Today we have a topic that is relevant to daily life.

We, as Orthodox Christians, know the most famous quote from the Gospel: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Sports, an active lifestyle, movement — all of these can be safely called bread or food for the body, which cannot be neglected, under the pretext that the bodily is secondary, and therefore not important.

The body asks for food, and we cannot reject it, since it is directly connected with the soul and spirit. It contains physical strength, and it also produces hormones and neurochemicals that give us joy.

Where do you get the strength for everything, where do you get the strength for your daily routine? Where do you get emotions, inspiration, besides purely spiritual exercises? One of the sources of this, of course, is sports.

And today our Mautshkas shared with us how they play sports, how they find time for this, despite the fact that all of them are very busy, and many of them have large families, and all raise children alone.

Therefore, our sports relay today is opened by Matushka Oksana Kravetskaya (Crimea), who, having undergone a difficult recovery after an accident in which her husband died, was able to make an incredible climb:

“Sport now occupies a central place in my life. This is my outlet, my inspiration…

My health made me pursue sports. After the accident, I could not recover. The injured leg was numb. I didn’t feel anything, my fingers didn’t even move. I could hardly walk. At the hospital they just shrugged their shoulders and said: it might get better with time. They prescribed ointments and electrical procedures. Nothing helped.

I decided: I need to do something. There’s a girl singing in my choir (I’m the choir director), and she inspired me to do fitness. After just six months, my leg slowly developed, and my broken collarbone also works like new. My traumatologist, when he removed the iron plate, could not believe his eyes that I could lift my arm without difficulty. This has now allowed me to go to the mountains. I’m interested in rock climbing. Of course, I do easy routes, but this has become a love of mine. In the everyday bustle, we don’t see or notice so much. What beauty the Lord created! How beautiful this world is!”

Such examples of struggle and overcoming are inspiring. Reading stories like this makes you want to keep up, not get discouraged, and move forward. Matushka was threatened with disability, and now she is not only in shape, but is also now conquering mountains.

Detailed story about the Kravetskys here: https://matushkideti.ru/donate/kravetsky/

And we are waiting for the continuation (very soon) of the stories of our «sports» Matushkas and are happy if you share your sports «victories» or just active experiences in the comments.