WAHOO (SNR) – Two Diocese of Lincoln parishioners work as a team dedicated to God and Catholicism to ensure great health and fitness.
April Kassebaum, a certified personal trainer and member of North American Martyrs Parish in Lincoln, and Randy Porter, a retired journalist and member of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Wahoo, remain on a journey that restored Porter’s health. They met in December 2015.
“I was at rock bottom,” said Porter, who lost 120 pounds in three years — and has kept it another two years. He weighed 305 pounds and his health was failing. Porter, who lives in Wahoo with his wife, Gannie, sought Kassebaum’s help.
“He was on a downward slope,” said Kassebaum, who lives in Lincoln with her husband, Patrick, and daughter, Avalon, 18. “I heard Randy was in the choir at St. Wenceslaus, but it was six months into training before we really began dedicating each workout to God.” Randy had mentioned he wanted to practice the Holy Rosary.
She suggested they pray the Rosary while he worked out in the pool. Then, she recognized the opportunity to attach his fitness journey to their mutual Catholic faith. So, their journey evolved into one led by God, reciting prayers for strength and motivation.
At one point, Kassebaum had Porter saying Hail Marys to various exercises and Our Fathers to others.
“Together, led by Catholicism, Randy has gained an outstanding level of physical fitness,” the personal trainer said. “He entered his first 5K (a 3.1-mile race) at age 64.”
“When I met April for the first time, all I could do was blubber like a baby,” said Porter, 66. He said he cried because he was ashamed of his weight. Yet, he also cried tears of happiness because he knew he had done the right thing to get help.
Kassebaum does business as “Fit by April.” She said God sent her each of her 80 clients. Various clients told her they have little idea how they came to choose her as their personal trainer, and remarked, “it must have been a God thing.”
Porter continues to see Kassebaum to stay on track. Coincidentally, the Porters’ son, Brandon, 26, also works as a certified personal trainer in Omaha.
“Randy maintains what I refer to as an optimum weight,” Kassebaum said. “He’s achieved a huge goal and has become an inspiration to others.”
It’s uplifting and encouraging that a religious journey can inspire such a transformation, she said. Others also can achieve their health and fitness goals through their faith.
“Turn that journey over to God,” said Kassebaum, who works Tuesdays and Thursdays in Wahoo. “It takes 20 minutes or more for a good workout. It takes 20 minutes to recite the Rosary. So, why not combine the two?”
“I thank God and April for this fitness journey, thank my wife for her support and give myself a little credit, too,” Porter said. “Like all your problems, turn your health over to God.”
Kassebaum said she doesn’t push her faith on clients, but if the opportunity arises, she doesn’t let it go by. Others want a strictly secular work, and as a businesswoman, she has to respect that.
Porter and Kassebaum now pray regularly at workouts and even invoke the saints’ intercession.
