Always choose joy

"Always be joyful." 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Joined by my dear friend, Shannon,  I was excited to show up to the start line of a reportedly difficult 50k trail run early yesterday morning. And difficult it was-from the beginning to the end, nothing went the way it was supposed to. The course wasn't marked well and my friend and I couldn't make heads or tails of the map we had been given. The trail proved to be quite technical as well and we got tripped-up and lost more times than we could count. And yet it was a day filled with rejoicing, happiness and awe at the blessings all around us. Amidst the difficult circumstances and the prospect of another DNF (did not finish), Shannon and I could not have been any happier as we laughed and slowly traversed the rocky and hilly terrain before us. You see, finding reasons to be joyous wasn't dependent on whether our race or day went as planned, it was dependent on how we chose to view the things that happened throughout the course of it.

Having endured many trials, difficulties and obstacles in his life, Paul knew the importance and power of choosing to find joy in every situation too. In fact, in his letter to the church at Thessalonica where believers were being persecuted, Paul wrote, "Always be joyful." I love that world always. It means at all times and on all occasions, good and bad. How is that possible you might wonder? It's as simple as reminding ourselves that, while crazy, unexpected and unwelcome things will happen to us each day that are out of our control, we always have control over the way we react to these things. In other words, you and I always have a choice.

Henri J. Nouwen wisely said it this way, "Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” So what will you choose?

Heavenly Father, thank you for your blessings, great and small, that you give each of us every day. Most of all, thank you for your presence in our lives and your promise to always be with us no matter what we are facing. And for that, Lord, help us to choose to always be joyful so that others might be drawn to us that we might share the source of that joy. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Joy - Johnny Diaz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn_ZSR6QWYM

We got lost before we even got started as our GPS took us the wrong way. The race director was kind enough to allow us to start late. So off we went, just the two of us, on a chilly November morning. 

This was the only "aid station" we were able to find. The pickings were thin but the few cookies we found got us through 6 hours and 21 miles of navigating the hills and rocky terrain. Oh how we thanked God for these simple blessings in the form of simple carbs!!

Enjoying one of the few open pastures and easy running spots, we were thrilled to take a moment to stop and watch the wild buffalo.

Our only finish line photo with a new friend we met at the end. No one this day made it more than 21 miles we later found out,  but we laughed and agreed that it was an experience that we would never forget. Oh praise God for adventures like this!!