In my previous post, I challenged
everyone to develop a plan that would aid them in conquering the Christmas
holiday. However, I must now admit to you that there was a flaw in my own plan
and hope everyone can learn from my mistake. I like doing my cardio workouts at
the local Planet Fitness; one of the perks they offer is that membership is
valid at any of the Planet Fitness locations. There just happens to be one in
my hometown, which makes working out very convenient while I am home and
especially for the holidays. For two weeks I have seen the Holiday Hours
notification posted on the door of my local Planet Fitness stating that they
will be closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve. Instead of heeding my own advice and
my own internal warnings, I allowed myself to assume that this must be a corporate-wide
announcement. Therefore, I persuaded myself that I did not need to contact the
Planet Fitness in my hometown about their hours on Christmas Eve.
I arrived at the Planet Fitness in
my hometown about five minutes after noon, only to discover that they had
closed five minutes prior. My heart sank, here I was, and in need of a cardio
workout and they were closed. The sign indicated that they had been open since
7 o’clock that morning and it was completely my fault that I had not contacted
them about their hours. In a moment of despair I sent up a prayer of desperation
to God pleading that He helps me find somewhere to get in a workout on
Christmas Eve. I texted my pastor to see if he knew anywhere I could workout,
since he was only one of two people that I could think of in my hometown that
exercises on a regular basis. Then I thought, wait, there is another gym in
this town and as I sped down the main stretch of the city I hoped aloud that
they would be open, and feel some sort of compassion for me.
Pulling into the parking lot of
Perfect Body, my spirit quickly moved from desperate to devastated quicker than
I realized was possible. Perfect Body had not even opened on Christmas Eve,
which I cannot blame them for that, but now what was I to do? As I rode out of
the parking lot, I began to think how I might fill this additional time in my
schedule. Having no destination in mind I began driving east towards the city’s
bypass, trying to stomach the feeling of defeat. I pulled up to a stoplight,
having two hotels on my left and one on my right, the thought occurred to me
that hotels typically have a gym in them. I knew the one on my right did not
have a gym because I had previously stayed in that hotel during a previous trip
home; however, the other hotels on my left just may have a gym.
As I turn into the first hotel, I
uttered another prayer under my breath which greatly resembled the previous
prayer from when I was sitting in the Planet Fitness parking lot. Once inside,
I met Tabatha, the front desk clerk of this hotel to whom I explained the
events of the previous thirty minutes, my desire to work out if they have a
gym, and my willingness to pay her a small sum to do so. She looks at me with a
very gracious smile and says, “Its Christmas,
you don’t have to pay me anything to work out here. The gym is right there,
enjoy!” I hastily park my vehicle and entered the gym. God’s faithfulness is
completely, irrefutably unfailing, the gym of this hotel had the exact three
machines I use at Planet Fitness to complete my cardio workouts; a treadmill, a
stationary bike, and an elliptical. I was able to complete my workout and met
two people whom God may have had every intention on me meeting in the first
place; an elderly man from the Shenandoah Valley and Tabatha, and I did not
miss the opportunity to minister.
Again, thank you for coming along on
this journey with me and I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. As of the
writing of this post, I have gotten rid of 115 pounds.
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