If you are a Christian who needs to lose weight, you face a dilemma. You are unhappy with your weight. Perhaps you've hit a rock bottom moment of recognizing that your health and quality of life are suffering.

Some of the best aspects of summer fall right in line with healthy living.

Crisp, juicy watermelon.

Running through the sprinkler.

Digging in the garden.

I yelled at God.

My professional association, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, has as its theme for 2017 “Whole Health Begins with Mental Health . . . Let It Begin with You!” I like this theme because it lifts up the wholeness in which we are created: body, mind, and spirit. It also reminds me that spiritual and emotional health is the foundation for a person’s whole health. Unless we tend to our spiritual and emotional needs, it is not possible to live in a state of health. The body, mind, and spirit are inextricably bound together. The last part of the phrase, “Let it begin with you,” is a good place to start as we seek to serve as advocates for those who suffer with mental illness among us.

I would like to lift up three attitudes and actions that begin with oneself:

My friend bought an old, but low mileage, cute Volkswagen Bug. But this car had sat immobile for too long. Almost immediately, the car’s fuel pump failed. Next, the water pump failed. Soon, the belts failed. And so on. Our bodies are very much like that little Bug. If we don’t use them, we lose them, so to speak. They do not function at their best. “Fearfully and wonderfully” God designed our bodies (Psalm 139). And when we use them by moving (exercising) them, the way God designed, our bodies are amazing. However, if we sit, just like this poor car sat, they fail to be all they can be.

Springtime is in the air, with all the hope and new life that goes with this change of season. Sadly, there are times when a person cannot even enjoy the promise of newness that our faith gives. Perhaps the winter has been harsh with loss or disappointments. There may be a diminished resiliency for those who have endured many seasons of loss and change.

If you’re a church worker feeling guilty about taking a little break from daily duties—don’t. You’re human like the rest of us, and God created us to thrive in a balancing act of work and rest.