It all began in about 2005 when I (Donna) was looking for plain black soccer shorts for my 2 children and every place I went they were sold out. One sports shop in the downtown core of where I live also was sold out but just as I was about to leave the owner said that he did have something that may work. He pulled out a pair of shorts that had been logoed but there was a mistake and they had to be redone. These shorts were of no value to him anymore. I was thrilled as they were just the right size for my kids who were 4 and 6 at the time. He just gave them to me and would not accept payment for them. I thanked him so very much as traveling around with a 4 and 6 year old in shop upon shop held its challenges.
On the walk back to our vehicle, I looked at the imprint which was VJM Phys. Ed. During that period I was a Sunday School teacher and always looking for new useful and inspirational crafts for my class. On the short walk to the corner, the logo kept my attention “VJM, hmm VJM”. Before even reaching the end of the block, it hit me, “View Jesus in Me”. This divine inspiration caused me to immediately return to the shop and ask the owner if he’d be willing to part with the balance of his misprinted stock for my Sunday School craft. He could see my excitement and gave me an amazing deal of $2.00 each and I walked away with about 14 pairs of shorts. It was at that moment that VJM was born. That very next Sunday, the children were introduced to ‘View Jesus in Me’ where they used fabric paints and stencils to imprint the words ‘View Jesus in Me’ and ‘God Rocks’ on the shorts. My son wore his for many years after that, to soccer and school and everywhere in between – he loved his art creation.
It was a short time after buying the shorts that Phys. Ed. changed to Athletics as it had a better flow. It was then I decided to have a theme for every Sunday School class I taught, whether I was teaching the Youth or the preschoolers. My classes were themed View Jesus in Me Athletics. The words meant a lot to me and I taught my kids and youth that being a Christian is being an athlete. Only instead of a work out of your body, it’s a work out of your spirit. Just like any athlete, we must constantly keep exercising to maintain optimum health. And as an athlete, once we have achieved success in developing a strong spirit in our Christian walk, we have to keep working out to maintain that strength as if we don’t, the spirit will lose its strength and durability.
We never just become a Christian and say ‘Yeah, I’m here, I achieved Christianity. I don’t have to read the Bible anymore or practice Faith. I’m good!” It is not like a final exam for a passing test nor are we rated on a bell curve where only the best achieve success. We are each individually responsible for our own journey and it is a life long journey where as soon as each of us reach our goal, we are to keep going on to the next one. I want my life to emulate Jesus in all I do and all I say. Because I am human, it is like an athletic journey to keep my eyes, thoughts and words on God and Jesus. When I do, I can feel myself grow stronger and become more rooted and more successful in my journey which gives me joy even in the midst of trials or challenges in our life. The endorphins are released within. When our spirit is trained to respond in a certain way and in all situations, it becomes an automatic response. We respond almost without thought. When we have a trained spirit, our first response in a crisis in our lives is to call upon Jesus and give him our worries, trials and tribulations and wait for his guidance. If our spirits are not trained, our first response will be worry and strife. Often times with worry and strife comes sickness, not only in our spirit but in our body. If you speak with someone whose body is afflicted with arthritis, they will tell you when they have stress in their lives, the arthritis gets inflamed and almost unbearable.
For many years since the time I first was inspired to create VJM Athletics, God kept directing me to start a family business and share this with whoever in the world needed to hear it. For many years, he kept planting this same thought in my head which I would always put off till later as I kept seeing my life as being so busy. During an incredible crisis in my own life, and as I was walking down that same street where I first got that pair of shorts, God whispered “NOW GO REGISTER VJM ATHLETICS INC.” It was really just a whisper but His whisper to me was so loud, so clear and so powerful! It was as if there was a divine force pushing me towards the registration office. I went in and started with a name search and by the end of the day “View Jesus in Me Athletics Inc.” was official.
