I had fallen short with everything that I had decided to do. When I told Father this, he just laughed! Maybe I had something on my face, but I’m pretty sure he had heard that same thing more than once that day. What I realized is that Lent isn’t supposed to be easy.

There are many parallels we can draw between this coach’s dedication to building a strong foundation for long-term success and our lives. Whether our goals this year are to improve our physical or mental health, dive deeper into our relationship with God, or achieve a major dream, we must approach them differently.

By our crosses, we learn to rely on God more fully.

I had a good life; I was a good kid. But the battle I faced with depression filled me with shame. It was exhausting to pretend I was fine, joyful and the bubbly life of the party when I was really crying myself to sleep several nights a week.

I realized that day that I need to stop HATING CORONA! I need to love the virus.

I learned to take the focus off me. I was afraid of messing up, stumbling, mispronouncing words, and embarrassing myself. I was standing up to read the Word of God and all that I could think about was myself.

Shame is not truth. Truth is giving it to God and accepting the mercy that He longs to give us. Truth is choosing to let go of shame.

If you work out, think about making your workout a Prayer Workout for someone who is struggling. If you want to work out but lack motivation, then try a Prayer Workout and do it for someone else.