Every Day

God showed me recently, in my overwhelmed state, the pride beneath it all. When we are overwhelmed, we are simply feeling reality: we are not in control. If I am feeling overwhelmed, it is because I have been stripped of the illusion that I could handle my situation using my own resources!

Coming to reality is a good thing. A few days ago I thought about all of the things on my schedule, and I was brought to my knees before God. "Lord, I cannot do it." 

I started laying down each task/event before Him and surrendering them all to Him. "Lord, you must do it, because I cannot!" Whether it has been household tasks or the logistics of juggling the three kids with various meetings/events, I have presented them to God, one by one. 

I feel I should not be amazed at this by now, but somehow I am always surprised by God's faithfulness and supernatural intervention in our lives. The joy and peace I have experienced as I have walked through my days with Him has been a true delight. He is so efficient! He is so good at what He does!

Last night I walked into our bedroom, ready to collapse onto the bed after a particularly full few days. I was letting out a sigh of relief that things had worked out so well after wondering how in the world everything was going to fit together. I said to myself, "Whew! Thank goodness the hard part is over. The next few days will be easier." What I was really thinking was, "God did a great job with those complicated days! These next few ones are simple enough for me to handle." 

I am glad that I kneeled down by my bed to pray, even though I didn't feel I needed to.  I realized that the next day was actually feeling really stressful after all. I was supposed to run a 5K adventure race with two of Ellis' co-workers, and I hadn't been able to train at all! It was so reassuring to trust the Lord with the race and everything thing else for the next day, and I am happy to say that God provided so kindly. 

Ellis decided he wanted to come and cheer me on with all the kids. When I saw him strolling up to the starting line to see us off, I felt he deserved the amazing husband of the year award. He and the kids followed us along to the various obstacles in spite of the rough terrain and heat. Ellis did not complain once, and he had such joy on his face: he was so happy for me to have the chance to run around and have fun. 

He took pictures of us right before the race started. Holly and Dannielle decided to name us "Team Golytely (pronounced 'go lightly')," which is the name of the drink they give to patients to "clear the pipes" before a colonoscopy (doctor humor). I felt a little uncomfortable in the skin-tight tank tops, but it really didn't matter. We were about to be covered in mud anyway!

Pretty soon we were off...like a herd of turtles!

There were so many obstacles that it was really fun. Running is probably my least-favorite physical activity, but if you can break it up with some adventurous activities I am all for it.

Here we were near the very end, waiting to climb up one of the last obstacles, which was a huge inflatable slide going down into a giant mud pit. 

I managed to get some video footage of us going down the slide. Don't ask me how, but I ended up completely submerged in the two-foot deep muddy disgusting water at the bottom. I was so out of sorts when I stood up that I fell down in the grass trying to get over the inflated side wall. All in all, a pretty fun time :)

I actually did run all three miles and I did not even throw up one time. It was a fun day and I am grateful to God for the day. I am realizing that every day is really God's day, not mine. Every day is a chance to die to my illusion of "making through the day" by my own resources and join God in reality!