Strengthening the Core

On Saturday, my 2-year-old daughter and I scrambled around the playground and shared an apple. With each bite, we got closer to finishing the fruit. Eventually, all that was left was the core.

"The core" is often referenced when it comes to values and key members of a team. The inner core is at the center of Earth. While we share this planet, what is at our individual core is unique and harder to define. Over time, I think that core changes. At this point in my life, I'm finishing apples with my daughter and feel pretty good about my "core" - Faith, Marriage, Family, Community. That apple and stops along the way this weekend helped me come to that conclusion.

Before our playground pursuit, I did yoga for the first time in 2017. My wife introduced me to the exercise long before we got to the altar. I had some hesitancy that first go-around. I did not doubt my athleticism. It was more about stretching into uncharted territory. Flexibility was and is not my strength. Yoga can make a man satisfyingly sore. I found that out after my first yoga and this last one.

At Riek's Country Store in Brownstown, there is a dedicated group of yoga people that gather every Saturday morning. These people are all women. Over the years, I have made a cameo appearance and have my own studio of masculinity. It is not reserved, but I know my place. I'm close enough to hear the instructor and far enough away that if I fall, no one will fall with me.

Yoga is challenging then calming; rigorous then relaxing. Tresa, the instructor, has a voice that flows right with the meditation and restoration that yoga is designed to provide. I always leave a yoga lesson in a Gumby-like state with a smile on my face. Thank to Tresa for building up my physical core and to those faithful ladies - Brownstown's core yogis.

When Sunday rolled around and I rolled out of bed, I felt yoga. As a parent to two small children, yoga pain is not a symptom to disclose. It would be silly and no sympathy would fall upon me. Alas, I walked it off and hiked it into Stackhouse Park. Before that hike, my wife and I enjoyed Cafe Sunday with a core group of people in this community.

Sitting in that cafe, I was appreciative of the many blessings in my life. My soon-to-be-4-month-old daughter sat peacefully in her car seat. Her sister roamed wildly at her grandparents'. My wife sat beautifully by my side. And, everyone else that was in that room was someone I did not know before coming to the cafe. It has become a unique fellowship; much like that unique core that is in each of us. That fellowship is centered on faith and it feels like it is growing.

Shortly after Cafe Sunday, the 2-year-old hiker was strapped to my back as we headed for the trails of Stackhouse. Her mom and sister zoomed there way home in the Subaru. We chattered and chugged our way back. As the birds chirped, we passed an apple back and forth. This time it was a green one.

Every step of the way was worth it. I eventually threw out that apple core, but I know what to keep; what to hold on to; what to never let go.