thejoyfilledrunner: Each day is a blessing

Monday, February 23, 2015

Each day is a blessing

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

With only 15 minutes left to go before the expo ended (along with the last chance to register for any of the races), I didn't really expect to see anyone other than those on the way out. Unexpectedly, a very beautiful woman, still dressed in work clothes complete with her name tag, rushed over to our TEAM413 booth. We could tell she was in a hurry as she asked where the sign-ups were. In fact, she seemed so frantic to get there that I stayed behind as my partner, without hesitation, led her over to the registration table. About 5 minutes later she returned with a determined look on her face.

"Do you have any of these shirts in pink?" she asked. How funny that she wanted that color as I had just found the only one we had left buried under some of the others. And what do you know? It was in her size. God is so good, I thought to myself. As we talked further she told me why she was there. Her name was Gena and she and her friend had talked for a long time about training to do a 5k race but, like a lot of people,they kept putting it off. Her friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and was buried on Valentine's Day (just a week earlier) and life, as Gena viewed it, was forever changed. She was now determined to complete the race (running, walking or crying) in honor of her friend. Not only this 5k but one every month for a year. Fighting tears, we agreed that it was indeed time to start living... and then we agreed that God would indeed provide the strength she needed to finish.

You see we aren't guaranteed tomorrow. James 4:14 reminds us that we, "do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." If you have today, it's a blessing. Every breath you and I take is an undeserved gift from God-one not to be wasted. Gena sent me a picture of herself after finishing the 5k she kept putting off and I have a feeling that she will view each day differently from now on. How about you?

Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessings that come out of the most tragic times in our lives. Thank you that we can see a purpose for life through our tears and sadness. I pray that we would live each day to the fullest. I pray that we would love hard, laugh harder and rejoice with the blessings of each moment we are given. Thank you Jesus for the lessons learned through sadness, tears and despair. Thank you for lifting us up to live another day. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org