Health That Saves

by Carrie Richard

When I started Crossfit in 2011 I had no idea the journey I was about to begin.
I didn’t know that working out would become healthy eating. 
That healthy eating would become a new lifestyle and a small business.
I didn’t know that my health would save my life.

I first starting workout out so that I could eat what I wanted.
Balance, right?

Then, I realized that I loved working out in a community.
I loved the way I felt after a hard workout.
I loved pushing myself and reaching new limits.

As I learned more about technique and skill, I started working towards becoming a coach.
I began researching what food is and what food does for your body. 
To be honest, it freaked me out.

I learned that when you eat fake food your body has to react and adjust.
Those reactions are fogginess, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and inflammation, just to name a few.

I started making gradual changes in my diet. 
I removed foods with extra ingredients.
I replaced junk with healthier options. 
I relied on clean, natural foods.

My focus on food wasn’t to lose weight or reach a certain pant size.
I wanted the clarity, energy, and improved mental health that came with making better choices.
I wanted to feel even better.

I wanted others to experience this too, so with God’s help,  I opened Fresh Prep.
My goal for my business is to make food clean, the way that God put it on the earth.
We have personalized meal plans and weekly menus to help others make better choices and feel better.

As my physical health improved, my spiritual health also changed. 
I started seeing food through God’s lens, and it just made sense.
God made our bodies. 
God made food.
God made our bodies to process the food that He made. 
It’s no wonder our bodies act up when we fuel it with the fake stuff.

In 2016, I joined the Becoming a Bible Nerd small group, which became a major spiritual turning point.
Each week I met with several other women and dug into the Bible.
We didn’t just read verses, but instead, we researched and learned. 

We started in the book of Matthew, where we learned the personality of Jesus. 
We learned who he is and what kind of person he is. 
We learned the way he walked, rested, and reacted.
It made me want more of Jesus and more of His Word.

Reading God’s Word solidified why I live and eat the way I do:
To honor God and honor the body that He gave me.

I spent the next several years pushing myself physically and spiritually,
all while running in a hundred different directions with 3 boys and a business.

In March 2018, my 90 mile an hour life came to a halt.
I went to the gym to complete the Crossfit Open workout like I had done for the past several weeks. Later that night, I started to feel like I had a stomach bug. I stayed in the bedroom while Shane and the boys hung out in the living room. Shane was off from work because I was taking one of my sons to a TobyMac concert the next day.
I didn’t realize God’s hand in positioning my family that night.

I started having seizures at 5 o’clock the next morning. 

Shane heard me and was there to rush me to the Medical Center.
If we did not have concert tickets, he would not have been home to help me.

Upon arrival and initial evaluations, they said I had a brain tumor and that I would have to be immediately life-flighted to Houston. My family was told to say their goodbyes because they said I wouldn’t make it to the hospital. 

I AM NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!!??

When the helicopter took off, prayer requests went out to my prayer warriors.
My family, friends, and church family were battling in prayer on my behalf.

From the time the helicopter took off to the time I landed in Houston, things changed.
When the doctors assessed me, they said it was something they see all the time.

I’m sorry, WHAT??

My condition went from a life-threatening emergency situation to a routine tumor removal.

God changed my situation in the helicopter.

Two weeks later, I had a scheduled appointment to remove the tumor.

With the type, location, and size of the tumor, doctors could not believe that I was symptom-free leading up to my seizure. The only explanation was that my healthy lifestyle kept the tumor from being inflamed, which would have caused issues such as impaired vision, speech, and ability to recognize objects and people. 

My life would be so different right now if I did not carefully choose the food that I put into my body.

Because of the way the tumor was engulfed in my blood vessels, I did have a one-time radiation.
This should have been an extremely hard recovery, but my health continued to help me heal.

During my six month check-up, doctors were amazed at my progress.
There was no sign of major trauma and no inflammation from procedures.
They were shocked.

I will now have yearly scans, and the reality is that there is a 50/50 chance that the tumor will come back.

The tumor was non-cancerous, but genetic.
It was there when I was born and grew with me. 
I couldn’t have prevented the tumor, but I was able to protect my life.

There is no denying that my health helped save me.
With God’s help, it saved my life and preserved my way of life.

He continues to remind me that He is with me. 
He is good all the time.
He is worthy of it all.

Every sacrifice I make for my lifestyle is worth a second chance at life and honoring God.

I had my most recent scan in October 2020. Although I know that I am doing my part to remain healthy, I still get nervous. Usually I am given headphones to listen to worship music during the scan, but this bed didn’t have any earbuds. I was pushed in for the 30-45 minute silent scan and one line of one song started playing on repeat in my mind: I love you, Lord.

That’s it. Four simple words.
Over and over I sang, “I love you, Lord.”

Some time after the scan, that same song came on the radio.
I had never stopped and really listened to the rest of the words.
I fell to my knees as I heard each word.
I was speechless.

The song “Goodness of God” says:
I love You, Lord.
Your mercy never fails me.
All my days I've been held in your hand.
From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God.
All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able.
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God.

That is it.
He holds me in His hand.
He has been so faithful.
With every breath that I have been given, I will praise Him.
Every breath that I am so incredibly thankful for.

I will always have to monitor my body closely,
but I have come to love my body and health even more.

My body is truly a temple.
God gave me this body for however long I am on earth, it is borrowed,
so I will continue to honor Him with the way I treat it and what I put in it.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says:
Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?
You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Your body is a temple too.
Love it well.
Treat it well.
Feed it well.

God has continued to use my experience and pushed me to lead a small group during this coming semester.
I want to show others how to have a healthy relationship with food and how to appreciate the real fuel that God put on earth for us. We will pursue our health, while we grow closer to God.

That is what this lifestyle is all about. 
Honor.
Growth.
Progress.

You can’t change it all at once. 
I am ten years into my healthier lifestyle and still making changes.
It's even trickled into my household things - cleaners, shampoos, makeup.
It has been very gradual and I'm not perfect all the time, but grace allows me to get back up and keep going.

Pursue health.

To become a better version of yourself.
To protect your body and lifestyle.
Most importantly, to honor God.