Meet Revenda

 

I Love TBN

I have been watching TBN every day for over 30 years. The programs have enable me to grow in my faith. I have prayed in the New Year, been encouraged when I was in pain, laughed until my side hurt, and shared countless moments watching the station with my family and friends. When I work from home, I place the television on TBN to fill my home with scripture, worship, and praise while I deal with sometimes a stressful job. I love to listen to TBN when I am meditating on God’s word and when I am about to sleep at night. It’s truly one of the greatest ways God has used to comfort me as I have grown in my relationship with HIM.

 

I Love my Local Church

 

My local church supports me, trains me up, and is currently sending me out to share my faith. My local church is an extension of my family. The wisdom of elders and the energy of its youth encourage me in my daily walk with Jesus. The local church as taught me to be confident and lead. We all need corporate prayer and fellowship in our lives. Your local church is a place of acceptance and support. It's one of the reasons I love to volunteer and help my community, because I want to return some of the love my local church as shown to me.

 

In the beginning…

I was always slightly overweight as a teen, but once I had my son my weight went up to 279 lbs, I tried to get the weight off, but I always seemed to fail. I know now, I was doing all the wrong things, still over or under eating, and over and under exercising. My weight got to be so bad, I had to stop taking baths, because I could not pull myself out of the tub due to severe pain in my knees. Same old story as most people right… so, I decided to have the gastric bypass and ended up with a leak. I should have been dead in 36 hours, but lived for 48 due to a small twist in my bowels.

 

6 Years in and out of the hospital

This led to over 6 years of being in and out of the hospital, ICU, and multiple surgeries including wiping out my 401K due to medical bills. I suffered from all kinds of infections, loss my Gallbladder, Kidney Stones, Hernia… included 3 years of chronic yeast infections, bleeding for over a year (really I was the woman with the issue of blood), and another twisted bowel surgery.

 

How much weight did I lose?

After all of this… I only lost estimated 50 pounds and started to gain the weight back again. I prayed to God, there must be a better way and asked Him to help me, plus I began taking communion every day and started seeing miracles in my daily healing. (i.e. being able to sit up, use the bathroom on my own…etc.)

 

Step One: Realize I was a Modern Day Pharisee

I did not smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I never saw gluttony as an issue for me. I had my own plans and left God out of the mix. I needed to go to God and include Him in my healing and my need for a life style change. For me, it needed to be a connection to my Spirit, Soul, and Body. I needed to reform my thinking. I realized Jesus did not die on the cross, so I could be in pain. Jesus wanted me healed and whole. “For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” I Corinthians 6:20. When Jesus died on the cross and I was saved, He gave me everything I required to change. I just had to learn how to tap into the power that was already within me.

 

Step Two: Watching and Learning

I started watching and learning from everywhere, mostly at first Dr. Oz. My son introduced me to Keto eating and I realized sugar was a big part of the infections I was still experiencing. Once I removed the sugar it was like a load was lifted. Dr. Oz taught me how to eat the rainbow, Keto taught me how to cut the carbs, I learned to stop killing my food by over cooking, I learned the importance of drinking more water, and the benefits of moving in the right way, which for me is “using gentle exercise”. Gentle exercise that I would be able to do for a lifetime.

 

You know…sugar addiction is 90% harder to beat than drug abuse. We have to eat, so we have to face our addiction every day. I had to make a plan to beat my cravings or my cravings were going to beat me. I learned to control my cravings using prayer. Scriptures to mediate upon when I am not truly hungry.

 

Scriptures for Comfort

• God comforts us (Isaiah 40:1-11)

• God promises to comfort those who mourn (Matthew 5:4)

• God’s Holy Spirit is our Comforter (John 14:16)

• Jesus has overcome the world’s troubles (John 16:33)

• God comforts those who are hurting (2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11)

• All pain will end (Revelation 21:3-4)

 

My Personal Prayer I use to fight cravings

Jesus, I need your help to make these changes in my life. With you anything is possible. I can do this, but only with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Help me to change the image of myself, into the person you would have me to be. My body was brought at a price, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in me, whom I have received from God. I am not my own. I don’t know how long it will take to change this image on the inside. It may take a week, a month, a year, or ten years, but I will change. 1 COR 10:13 states, you will not allow more temptation than I can bear, but when I am tested… YOU will also give me a way to escape that temptation. I only need to wait and watch patiently for your rescue. I will do what God called me to do. God, I gave you permission to do anything you wish to me, with me, in me, or through me that would glorify Your Holy Name. I once claimed these rights as mine, but now they belong to you Jesus, as my body belongs to you and are under Your control. God can do with them anything He pleases, in the name of Jesus and by the Blood of Jesus. Amen!

 

Step Three: Start Moving

I started walking with a friend and set up a gym in my dining room. It was fun going to Goodwill shopping for exercise equipment and buying items on sale.  I tried many different activities looking for activities I would love. Rock climbing was not one of them, but swimming was fun, however I found walking was the best, so I started walking at Six Flags and Walking Trails in my area. I just walk in my first 5K on October 1st 2016 for the Winship Cancer Institute in under 59 minutes. Currently, I walk 5 days a week and PraiseMoves 2 days a week. I also love to ride my bike in the summer months. I have an old time bike with a big seat and a basket, all manual for me no 10-speed this way. Smile

 

Step Four: Deal with and Release the Pain

I also needed to deal with the depression, eating when stressed, plus find a way to handle my sugar withdrawal symptoms. I still have sugar cravings. Now I know it’s from low Serotonin. I needed more Serotonin/Dopamine boaster foods and activities in my everyday life. For me… stress was my main trigger. I had to find a way to relieve the need for emotional eating… I tried Yoga, however due to my religious beliefs, I was not able to practice Yoga, so I started looking for an alternative approach. I found www.PraiseMoves.org  and loved the concept so much, I became a certified instructor in Feb 2015. Amen! It changed my relationship with food, my thoughts, and how I felt about my body.

 

Where am I now?

I'm not on any medicines and I am loving my body as is. My goal is to be healthy as I age not thin. 

 

Step Five: How do I help my community and share my testimony?

I want to share my story and teach free fitness classes in my local area and online. The class would include my training in healing and deliverance. I recently spoke at my first Women’s Conference (New Piney Grove Baptist Church) 2016 and will be doing my second Women's conference on Nov 12th 2016  for the African American Fellowship of GBMB & Women's Missionary Union at the I am Women Retreat in Toccoa, GA. I also use to teach classes for a while at Allegre Point Senior home last year (2015) and got my first reward. I could not image not dedicating my life to this mission.

 

My passion is to share my story with church members and help them on their fitness journey with the Lord. that is why I started PraiseMoves DeKalb. (www.praisemovesdekalb.org)

 

Free to the Public

All our classes are Free to the Public. Smile.

 

My Mission

I am one person with a vision God has placed on my heart to enlighten my community … informing them “You can change”. Just as we wash our body on the outside to stay clean by removing bacterial, we need to clean our bodies and mind on the inside as well. We don’t have to remain in pain and we can have a better quality of life. We need to rethink our relationship  with food, not as a comforter, but as it was intended a pleasure God blessed us with to be enjoyed with our family and friends, and for our nourishment. My class teaches people of all ages how to fight cravings and avoid the sin of gluttony (one of the 7 deadly sins) by mediating on God’s Word (going to Him as the comforter), how to eat the rainbow, how to cut down on total carbs (slow instead of fast carbs) , and how to move gently using flowing and stretching PrasieMoves “The Christian Alternative to Yoga” positions.

 

Our focus is not only to help others lose weight, but also to change their thinking … about loving themselves and being able to see their bodies as God sees them, thru the righteousness of Christ, which is beautiful and complete. We focus on using the connection Christians already have with the Spirit, Soul, and Body.

 

My Certifications

 

Supernatural Healing and Deliverance from the Life Center (http://lifecenter.org/training/) in September 2016.

 

Certificated PraiseMoves Instructor (CPI) since February 26, 2015

 

In a nut shell, this is my story... I pray God will allow me to personally share it with you as well as hear your story. Hope to see you soon. Be Blessed, Get Well, and Stay Fit - Amen!