Ingrid Friesen Moser
By Ingrid Friesen Moser
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
Sometimes our journey toward good health may seem like a journey in the wilderness.
When we are in the wildernesses and wastelands of life seeing clearly can be the difference in our survival and ability to thrive. When it comes to our health, tools and resources are available to help make progress. You don’t have to do it alone.
Wellness profiles, also known as health inventories, ask questions about your health and habits. They are a resource encouraged in many health plans and often are a part of wellness incentive requirements. This is true for pastors and church workers in The Corinthian Plan. At its core, a wellness profile is a tool that helps to call out the new thing is that is happening in your health and show you the way forward that you may be struggling to perceive.
If your employer or health plan offers a wellness profile, what is your attitude towards it? Do you embrace it, avoid it, or run from it? Do you resent it, accept it, or perhaps are indifferent towards it? The attitudes we have are likely dependent on how we see the situation we are currently in with our health and well being. For example, how empowered do you feel? How much do you believe your actions can actually change things for the better? What are your expectations about the outcome you are hoping for?
These questions are worth time and attention. One way to do this is by working with a person with expertise. Certified wellness coaches are trained specialists that can help us reflect on our current state of health in body, mind, and spirit. A conversation, or an on-going relationship, with a wellness coach may help to identify a strategy for success and provide the support and encouragement needed for the journey ahead. It can be an empowering experience to discover that many of the answers are already inside you.
There is one final lesson worth noting in this verse from Isaiah. God is the one doing the new thing. It certainly requires our participation, but is not all of our own doing. God makes the way forward and brings healing water. If becoming healthier feels beyond your control, that may be because it is. This verse challenges us to see and perceive what God is already doing on our behalf, and then join in with it.
When you think about your health what do you see?
What is the way forward that is being made for you?
If you are part of The Corinthian Plan, working with a wellness coach is one of your covered plan benefits. In fact, the Corinthian Plan will even pay you to have a conversation with a wellness coach as part of completing the wellness incentive requirements. Up to $600 a year in wellness incentive money is available for a pastor and covered spouse. The wellness incentive is an annual benefit. Your participation is welcomed yearly.
Note: November 31, 2014 is the deadline for completion of the Wellness Profile portion of the wellness incentive. To learn more visit the Corinthian Plan Wellness Web Pages.