Healthy Practices Of Ministry CouplesSýnishorn

Let’s Get Physical
by Jeff and Laryssa Toomer of the Transit

Mentors of ours once told us an interesting secret to their 40 plus years of marital love and happiness. They said, “Find a hobby that you can both do together.” That wasn't too hard for us. While we have very different personalities, we share a lot of things in common. One of those is our love of personal fitness.

At the beginning of our marriage, we began running three to five miles together through our neighborhood on weekends. Those runs were great opportunities to talk, laugh, and enjoy each other’s company. As children were added, so were baby joggers. Then there was a phase when we tried the Billy Blanks Tae Bo routines, and then moved on to learning to jump rope for thirty minutes. Both were harder than they appeared! After I (Jeff) retired from the Army six years ago, we turned up our fitness craze a couple notches by exploring the triathlon world and long distance running, which forced to us really depend on one another.

Training together not only helped us think about ways to make our bodies endure, but it also helped us in our view of marital perseverance. We’ve discovered several important parallels along the way:

* Fitness requires an active (not passive) participation in order to benefit
* There’s mutual accountability from “togetherness”
* Some days are flat-out hard
* It’s important to extend grace and cheer on each other often
* Allow the time, patience and care to ensure that injuries heal properly
* Most challenges and obstacles require assistance and/or must be worked through together
* Rest and time-off are critical to rebuilding and strengthening
* There’s unspeakable joy in celebrating new victories together

Like our fitness activities, marriage is an endurance activity. God covenants a man and woman together and He intends it to be encouraging, sanctifying, and most importantly, enduring.

1. What are some shared activities that you share together as a couple? How has this been a benefit to your marriage?

2. If you don’t have any, make a list of a few that you can begin together.