This is the time of year when nostalgia starts to creep in. Side note: it still amazes me a bit to see Christmas ads and decorations available so far in advance of Christmas, like they were all up front at Sam's Club last week ... is it just me???

But, I digress :) We start to think about holiday feasts, family travel plans, and even yes, what gifts we'd like under the tree this year. And with that – at least for me anyway – I start to think about the plans I had for 2015, how many of them came to fruition and how many did not.  How many surprise blessings came my way and how many hard lessons I had to learn – and how I can do better in 2016.

For a recovering perfectionist, those are tough questions to ponder. What I love about our team though, is that despite the fact that we aren’t part of a mega-fitness brand or featured on late night infomercials, despite our long hours and 7 part-time jobs (ok maybe not really but it sure feels that way many days!) - the quality of our work and the sincerity of our intentions shines through – even in our short-comings, we are always seeking to learn more, do better and grow as individuals and as a team.

That is, we believe, what we are called to do – striving to live out a spirit of excellence, to the best of our ability, in all that we do.

One of the biggest accomplishments of this year was the launch our instructor certification program.  I am still quite honestly in awe of the women who have chosen to become part of our team.  I can’t even explain how many hours we poured into this, never knowing for sure if anyone would care, let alone travel across country to attend our class (yep, our friend Margy flew from all the way from Oregon to our class in Tennessee).

For us this was completely new territory – a complete walk of faith – even though I must say, all of us are certified in “something” (LOL), none of us had ever created a course like this.

How would we set this thing up? How would we get the word out? What if this thing actually started to ... (gulp) grow?? Were we smart enough, talented enough, strong enough to handle what God was sending our way?

How amazing God is!

In just over 2 months, our instructor team is now 18 strong in 7 states and by next year we will host our very first training class at the Siskey YMCA in Charlotte, North Carolina.  We now have several instructors who have signed up for our online training course and by next year we will have instructors not just in the U.S. but internationally as well. 

How amazing God is!

To know that there are people – real, live, loving, talented, faithful people - teaching a class with the company that we created so many years ago … well the word “humbling” just doesn’t even cover it.

So today I say THANK YOU to each and every newly certified Shazzy Instructor – thank you for believing in us, for praying for us, supporting us and loving us.  We are so very blessed that God has brought us together.

We know that the year ahead of us won’t be easy, but we are in store for so much bigger blessings if just we keep our eyes stayed on Him.

Is there anything that you know you are called to do, but not quite sure where to start or worse, you know where to start but are a little too chicken to try?

It's not an easy road. It takes prayer, and family and faith, and prayer. Sometimes, tears too.  Sometimes a LOT of tears.

But if it's your calling... pray for strength ... and don't let the fear stop you from trying.

What is God calling YOU to do?

Romans 1:16