You Can Do ALL Things!

*Disclaimer – this is not a blog bragging about being a powerlifting champion. However, I would like to recap my incredible experience last Saturday.

Philippians 4:13 - For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. First, I want to thank God for the desire and drive to train hard in the process of chasing my dream. All the glory and honor go to HIM! Secondly, I’d like to give a huge shout out to Wright Equipment and my family and friends that are supporting me on this journey. I can’t thank you enough!

             If you’ve read my previous blogs, you’ll notice a general theme of encouragement to set and attack your goals. Whether it’s in the gym, the workplace, or the church, life is too short to not be the best version of you in all areas of life. We only have one shot at this thing here on earth. My desire for you is to eliminate as many “should’ve”, “could’ve”, and “would’ve’s” as possible.

            I’m blessed to have a sponsor that pushed me to pull the trigger on my dream of becoming a powerlifter. I’ve trained for years in the gym but always did it as a hobby. I don’t hunt, fish, or use power tools. I lift weights. At the age of 35, I realized that if I didn’t take the plunge, it would more than likely never happen. As Catfish McCollum and I Googled powerlifting federations, we landed on one that had a meet coming up in Ohio. RPS… Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate. Signing me up, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves in to. Seeing my name on that registration form, things suddenly got real! So, the power training began… I had a couple of months to not only get as strong as possible, but I also had to drop twenty pounds of body weight to get into the weight class that I wanted to be in.

             The training was brutal, but I loved every second of it! As the meet approached, I began really studying the rules and techniques of the three lifts, squat, bench, and deadlifts. “Gym” lifting and lifting in a meet is sooooo different! But I had set a goal and nothing was going to stop me from reaching it. Two weeks out, the nerves were starting to rear their ugly head. I was losing sleep, having dreams where I couldn’t lift even the bar, and waking up in the middle of the night to review the rules and mentally go over my form of every lift.

             The day of the meet finally came! There I was in my onesie, surrounded by seasoned lifters, loud music blaring… I felt like a shaken pop bottle ready to explode! To make a long day short, I entered into the meet as an Amateur Raw Modern 242 lb. lifter. I finished the meet as a Pro Raw Modern 242 lb. lifter. My total in all three lifts qualified me as a Pro. Now every meet I sign up for, I have to enter in the Pro division! I not only won my weight class but also got my pro card in my very first powerlifting meet! I couldn’t believe it!

             To sum up the entire experience, it was INCREDIBLE! Other than ministry, I’ve found my other calling! All the nervousness, anxiety, doubt, fear… all came out through those weights! I hate to admit that I was scared… as a dad, I’m not supposed to be scared of anything according to my little girls. But allow me to lay some truth on you… if you aren’t at least a little scared of your dream, then you’re not dreaming big enough! No one else should have a bigger dream for your life than you. If you’re willing to put in the time and hard work, there’s nothing that you can’t accomplish. Don’t wait until next week or next year. You will be rewarded for your faithfulness! Life is short… dream big!

Matt