If It Matters to Me, It Matters to God

From vacation week to vacation week, I officially showed up every single week in between for an entire year. 🏋🏽‍♀️ That means even in the summer heat, even when I didn’t feel great, even when I took work trips, even when the kids were sick, even when I had big deadlines, even when my husband was away, even when it felt like it wasn’t “working”… I literally took all the common reasons I’ve struggled to stay on track in the past and proved to myself that it is, in fact, possible for me to commit to this. For someone who struggles to finish even a 9-day novena, this is huge and it fostered other areas of discipline in my life as a result.

About a year ago, I made a commitment to myself that it was time to focus on my health. I didn’t even really know what to expect, and I had no real timeline or objectives, but I knew it was time to just “show up.” I didn’t know at the time what the year would bring, but after 15 years of having babies and overcoming other major physical obstacles (like a fatal car accident where I had to relearn everything, including how to walk), I knew it was time to make a bigger commitment to myself. Plus, I wanted to become a “real” gym-goer. I’ve always been an athlete, and it’s true what they say, you can’t really take that out of yourself!

I have been at Verse on and off since its doors opened in 2016, but never like this. I cannot explain what it now means to me, what my choices in the gym have done for me, and how the year developed me inside and out. I love learning new things, I love challenging myself, I love tuning out all the other things in my life, and I love testing limits. I have always wanted to live in a way that did not reflect the massive physical limitations the accident had the potential to place on my life. I wanted to defy those odds. I also love that it makes living regular life much easier- things like playing football with my sons on vacation, carrying my toddler around everywhere I go, climbing flights of stairs, kneeling, bathing kids, etc. I want to always be a mom who “can.”

A couple months ago, I spoke at a women’s night and, usually, people introduce me by my story: mom of five, survived an accident, stories of loss, maybe my work or leadership background.

This time though, she said: “And I heard she is a beast at CrossFit…”

I mean… I about passed out. 😂 Had I finally earned this? What a compliment.

But honestly, it did more than make me laugh. It rewrote a little narrative for me that I’ve quietly wanted rewritten for a long time. For many years, I often introduced myself internally by the things that happened to me. Things I survived, things I carried, things I lost, what slowed me down, what I was recovering from, dreams I have not yet accomplished. And while those things are true, they are not the whole story. I don’t know if “beast” is technically accurate 😂 but I’ll tell you this… hearing that healed something small and sacred inside me.

Fostering the habit of discipline is not just about the gym either. It became more than just a physical change, as I also committed to a weekly holy hour and more frequent Confession, finally bought a new journal, started physical therapy for nervous system regulation, and began pouring into a book for months that’s challenged me more than any other spiritual book I’ve ever read. Disciplining one area usually helps with them all.

This post has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that this is possible. I am proof. For one whole year, I showed up. It has been a long time since I did something like that for myself and for the ones I love.

And honestly, I loved God’s accompaniment in the journey. I love that if it’s important to me, it’s important to God.

Not because He is keeping score of my lifts or handing out medals for consistency, but because He cares about ME. And if He cares about me, then yes… He cares about the things shaping me, too. Even things like a hang clean PR or bench pressing more than I thought I could. Not because those numbers define me, but because He delights in the growth, discipline, and stewardship happening underneath them.

I have absolutely nothing to sell, nothing to market, and nothing to convince you of. But, like brides nowadays post all their vendors (which I love), here are my top 10 disciplines from the year in case this summer you want to dive in, too:

🙏🏼: St. Mary Magdalen Adoration Chapel (especially Mondays and Thursdays)
🤍: The Sacrament of Confession (actually had one of the most profound revelations of my life in Confession this past year!)
💪🏼: Verse Fitness and Performance (and enter your stats daily because it’s worth seeing your progress)
📖: I Believe in Love, a personal retreat based on the teachings of St. Thérèse
🥙🥓🍳: Most frequently used items: LMNT packets, cottage cheese, sweet & white potatoes, meats, beef sticks, eggs, and dinner leftovers for breakfast
💊: Magnesium, creatine, collagen, Vitamin D, Omegas
📱: Reclaim more of your time and thoughts by getting a Brick at getbrick.com
☀️: Sun and sunsets… especially with the kids outside playing
🕙: Time chunking and checklists, especially if working from home
🛒: Grocery deliveries + dinner planning keep us on budget, save my time, and save my sanity (a 2026 luxury essential, I know)

Anyway. That’s the year.

Nothing dramatic. Just a lot of ordinary showing up, and a God who cared about all of it.