Our Victorious Vinita Simmons is who we’d love for you to meet today.
She has the heart of an angel and the spirit of a warrior. She brings light into the room and she sets the bar (no pun intended) high. We are blessed to have her a part of our community here at MissionFiT!
SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, PLEASE MEET VINITA SHAW-SIMMONS…
Hello, my name is…
Vinita Shaw-Simmons. I’m a 43 year-old (almost 44 on 12/19) wife and mother, as well as being the youngest of 4 children. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor at Carmel Christian Counseling. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Tousont Simmons, for 17.5 years. We are the proud parents of 3 unique and wonderfully made girls: Zahria-15, Khailan-12, and Tierrani-8. Sometimes, I feel like we’ve been thrown into parenthood and have no clue what we are doing. But God continues to show us that the best recipe for our family is Him as the main ingredient with a healthy dose of Love, Time, Respect, Kindness, Encouragement, Patience, Understanding, Healthy Conflict, and Teamwork.
My current church role is…
Teens Leader for 11th grade girls. I have been serving in this capacity for the past 5 years. This role allows me the unique opportunity to walk alongside teens and their families and provide a safe space for them to belong and be in community with fellow teens. We discuss the biblical truths as they relate to
navigating through their teen years (faith, relationships, school, etc.).
Strengths include…
my love for learning about other people and hearing their stories. I am an extrovert so I seek out any opportunity to meet a new face and learn more about them. I care deeply about our youth and enjoy engaging in conversations with and empowering them. Another strength is my gift of humor and I like to think I’m a pretty funny person, so I enjoy passing the gift of laughter on to others. Additionally, I get great satisfaction from encouraging others to be the best that they can be and having those kinds of interactions motivates me as well.
Areas of growth include…
giving myself grace. I can be pretty hard on myself, especially when I miss the mark. Because of this, it hard for me to accept compliments because I feel I’m not deserving. My passions include anything kid/youth/teen related. I enjoy serving these populations along with those facing chronic illness especially cancer. As a breast cancer survivor, I pray that someday we will have a cure. Until then, I will
continue to advocate for all survivors. I enjoy causes that fight for justice for the oppressed or underserved populations. I am also passionate about mental health and wellness.
Goals include…
becoming a fully licensed professional counselor with an expertise in play therapy, psycho oncology, and trauma focused cognitive behavior therapy. I also would like to run 2 additional ½ marathons, 2 full marathons, and a triathlon. Accordingly, when I think about my fitness journey, the three words that come to mind are:
Perseverance, Discipline and Faith.
A short timeline of my past fitness journey…
began with my love of running in high school (the 90s). From then, I continued running off and on in college through young adult years. (2003-current)- I trained and ran many races (5K, 10K’s,). 2011 – I was also part of a Strides to Strength program offered through Novant Health for cancer survivors.
2016- Trained & ran 1st half marathon. Previous participant in workout and group classes at Sport Fitness. Currently, I’m a Y-member participating in individual and group workouts.
In terms of some take-aways/things that I’ve learned from MissionFiT…
I’m stronger than I think (both mentally and physically). Also, there is so much power in community
and we all benefit from it. Lastly, I learned about the connection of mind, body and soul and the importance of stewarding them well. Our relationship with God will determine how well we love ourselves and others.
Some personal wins/accomplishments achieved through MissionFiT include crushing my end retest time in Restart. Also, doing double unders with my jump rope. I had no clue I could do it and when put on the spot, I couldn’t stop doing it.
I can’t stress enough how important and rewarding it’s been for me to be in a MissionFiT community with fellow athletes—this is easily my favorite aspect of MissionFiT. The encouragement, camaraderie, and sense of family has been everything. There were many times, I wanted to give up, but hearing your fellow athlete say “Keep Going”, or “You Got This” meant so much. Not only did it encourage me, but it made me work harder. I even had a fellow athlete complete another set with me despite already
finishing hers. That blew me away and confirmed that we aren’t meant to do this alone.
Community is necessary, community is love, community is God!
My biggest area of growth while in my fitness journey has been my mental stamina…
This has elevated tremendously and allowed me to keep my head and body in the game. In striving to continually improve my overall wellness, especially as a cancer survivor, I want to ensure that I make good decisions and minimize health concerns. I want to not only look good, but feel good. Keeping a healthy mind, body and soul allows me to remain on a positive wellness track.
When I think about the connection between faith and health…
I’m reminded that God created our temple to be used for His glory. If our temples are not healthy, we cannot adequately serve God and consequently our focus becomes more on ourselves and not
on Him. The more we know, seek and trust God, the more knowledgeable we become regarding our health.
I believe that the health of Christians is important because God created us souls to work on a mission for Him. Everything he creates is good, therefore, we must see ourselves as such also. If we don’t maintain good health, we are telling God that we don’t appreciate what He has bestowed upon us. God can certainly get our attention should we take it for granted. Besides, taking care of ourselves is worship unto God and He desires for us to seek and reach the lost and we can do this more effectively with optimal/good health.
When I think about how I would inspire another to begin a fitness journey of their own, it comes down to a very basic question: Why Not??? There is essentially no downside to investing in yourself by devoting a little time to improving your general well-being.
Starting small and doing something can make a tremendous difference. Not only will you have more energy, but you will feel a sense of accomplishment. Beginning a fitness journey means that you are putting yourself first and daring to trust your body (and most importantly God) in the process. It is one of the best journeys that will come with highs and lows, tears, fears and joy and victories and setbacks. You will grow mentally and physically stronger in ways you could not imagine. Your perspective on life
and yourself will shift. The transformation is an amazing, beautiful mess of a masterpiece. When it’s all said and done, you will be glad you started and eager to continue.
It’s worth it because you’re Worth IT!!! So what are you waiting for???
Just DO IT!!!!
