When Holy Barre met for the first time exactly 18 months ago, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I knew the idea for a faith-based barre group, worshipping and working out together, was from God because it seemed rather random and uncertain. Thankfully, I was also growing in my understanding of the Holy Spirit, so I made a goal for this ministry to be Spirit-led, rather than Libby-led. Rather than approaching it in my comfortable project-leader style with milestones and timeline, my hope was to just lead Holy Barre one step at a time.

Fast forward and I just have to laugh with joy at the journey He’s taken us. One year ago Covid entered our community and tried to take over with fear, isolation, and anxiety. But the consistency, community, and encouragement from our little group of ladies kept us afloat with faith and love! God also used this crazy season to take Holy Barre online, expanding our reach and engagement.

As we look optimistically to the future, God’s moving and empowering us all to burn bright towards a healthy, whole, and holy life. Just this week, I’m humbled at what He’s doing and how He’s working in me personally and through Holy Barre . . .

As I completed some elements of my Revelation Wellness Instructor Training just this week, I was presented with powerful truth from Brene Brown’s & Jennie Allens’s work (two of my favorites), some of my favorite Bible verses in relation to true health, an applicable quote from Craig Groeschel (my preacher), a lesson on anatomy and physiology (my fav class in high school) with a gospel spin, a specific example of God’s design of the human body that relates directly to my husband’s training and work.

Holy Barre officially became established as a LLC. While Holy Barre workouts will remain free and available to ALL ages, shapes, and fitness levels, there are opportunities for this to develop into a legit and accountable business to further the mission of empowering women to live a wholehearted, healthy, and holy life!

Through Holy Barre, I’ve been introduced to Arbonne and have found great benefit in their products, specifically those designed for optimal gut and skin health. Easily adding supplements to smoothies and beverages has made my body much happier! Just this week, I had my first friend and fellow Holy Barre member purchase items through my own Arbonne website.

So let’s worship together because God is faithful and good, filled with grace and truth! Join us for our next Bible Reading Plan – Worship Is My Weapon!

Thanks for reading! Keep burning bright, better together! – Libby

So it was actually on days like this past week of snowmageddon that Holy Barre developed! I was in Cleveland, OH, stuck inside with my two young kids due to snow and cold temps, had limited social opportunities, and was trying to find ways to maintain some health and balance. I realized having worship music playing helped my attitude, and I could do some barre workouts at the kitchen island while moving to the beat.

As I reflect on this past year of genuine craziness, ‘Look Up Child’ by Lauren Daigle plays in my head. Because whether I’m thinking about a global pandemic, quarantining, Black Lives Matter movement, the presidential election, severe winter storms and super cold temps, professional stress, family anxiety, positive Covid results, remote schooling, all kinds of poverty, isolation, community health issues, etc. (quite the list, huh?!), I feel in my soul the need to just look up, worship, praise and focus on our Lord and Savior. Or sometimes just bowing my head in humility and prayer.

May we move forward knowing with ALL our heart, soul, strength, and mind that our God is good, almighty, powerful, love, truth, grace, peace, and IN CONTROL! Not us! So turn on some worship tunes, get your body moving, and take care of your heart, soul, strength, and mind today! Arise, Darlings! Go to Him!

Here’s one of my favorite Spotify playlists to do just that: Holy Barre – Energy!

Here’s our next YouVersion Reading Plan invite that starts Feb 22: The Power of a Woman’s Words

Here’s the Marching On full-body workout from our Holy Barre YouTube Channel if you’re ready to burn bright today!

Just keep moving foward, Ladies! May your gaze remain on Him alone!

Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalms 34:5

ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .

My mom would periodically remind me of this truth growing up and continues to today. Because I, as well as so many of us, can get overwhelmed with the unknowns and concerns of the future. We plan and prepare and make commitments and then are exhausted by trying to fulfill each in our own power. But as it says in the Bible, let’s just take things one day at a time, acknowledging that each day has enough trouble of its own, God’s mercies are new each morning, and His power is made perfect in our weakness.

One day at a time . . . let’s make healthy choices. Let’s love our neighbor. Let’s put on the Armor of God. Let’s have patience with our kiddos. Let’s connect with a coworker. Let’s move our bodies. Let’s spend time in His Word. Let’s abide to the Vine and let Him lead our interactions. Then let’s go to bed focusing on His truth and grace, waking up to His new mercies!

Today, look up and savor these truths:

• Matthew 6:31-34
• Luke 12:25 & 31 & 35
• 2 Corinthians 12:9
• Lamentations 3:23

And today, if you’re ready to move, grab your hand weights, mat, and water and click the video link above to join me as we burn bright together!

As we close out January and move into February, let’s shift our focus a bit as well!

While January is a month of health goals, personal resolutions, and individualized mindsets, if you’re like me, it was also one of lots of ‘I’s, ‘me’s, and ‘my’ in our thinking and conversations. It’s definitely important to take care of ourselves and honor God through our personal goals and focus, and our greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.

But it’s a balance . . .

The second part of this commandment is to love others as ourselves. Love is just not between us and HIM but among us and THEM! The heart of the gospel is to share, move, and act in love in response to His ultimate love for us!

So in February, let’s be intentional to do just that! Let’s show God’s love, truth, grace, and joy EACH DAY! Letting the Spirit guide our focus and efforts will only expand His love within us and around us! Each day in February, I challenge you to show love to one person via text, phone call, letter, coffee deliver, Holy Barre invite, dinner, etc.

Or invite people to join us in going through these YouVersion Reading Plans together:

• February 1-5 – Five Days of Loving Others With Settle the Soul
• February 7-12 – Adamant with Lisa Bevere
• February 15-19 – More than Pretty with Erica Campbell
• February 22-March 3 – The Power of a Woman’s Words

Let’s combat our culture of individualism, tackle trials together, live lead by love, and burn brighter, better together!

Looking to drop some ‘weight’? 😉

Here are so awesome quotes from The Wellness Revelation by Alisa Keeton that so align with the heart of Holy Barre!

‘Your Creator loves and values you as you are. As you seek to improve your physical fitness, He wants to free you from whatever is weighing you down. I’m not necessarily talking about pounds. I am talking about the ‘weight’ that keeps you turning toward food (and neglecting your body) or turning away from food (and obsessing over your body). I am talking about the ‘weight’ that comes from trying to keep life under your control. Are you stressed and burned out?’

‘Be real! You have to show up, do the work, and be completely you. Don’t try to fake it for anyone else’s sake. Don’t live as if you have to audition for others’ approval. Don’t try to cover up your imperfections by donning another pair of spiritual Spanx. Our good God sees it all, and He is not offended by our messes. Achieving wholeness is possibly only when we bring all of our insecurities and mistakes to the table. And we cannot heal what we are not willing to reveal, so please do yourself a favor and just be real. You are safe in His presence.’

Join us for a 45-minute, full-body workout. Grab light hand weights, a glider/towel/paper plate, and your water and get ready to burn bright!

Our Heavenly Father desires ALL of us!

Let’s surrender our efforts of control, our pursuits of perfection, our desire to have it all together, our comparison or judgment of others, our focus on fears and lies, our attempt to ‘fake it til we make it’ . . .

Holy Barre does desire to strengthen your body, but it’s not just about your body. It’s about ALL of you !Our bodies are a temple filled with His Spirit. Our minds must be filled with Truth. Our hearts must be filled with Grace. Our soul must be filled with Love.

God wants ALL of us . . . for our benefit. We can’t have too much Jesus!

Put on the armor of God, Ladies.

Throw your lies, pain, and fear into His consuming fire and burn brighter and brighter!

As we move into a new week, let’s return to His Word and Truth. Join me in this study on Romans 8 and acknowledge that we’re better together! This reading plan begins Monday, January 25.

First of all, thank YOU for being a part of Holy Barre! This group of women has blessed me tremendously over the past year and a half, and I love hearing how others feel the same. And several, myself included, have expressed gratitude specifically for the bright light this group was during 2020. I have hope for 2021 knowing you all will be by my side, encouraging and empowering us all to burn bright!

There is so much on my heart to share with you ladies, but when I preparing for yesterday’s workout, God walked me down a path ending with just YOU.

Keep reading but go ahead and accept this YouVersion Reading Plan invite for our next one, Embrace Who YOU Are, that begins on Monday!

This week, I started here . . . Spiritual Battles & Warfare (there are battles all around; we need to be ready) . . . the Armor of God (let’s shift of our focus to the eternal and take advantage of His tools) . . . my passion and urgency is to be equipped, empowered, engaged by our King and His Kingdom . . . so we move forward to love & share (the goal) . . . we are better together (the foundation) . . . we need the LifeGroup, Community, Army (the strategy) . . . let’s rest in and be connected to His Spirit, grace, & truth (the point) . . .

Then God finished here with YOU . . . and your heart, soul, strength, & mind. He desires for us to get to know ourselves . . . and more importantly, deepen our grasp of Him & you together! Check out the newest pages on this site for details about book recommendations, the Armor of God, the burn bright significance, etc.

Who YOU are must be founded on these truths:

• His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9)

• His power empowers and equips as well as allows you to align your strategy with Him. (Ephesians 5 – Armor of God)

• His grace and truth set you free to move forward! (John 1:14, 8:32)

• His giftings in you make us better (Romans 12:3-8)

• His relationship makes you burn bright! (Romans 12:1-2)

Be healthy. Be bold. Be brave. Be strong. Be holy. Be beautiful. IN HIM! Be YOU in God & His Son & His Spirit! Because we must receive before we give. Only then can we move forward as women burning bright, better together, and armed for battle!

‘I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. The one who chose you can be trusted, and he will do this.’ – I Thes 5:23-24

‘If we, the lionesses of God, are ever going to produce a sound of such magnitude, it will require a change in our present posture. To have the ability to roar, we must drop our high-held heads to bow. This stance of humility and prayer will position us to receive a fresh infilling of the breath of God’s spirit. I believe this roar will happen as our intake of God’s spirit exceeds our capacity to contain His fullness of life. When we can no longer hold back His truth, love, and goodness, we’ll release a stirring declaration of ALL God is.’ – Lisa Bevere, Lioness Arising

Thanks for being a part of Holy Barre! Grateful for you and your desire to burn bright in this new year! May God truly ignite a fire in your heart, soul, strength, and mind! Just MOVE forward knowing we’re better together – you’re not meant to do life alone – His Spirit and His people are here to help ya!

We’ll be starting a new YouVersion Bible Reading Plan on Monday, January 11, called Revival Rising: Loving God and the Lost With All That You Are. Click HERE to join in the discussion.

If you didn’t catch our first workout of the year, here you go! Please make some time to workout and worship with us this week. Your heart and soul will thank you. 🙂

Scripture: Romans 12 (yes, all of it – so good for this season)

Playlist can be found HERE.

Equipment: light hand weights, mat, bar/counter/chair, and water

Praying for a revival of your heart, soul, strength, and mind in this new year! We are truly better together and need each other. To those who joined us in person, thanks for staying after to share and connect. It was good for the soul!

Lord, refine us this year . . . refine our thinking, our relationships, our focus, our perspective, and our health so we can burn brighter and brighter!

See ya’ll on January 14!

Just a brief update as we begin the new year, burning bright and better together!

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Let’s kick off the new year with a renewed focus and a reignited passion for our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health! I pray God truly MOVES in you and through you this year . . . so let’s get moving ourselves through Holy Barre!

We will start the year studying the book of Romans. Join us for this 7-day YouVersion Reading Plan, which begins on Sunday, Jan 3. << Jesus & the New Humanity>>

Our first Holy Barre Group Workout will be on Thursday, January 7, at 10:00am at Reclaiming Arts. If you can’t join us in person, we’ll be live on Facebook as well! As always, weekly workouts are later available in the Private Facebook Group and on our YouTube Channel.

Beginning in February, I’ll be going through Revelation Wellness Instructor Training. I am so excited for all God is doing and will do through this transformative ministry, and I am eager to share all the knowledge and resources with you. Here’s a free 21-day Journal you can download and work through this month: 21 Declarations: Your Identity in Christ.

Here’s something else to stir your heart as we enter a new year: I Heard the Lord Say ‘Daughters of God, Receive Your Promise’

I fully believe this new year is not a redo of our 2020 plans, but a revival for our heart, soul, strength, and mind! And staying true to my love of themes and parallels, Holy Barre’s focus will revolve around words that begin with R . . . Revival. Revelation. Refine. Radiate. The Book of Romans . . . So lastly, I encourage you to select a word of movement for 2021. Here’s a list to get you thinking!

Love ya’ll! – Libby