Beltway Women

Journey to Health  It is true "a picture is worth a thousand words."  June is officially my Trimaversary month. After having my 6th baby at 40 I began the battle of the bulge. I counted points, carbs, low fat, packaged meals and nothing kept me motivated. I was addicted to sugar and carbohydrates and was a stress eater. My motto was, "life is short hit the dessert bar first." I lost and gained the same 30 pounds too many times to count. My last attempt to lose weight was in 2011 when my son and two of my daughters were getting married within 10 months of each other. Yep, you guessed it, I lost my infamous 30 pounds. That was May 2011, by May 2013 I was back at my comfy weight of 244 pounds and I was in my 60's. Thus began my thought process, "I'm in my 60's who am I kidding?  I'm not going to be able to lose weight any more, so why not just be content?"  I was, for the most part, content. I no longer looked at myself in a mirror and hate...

The following is a testimony from one of our regular REFIT® members who has been a part of REFIT® from the very beginning in August of 2015.  Valerie Thompson and her older daughter Adeleigh are amazing and continue to join the amazing fitness community at REFIT®.      Honestly, I wasn't very interested in Refit until I saw that you could bring your older daughter. I hate working out in front of people, needing to arrange childcare, and paying money for something I could do for free at home. It just always seemed like so much work to do something you can do at home. However, I believe deeply in following a healthy lifestyle and I am always looking for ways to instill this in my children.   Adeleigh loves to dance and I loved the fact that it had Christian music and would provide a safe community for her. I wanted to surround her with a safe environment to let loose, dance, and "workout" at the same time without it actually being viewed as work. I...

It’s a new year, a new you…right? Isn’t that what is supposed to happen? The new year comes along, and it’s supposed to be a chance to start over and make things better, or so they say. Honestly, 2016 has started out pretty rough for me! So far, my husband injured his finger, my mother-in-law fell and broke her femur, my husband got an infection in his eye, our dog died and the very next day my parents were in a car accident that sent my mom to the ER. So far, we’ve made three trips back to Kerrville, only one of them was planned. We don’t usually make it back home that many times in a six month period – AND IT’S ONLY JANUARY!!! I know I am not the only one who feels that it would be so very easy to get caught up in all the negative and let it overwhelm me. I see the posts everyday on Facebook, in the news, and hear it from the patients who come into my office – 2016 and life in general have been rough for so many people. James 1:2 says we should “ Count it all joy, my brothers,...

God is AWESOME!!! I've been thinking about starting a blog for a few months now, but instead asked DeAnna if I could add this to our women's blog.  I have to start off my blog by saying God is AWESOME and He is amazing.  It has been a very difficult journey for me the past past year, starting in January when I decided to make a change and give my all to God.  I have been stretched and pushed beyond my wildest dreams.  I have been brought to the point of breaking multiple times.  I have failed miserably and disappointed others.  I have sinned and made mistakes.  I have lashed out, spoken in anger, and hurt people's feelings.  YET in all of this, in ALL of this I still know I am God's daughter.  Oh how amazing God's grace is and His mercy.  My flesh, my personal self, has failed in so many ways.  The more I lean on my own strength and determination the further and further I fall.  Over the past year I have faced the ...

Get REFIT®  at Beltway Hello, Our names are Leah Hammett and Lisa Tickner! We have been asked by Deanna to write a blog post to explain a little more about "Get REFIT®  at Beltway," and our heart behind how this all got started… Leah Hammett and Family First of all, Lisa and I have a love for dance fitness! We were both runners before, and would often run together. After years of running we joined a dance fitness community here in Abilene and have loved the community and the non-stop fun that we have when we workout! We have an hour of dancing and fun while burning calories…what more could you ask for, right? Lisa Tickner and Family This past February, after a prompting from the Lord, Lisa and I started brainstorming faith based dance cardio programs. In doing so we came across REFIT®! REFIT®  was founded in Waco, Texas. Three women with a heart for faith, dance, and fitness created a dance cardio program that focuses on the whole person: Body, Mind ...

SHAPE Testimony Mindy Horne   The Shape Retreat is where I had confirmation on what the Lord was calling me to do. Several years ago the call went out at Beltway for anyone interested in helping with Grief Ministry, called Side by Side. As soon as I read this I felt my heart leap with excitement and fear of not being equipped. I struggled with what my heart was telling me to do, yet signed up to help anyway, trusting God would show me the way. That was in August or September; October came with the Shape Retreat. God clearly showed me at SHAPE what His plans for me were...to comfort the broken hearted and to help others walk in a healthy way in the midst of grief.  Seven years later, not only has God equipped, but He has grown me in wisdom and empowered me to be courageous in the most difficult times for those that are broken hearted.  I am blessed!  

SHAPE Testimony Jennifer Hartley   I first attended the SHAPE retreat 2 years ago.  Before, I had a pretty good idea of my gifts/talents, but going to the retreat, hearing the teachings and testimonies and completing the inventories and surveys really gave me confidence that I was on the right track! I have since been able to plug in and find places of service to use my giftings at Beltway Park!  I also made connections with new friends and have walked in relationship with them ever since!