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Last Friday I ran a 5k
race. I have not been jogging as much as I should to be in a race.
But I got caught up in the excitement of the race. Because of the
crowd and other factors I found myself running at a great pace. It
felt great to be able to do much better than I ever dreamed.
Celebrating my wonderful experience with my son and daughter-in-law
and some other friends was a wonderful end to a great day.
But two days later my
legs ached and I felt like I had been in a battle. I walked much
slower and even a couple of aspirins didn’t seem to bring relief.
Are you feeling sorry for me yet? But what happened next is amazing.
I took some time to just rest. A nap seemed to come easily and
after resting my body started to recover. My strength started to
come back to normal.
So, today I am reflecting
on all of my running experience and marveling at how wonderfully made
the human body is. Today I am rejoicing that life (even human life)
is so amazing.
Being
an introvert has made certain parts of being a minister difficult.
After all being in ministry does require being around people. I have
learned to be more outgoing and I do enjoy many social activities.
But I also know that I need ‘down’ time away from it all. In this
part of the world I do a lot of bike riding and it has brought a
refreshment to my soul. But the biggest help along this line is that
God has let me see myself for who I am. I am not one who can be on
the go all the time. So, I pace myself. I am not one to give in to
every happening that comes down my path. I have learned to wait and
see on some issues. I have also learned that I do not speak out all
the time. I can be quiet and learn by listening.
Knowing
myself has been a life long journey and it is not over yet. And one
of the biggest lessons of knowing myself is that not everyone is like
me. There are some people who think and act differently. I am
learning that this makes a wonderful world. So, today and I hope
everyday I will learn more about myself and learn more from others.
Last
week I had a strange happening. I was not looking forward to all
that I had to do. A member of the church, who was not only a good
person but a person I respected died. That took some emotional
energy from me. There were some other happenings that also drained
me. But what surprised me was in the midst of all this activity I
had a committee meeting that actually charged me up. You read
correctly -a committee meeting that picked me up.
Reflecting
on this happening has caused me to thank God for answered prayers.
Before going to that meeting I felt drained and I prayed that God’s
will would be done. God chose to answer that prayer in a wonderful
way. That surprise has forced me to not only thank God but to affirm
again that God is a God of surprises.
As
this week is just starting to unfold I have spent more time in prayer
and asking God again for His will to be done in my life and the life
of the Church that I am called to be the minister of. Join me in
prayer for God’s will to be in all our lives and in our world.
Life
does not always go the way I think it should. In fact there are
times I wonder how I got into some things. I am sitting here at my
desk wondering how I got involved in this evening’s activities. It
is not a bad happening and in fact will probably be a good time but I
wanted to do something else. I just wanted to be home and rest up
for the busy week ahead. But now I am committed to something
entirely different. As I stated life does not always go the way I
think it should.
But
then again why do I think life should go the way I want it to go?
When I really put some thought into my place in life, I come up with
the amazing idea that life is not about me. There is so much more in
life than my little part in it. I am more convinced than ever that I
need to be more flexible and enjoy all aspects of life even those
parts that are on my to do list. By the way -many of the good times
in life for me have been those times I never would have thought it
would have turned out that way.
April
1 is past. It is according to many the day that you can fool people
and get by with it simply by saying “April fools.” I, myself,
have enjoyed this day. Watching someone ‘fall’ for a falsehood can
be fun. But imagine if every day was a April Fool’s day. It would
be a terrible world indeed.
However,
when I think of some of the talking that I have heard I wonder if
some don’t think it is April fool’s day. I have had promises made to
me that the minute I heard it I knew something was not right. What
is really sad is that sometimes I have been guilt of not speaking as
honestly as I am capable. One of the thoughts that God has been
speaking to me about is my praying for others. I need to step it up
a notch and be more intention and more specific. It is so easy to
say to a person, “I will be praying for you” and to give a quick
prayers and be done. I am going to have to think more about this
topic and not let any other day be an ‘April Fools Day.’