Breath, Stretch

“Breathe in, ‘Our Father, Who art in Heaven…’ breath out, ‘Hallowed by thy name…’ breathe in, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…’ breathe out. How long have I been in the water? It seems like ten hours…it has only been 45 seconds. Awesome. Okay. Here we go.”

One mile of laps in the pool, while reciting the Lord’s Prayer at least 100 times and I finished. You see, I am not the best at praying, especially when I am exerting some sort of physical energy that is cutting off my oxygen supply. So, I resort to prayers and Scripture I know. To be honest, that is how I ended up memorizing The Lord’s Prayer, because I couldn’t take a copy of it with me in the pool (and because I didn't have the stamina to make one up of my own).

At the end of my time in Bulgaria, B-Sue gave me this assignment to write myself a letter with my prayers and goals for the upcoming year. I had done things like this before, but never took it seriously to heart. I meant to write things down but it was too overwhelming and I would have much rather have spent my time with friends that I wouldn’t see again for a long while. Instead, this time, I wanted it to stick. I wanted to write something meaningful to myself.

My note was not was not anything long or complicated. It was, more or less, a list of things I was hoping to accomplish. Prayers and dreams I feared I wouldn’t accomplish, so I tried to play off as not a big deal, even though it was. Over time, I forgot what I had written. My life continued. I got dragged into the insanity of school, as it was my senior year of college.

Then, one day I got a letter in the mail with very familiar handwriting. My letter had finally come and I was nervous to open it. I went upstairs to my bedroom in the attic and sat on my mattress that rested on the floor. I opened it and saw a simple list of about five things. Number one was finding exercise as a form of worship. Did I do what I planned? I thought back to my time since coming home to the States and couldn’t seem to pinpoint if and when I accomplished this goal.

My mind quickly shifted back to my nights in Bulgaria. Every night, just as B-Sue spent her mornings on the balcony, I spent my nights on the same balcony. I looked out at the city. And breathed. And stretched. And yearned for the people I had met and those I had not. And breathed. And stretched. And thought of the moments of the day that had passed. And breathed. And stretched. And thought to identify God in each of my teammates and students. And breathed….and stretched….and laid down to look at the stars. The same stars every night, recognizing the individual constellations.

Years later, I am in a hot yoga class; claiming my usual extreme left back corner of the room to go as unnoticed as possible, a cross stationed right in front of me next to the end of the giant mirror. That is my focus. My class is finished before I realize it. My muscles ache and sweat is dripping from my nose, but my breathing is smooth, I feel new. I feel alive, the overwhelming stress of life at least momentarily taken from me and I thank God for this body that I never have been thankful for before.

You see, it wasn’t this extra or complicated act of meeting with God while I worked out. Instead it was purely recognizing God in the midst of something I used to abuse; allowing God to reclaim me, to shape me into something new time after time.

Now it is your turn. Take time to think about how you have been deconstructed over time and rebuilt. Share your stories. What has God reclaimed in your life or something you want to witness God reclaim?

Isaiah 43:18-19 <3