The way I move

by Gail Peterson, Calvary’s IT director

I enjoy bonding with my husband, my kids and friends while exercising with them.  It is one of my favorite pastimes.

Over the years my husband, Gary, and I have enjoyed being active together and have many great memories doing so. My first memory of Gary was “noticing” him playing sand lot volleyball (my favorite sport) with our Calvary single’s group back in 1989. We then went on racquetball and tennis “friendly excursions”.  Our first official date was ice skating at the Rec Center.  I fell in love with Gary in the boundary waters. Gary, who has been to the boundary waters about 20 times, led our Calvary singles group trip and was my canoe partner.  He was so strong and helpful. He knew how to steer our canoe, carry a canoe, read a map, keep us safe from the bears and start a fire.  What a great man!   

One of our favorite activities is hiking. After we got married, we have tried to get to a national park every summer, hiking in some of the most beautiful places in the United States together and with our kids.  The memories we formed with our kids hiking are some of our most precious ones. One of our family trips, we hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon when our kids were 8,10 and 12 years old.  We had been hiking as a family for a few years by then, but this hike took everything out of us.  We ended up hiking with the sun beating down us in 114-degree heat.  We were dehydrated, tired and sore but overjoyed when we got to the bottom and cooled off together in a stream and had a hardy dinner at the Phantom Ranch restaurant. The hike back up the canyon was strenuous for us and Gary, who was carrying most of our weight, had very sore knees.  Daniel, our 8 year old, helped with a “little” coaching, us all, by carrying some extra weight.  We felt a huge sense of accomplishment when we reached the top of the canyon together and had ice cream cones to celebrate. Daniel called the adventure, “the best hike ever”.

My favorite sport over the years has been volleyball. I enjoyed playing volleyball in the Rochester city leagues with my volleyball friends for 20+ years until shoulder surgery ended my “career”.  I found volleyball was a way to befriend women from different backgrounds than mine. And had occasional opportunities to identify with Christ and have spiritual conversions with my teammates.  One of the players, Lori Allen, became a dear friend, bridesmaid, and neighbor for several years.  

 When our girls were old enough, they started playing volleyball too. I coached my girls and the Schaeffer volleyball team for 10 years. We started as a new young varsity team that lost every match for 2 years, a total of 33 matches.  The girls learned something about what it meant to be committed and persevere.   Our first win was very emotional and memorable for all of us.  I found coaching the team a rewarding way to enter into the Schaeffer girls’ life with many natural teachable moments about what it means to be a part of a team, play under pressure, be gracious as winners and losers, and to be godly examples to their teammates and the other teams.  

Mary Hanson and I are regular exercise partners for the past 10+ years.  We may sometimes focus on talking more than exercising. Now she is someone I trust and speaks into my life and encourages my walk with Jesus in practical ways in everyday life. I am not as active as in my younger days but still enjoy connecting with people while exercising. Want to go for a walk and chat, join us on the Bear Creek trail walks , Thursday mornings at 7:30am.  

I have started playing a new fun sport, pickleball! Playing open pickleball at the RAC, I have recently met a new 75 year old friend, Dorthy, who happens to consistently beat me in pickleball.  Like Dorthy, I hope to be able to continue to connect with friends while exercising when I am 75 years old.

We are also enjoying playing pickleball with our Calvary friends. If you like to join us, let Ingrid Ansell, or myself, , know and we will add you to our pickleball whatsapp group chat.