Stronger You in Christ - Stronger Mind, Body, Spirit: Fitness Program with a Purpose, 40-Day Transformation Journey Based on Biblical Principles

By Polita Hartley

How would you like to create a rock-solid foundation in Christ so you are resilient when you face a challenge?

This 40-Day Transformation Journey is a fitness program with a purpose in allowing Jesus to create in you a stronger mind, body, and spirit. It teaches you to have a deeper relationship with Jesus and to be more d

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887387857

Polita Hartley

Polita Hartley has enjoyed a healthy lifestyle and fitness for over thirty-two years and wants toshare with you her motivation by applying God's Word, which helped her get through toughtraining in triathlons, 5K races, 10K races, half marathons, group exercises, and cycling. Learningthe habit of seeking God first and making everything Christ-centered gives you a firm foundationspiritually, mentally, and physically. It's a motivating, good habit-forming approach and provokeshard questions about life values to draw you closer to our Lord as she inspires you with herpersonal life testimony in each season.

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Stronger You

in Christ

Stronger Mind, Body, Spirit

40-Day Transformation Journey

Polita Hartley

The ONE Strong Foundation

Fitness Program with a Purpose Series

Trilogy Christian Publishers

Tustin, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Stronger You in Christ

Copyright © 2023 by Polita Hartley

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 979-8-88738-784-0

ISBN 979-8-88738-785-7 (ebook)

Also by Polita Hartley...

The One Strong Foundation Fitness Program with a Purpose Series consists of:

Stronger You in Christ—helps you create a Solid Foundation in Christ with Stronger Mind, Body, Spirit

Grateful Heart—Attitude of Gratitude with a Grateful Mind, Body, Spirit

New Year New You in Christ—New Mind, Body, and Spirit

Love Like Jesus—Lovely Mind, Body, Spirit

A PDF digital copy can be purchased online at: https://theonestrongfoundation.com/collections/all

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all my loved ones who have health conditions and to all my loved ones who passed due to health conditions:

My parents—Papa Poli and Nanay Lita; Papa Hartley.

My grandparents—Lola Martha, Lolo Damien, Lola Isabella, and Tatay Pito.

Our whole family went back to the Philippines for my grandmother’s funeral in 1992. Two weeks later was a Cinco De Mayo Fiesta. It’s a huge celebration where everyone gets together. Each town decorates with flags and lights hanging all across the streets with Cinco De Mayo Fiesta theme. There are many people in the streets socializing and standing to watch the parades, marching bands, music, and activities. Each town opens up their neighborhoods and anyone is welcome to join and eat. It was magical and the friendliest event because it’s open to all people to walk around to any alley and neighborhood to socialize. My love for bringing people together and uniting people originated from our Filipino culture. God’s nature in loving all people is embedded in our culture.

My dad used to be a police officer, and he was walking around shaking people’s hands and having the best time reconnecting back after all those years he had been gone. He was well respected in our town for being a police officer. It was a small town, and he knew everyone. He was so happy to see everyone since we had not been back in the Philippines for some years.

When he came home from the fiesta, my mom was in the kitchen preparing for dinner. He sat on the couch and I noticed his chest. He was breathing heavily. It was unusual to see his chest puff up with a very deep inhale, then almost struggling to exhale. I said, Mom, why is Dad breathing so deeply? Mom walked to the couch to check on him and the next thing I knew, she screamed loudly, trying to wake him because he had stopped breathing. I saw him take his last three breaths. She told me to go call for help, so I did.

I was seventeen years old when my dad passed from a heatstroke and a heart attack. He had high blood pressure and had a couple of strokes prior to this last one. My dad’s passing traumatized me. It triggered something in me to be mindful of my health at an early age.

As we were going through this rough season of losing my dad, God was there to comfort our whole family. Even though we felt weak as we mourned, God comforted us. We were united together as a family. We knew we had to stick together. God already got us through some hardships when we first migrated to America. This was another season we could endure if we continued to seek Him. Our family was determined to make it work as we resumed life without our Papa.

So we went back to the U.S. and I returned to school. I was a cheerleader in high school, which started my passion for fitness. I had loved being active ever since I was young. I loved everything about cheerleading because I love motivating people, encouraging people, inspiring people, dancing, chanting, and getting people fired-up during the games. I continued on taking many fitness group exercise classes to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Later, as a young mom, I also trained for a lot of various races, such as 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, and triathlons. It’s not about getting trophies, medals, winning, or success. For me, it was the process of going through the training with God that mattered the most. I never did any races before motherhood, so running was all new to me, and I had to learn a lot.

Even though I was slow in running, I liked the training a lot. It was really hard and got me out of my comfort zone. It was challenging, both physically and mentally. It took a while before I started to enjoy it. I had to stay consistent and be in the zone to start liking it. It taught me to be disciplined to wake up and get it done every day. God was teaching me a lesson as I went through the tough training for each race to persevere until I finished the race. I learned to endure the pain and suffering as my body became sore and weak from the long distance of running. My physical body was getting more fatigued, and it was really hard. God was teaching me to keep going as I pushed through the next mile and through the uncomfortable pain in my body and my feet aching.

Sometimes, I would go on an early morning run while it was still dark. I would see the sun rise in the morning as it peaked through the darkness and its ray of light would shine so bright as it radiated through the clouds. The light would create the most beautiful colors within a cotton candy clear sky. The beauty of running in the morning was that the sunrise and clouds were like art to me; it was always different every morning, and it was something I looked forward to seeing. I could see the birds and other wildlife. I could hear God’s voice in my mind loudly as I ran and talked with Him in the morning, even though it was silent and quiet outside. It was one of the most peaceful moments with God as He showed me His love and grace. My mind was still, and hearing God’s voice clearly was worth waking up for every morning.

At times when I run without any music, sermon, or podcast turned on and it’s just me and God together, He absolutely completes me. His presence gives me the fullness of peace, love, and joy. There is something about that special moment in time that is hard to explain and yet the most satisfying to my soul. All I can do is praise Him and thank Him for all that He has done. Thank Him for all of His goodness. Thank Him for being present in my life—and just being so grateful for the relationship I have with Him. I often pray; I wish people would just know how I am when I am worshiping our Father in heaven because it is the most beautiful euphoria, experiencing His love for me.

The silence helps strengthen my faith as He is fully aware and present in my thoughts. As I wrestle with pain, it is also teaching me patience because this long run too shall pass. My hunger for His presence during my long-distance running is alive, and I love it. The quietness as I listen to His voice in my thoughts. The peace that is unexplainable, knowing He is there with me. The internal joy as He gives me happy memories of my family and loved ones. I cherish these memories. Having my morning devotional and then fitting in the extra hour for exercise sets me up to have the right mindset to conquer the day. I get focused and can accomplish so much during the day because God has given me the power to accomplish my tasks with a great attitude.

It makes my day fun as I go through in my mind the list of things I need to get done that day and how I can accomplish them. I loved every moment of training because this was adding value to my life and giving me more alone time with God. Disciplining your life with daily devotions with God, praying, reading His Word, writing your action plans, and incorporating fitness training for at least one hour a day helps meet your spiritual and physical body’s needs.

Worshiping Him throughout the day helps me be more creative and satisfies my emotional needs. I love talking to Him all throughout the day. I love reflecting on all the problems He helped me solve at work and in life. I love practicing God’s teaching and having a Christ-centered life with healthy relationships with people. He reminds me to be the best person that day so