I've been meaning to blog for well over a year now. In fact, I created my blog account last summer, yet it has never been used. Why? I have no clue. :) It's time to make use of this blog. This first blog probably won't be very profound, but as a friend has told me many times before - I am the only one who can see through my eyes. I am the only one who has lived the exact experiences and circumstances as I have. So it is time for me to share that voice.
Writing is fun for me. It is also a way of expressing myself that I cannot always do by just speaking. It gives me the freedom to express my emotions, my thoughts, the memories of events in my life, my concerns, and the things that God is showing me. At times my blog will likely encompass some of all of those things.
Today's blog will be an expression of a few things I was made aware of earlier this week on an afternoon jog. Now, some of you who know me well probably are wondering when in the world me & jogging started to get along. haha. Over the course of the time I was in New Orleans I developed a habit of walking down by the Mississippi River - this somehow turned into a sort of "liking" for exercising in that way. Now that I'm back to small town, I still walk outside, but the view doesn't quite compare to the Mississippi. The smells are not the same. I never thought I would miss the stench of my hair and clothes after coming back from being in the French Quarter. But I do. When I come home now I just smell of duck poop and fish. Those things aren't necessarily bad though because they mean that I have been outside in God's creation doing something that I enjoy. That is a reason to rejoice. :)
I noticed two things while I was on this particular jog. 1. There was a man carrying 3 little kids on his sides and back. & 2. After a while my muscles start hurting - this is inevitable and happens at some point everytime I walk/jog/run. These things seem to be no big deal in themselves but it was what they reminded me of that was significant. When I saw the man carrying those three kids on his back across a ditch a picture of God's love came to mind. He carries us like that. The ditch was too wide and too deep for those kids small legs to cross. God carries us - but unlike the man, His arms are infinite. He is unlimited and is able to carry ALL of us. That is amazing to me - that God WANTS to carry me. He wants to hold me and help me over those ditches. Now for the second observation I made that day: When I was a kid I had a lot of "growing pains" in my legs. It would hurt as my legs were stretching and growing. Along those same lines as I run and exercise I am working and building the muscles in my body. It is painful at times, but it builds up my endurance and strenthens me in the longrun. Though I am unable to visibly see the change as it is occuring, I can still feel the burn and pain as I run. All this time my muscles are changing gradually and building, even though I am unable to see it happening. It is only after time passes that I realize growth has occured - I am able to run for longer periods of time and distances without getting tired, and my legs do not hurt quite as much as they did before after only a short time. They are continually strengthening and building endurance the more I run. Our spiritual life is definitely like this. Growth sometimes/oftentimes is painful when we are going through it. Though we may not always understand why circumstances are the way they are, God can use it to grow us in a way that we will only be able to see later. It is imperative that we fix our eyes on Him and "keep running" even when it is painful. He uses those times to strengthen us and shape us to be more of who we can be in Him.
For those of you who made it to the bottom of this - thanks for reading. :)
