Mega Zumba Update

Y'all, I just realized I haven't done a Zumba update in a MONTH...and oh, what a month it's been!!! [I think it just wasn't on my mind blog-wise, b/c I'm constantly posting updates & talking about it on FB.]

Sooo, I'm now teaching not one, but *THREE* classes - two as free outreach ministries at church, one paid at a gym - with another paid on the horizon! ...Actually, potentially a lot more paid; but I'm not going to take those, b/c they'll cut into family time & Will's baseball. I feel a little stupid turning down paid offers when they reallyreallyreally want me; but I only get Will at home for the next ten years, and I want, I choose to make being there for his & Annelise's activities the higher priority. When I originally got licensed, my intention was to only teach during the day when the kids are in school; but with the economic demographic of this area, there aren't as many stay-at-home moms, etc., as any other place we've lived. :'( There's just so little daytime class demand.

JB comes home from work in time to take Will (& Sis) to baseball on Tuesdays so I can teach my Tuesday 5:30-6:15 PM class, (which has actually turned out to be a big blessing not only for me, but for the kids getting to have Daddy more involved in one of their activities. :-)) The kids come with me while I teach my 5:45-6:30 PM class on Wednesdays at the gym (I'm only cheating them out of one hour, right?) and then they're in school while I teach my Thursday morning 11:00-11:45 AM class. The 4th potential class I'd add would be Friday mornings, and the two I'd probably turn down (*if* I'm offered & after discussing with JB) would be Monday & Friday evenings. It would be AMAZING to get to teach all those classes, but I don't feel comfortable dragging my kids with or missing their activities four nights a week - it's the reason I don't do any musical theatre at this point in life, either, you know?

So yeah, my opportunities are exploding, which feels FABULOUS!!! :-)

And the stories I'm hearing from my class members are...uplifting, praise worthy, and above all, humbling. My ministry classes are so much bigger than me & Zumba!!! God is really working through them!!! I've had two ladies come back from doctor's appointments this week reporting that their blood pressure is already down. One lady told me she's rescheduling EVERYTHING that comes up to never miss, b/c it's the #1 highlight of her week. One noted that just by adding Zumba once a week, that she's down 3 pounds in a month, and another confided how much this is helping her battle depression - that she couldn't afford gym classes, but the ministry lets her get out & get moving in a happy, friendly, safe, silly, judgement-free environment where she doesn't have to worry about spending money and the endorphins (& remembering the fun music :-)) keep her mood up afterwards! The most amazing account took my breath away and made me weepy: an estranged mother & daughter who had not spoken in almost two years (I had no idea!) began to test the waters of reconnecting the exact same time I started the ministry class. Now they come together every week, and the mom told me this would not have happened without this opportunity to Zumba together - a happy, free activity they could both equally get into where there's lots of laughing & no pressure to talk...until they both decided they wanted to & began going out to eat afterwards each week now. :-) THAT IS ALLLLLL GOD!!!!!! And I can't tell you know life-rocking it feels to be a small part of it...