end up lonely (and probably broke, knowing women) and I continued to tell him about Church of the Highlands. He asked me how long I had been going to church and it’s the first time in my life I realized that I have always gone to church, but never felt connected until the Church of the Highlands. Thankfully, my parents had us in church a lot when I was younger but I kind of just went through the motions. Now, I feel like each Sunday, I gain a better understanding of life and a purpose. Hopefully, I convinced Chuck to try out the Church of the Highlands, but once again, I was surprised to learn about myself while trying to learn about someone else’s life story. It’s these hidden blessings that keep finding me when I least expect it that help me remember to love people above everything else.
The next morning I went with Janey’s church to Birmingham to serve lunch at a homeless shelter. Honestly, I went only because I wanted to be there for Janey and have the chance to help others together, but I also wanted to get my little brother, Jacob there. He has been making poor choices and I wanted him to see how helping others can help. I met quite a few people there but can’t share their names. Jacob played the guitar while the men ate lunch and Janey served food in the line. There were quite a few helpers so my job ended up being just to mingle-which is perfect for me! Afterwards, I volunteered to wash the pots; {the young-uns weren’t too quick to volunteer for that one} which is easy for me thanks to all my food service experience from college. A man we will call Chuck helped me and I asked home what brought him here. He said he just works at different shelters around town, but that wasn’t enough for me. After prying, I found out that he had “served some time” and if he works at the shelters for a certain period of time, he is able to get an apartment. He said, after that, he wants to find a wife and settle down. Now, I am always awkward when trying to tell people about God because I don’t want to sound cheesy or superficial, and I especially don’t want to scare them away! But talking to Chuck was easy! I told him he should work on a relationship with God before trying to find a wife or he will end up lonely (and probably broke, knowing women) and I continued to tell him about Church of the Highlands. He asked me how long I had been going to church and it’s the first time in my life I realized that I have always gone to church, but never felt connected until the Church of the Highlands. Thankfully, my parents had us in church a lot when I was younger but I kind of just went through the motions. Now, I feel like each Sunday, I gain a better understanding of life and a purpose. Hopefully, I convinced Chuck to try out the Church of the Highlands, but once again, I was surprised to learn about myself while trying to learn about someone else’s life story. It’s these hidden blessings that keep finding me when I least expect it that help me remember to love people above everything else.
If this girl can do it, after all she saw and experienced, surely I can too!
