“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!!” –Psalm 118:24
What an awesome Scripture to describe my heart today! I would say that today is the final day I will be talking about God’s gifts, but let’s be honest, I am not really driving this boat. He might tell me that I need to keep up with the giftiness that is His love. But for now, I would like to share with you why this day is shaping up to be an extra special gift.
1. I had a great workout/run this morning. 4 miles, which is pretty good considering my legs are less than cooperative thanks to the crazy workout I had with my trainer on Wednesday. Hurt so good, right?
2. On the running note, I found a new running training plan that I am “officially” kicking off on Monday. Now that I have determined that it might actually someday be possible for me transition from a non-runner to pseudo-runner to legit-runner, this next three month training plan is to help me improve my 5K running time to under 30 min. (For all you runners out there, that doesn’t seem like much, but for this girl who couldn’t legitimately run an eighth of a mile 9 months ago, I say Hallelujah!!) So needless to say, I am pumping myself up for THAT intense training experience. GET SOME!
3. We are leaving for CCC Women’s retreat in about 2 hrs from the time of this writing. I have been privileged to serve on planning team for women’s ministry, so the final culmination to “Come Away” is going to be an amazing gift. Nothing like a two night slumber party to bring women together with God!
4. My old journal is 11 pages shy of being filled up. Which means I get start a new journal very soon. And as a writing geek, that makes my heart flutter. My new journal is SUH-WEET… PLUS I purchased a new black inky pen to go with it yesterday. Totally stoked.
5. By the grace of God, I was able to consciously choose prayer over panic this morning probably for one of the first times ever. Which was an AMAZING GIFT. Here’s what happened: Justus and I got back from our run this morning around 8:00am. I had a text on my phone from a friend/fellow Drill Sgt wife saying that she had food poisoning, wondering if I could watch her kids for a while today. My immediate response was “Gah, I can’t I have so much to do before leaving on retreat in a few hours.” But after I sent her a text saying I couldn’t take care of the kids but would bring her Sprite, God spoke to me and said “You can do both. I will make it happen.”
So I texted her back and said when I delivered the Sprite I would bring her two oldest kids ages 4 and 2 over to my house to babysit until I had to leave for retreat so she and her newborn could rest. My head was saying that I was crazy and fighting panic, but my heart told me that God had this and he would help me get everything done I needed to before departure (note: I had not packed at all for this retreat… and as part of the planning committee, I was bringing other “stuff” in addition to my own personal items.)
I initially sent my beloved husband after some Sprite before he went to work this morning, but he called 10 minutes later and said he wouldn’t be able to make it back in time before needing to go to work thanks to awesome on-post Friday morning traffic. “Ok God, it’s just you and me.” I sped groomed, got in the car to go get some Sprite for my friend– and I found my heart praying to let traffic move smoothly and for God to enable me to get everything done I needed. Oh, and to keep me calm. Minor detail.
Obviously, prayer over panic worked out wonderfully. Traffic was smooth, I delivered the Sprite, picked up the kids, finished grooming, packed in record time, started updating the Family Readiness Group roster and even had time to blog (hence this post!) This IS the day the Lord has made… And lemme tell you what folks, I am rejoicing and finding myself VERY glad in it!! So thankful that I found the Spirit… In a bottle of Sprite.
With a carbonated, bubbly heart,
SGK
“We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.” Colossians 1:9-10 (MSG)
