The endocrinologist who saved Benjamin's life seventeen years ago was a dynamo. Ben was hospitalized with severe failure to thrive and was in bad shape. On the seventh day a resident told me that the doctor who would decide if his thyroid was the culprit would arrive in the morning. She was lobbying in Sacramento for diabetic children. 

I opened my eyes after the fitful sleep of a mother with an incredibly sick baby to see a woman bent over his bed. She looked great. The clock said it was six a.m. and I wondered what motivated this woman to arrive before rush hour for the sake of a baby she had never met. After examining him she ordered a nuclear scan and started him on a thyroid supplement which he will take every day until he is too old to care about staying alive. We continued to visit her regularly and learned that she has personally impacted the trajectory of diabetes. She wants kids to eat well and to exercise. One of the students chasing behind her said she always uses the stairs instead of the elevator, to keep cardio in her demanding schedule.

One time I went to lunch with a friend who offered to drive. When we arrived there were plenty of parking spaces close to the door but she turned the wheel toward the back of the lot.  

"I like to park far away, to get myself to walk a bit more. Hope you don't mind."

Recent events in my chicken community have been alarming. The foxes have become bold, and are strutting about like they own the town. Talk about the tail wagging the fox. We chicken keepers are scrambling to reinforce our coops with wire and cinder blocks. I prowl around with a rock in my hand. Not that I could hit a moving object. I can barely hit a stationary one. But the pen that houses my little flock gained twenty pounds when I wrapped another round of chicken wire and added bricks. Since the point of entry is to lift the entire contraption and climb under I am in effect bench pressing a barbel every morning when I give them food and water and again every night when I lock them in. It tuckers me out.

There are people who insert strategies to make them stronger into the routine of their lives. Using the stairs, parking across the lot, hoisting a chicken pen all serve to increase our stamina. 

I think it is thoughtful of God to have included so many obstacles in our relationships to keep us in shape. Don't you?