what a beautiful morning it was for a trail run. yesterday i was graciously given the day off, because of all the hours worked at church this past weekend during a conference we put on. i got a nap in yesterday afternoon, went to bed at a decent hour, and slept in for the first time in a month. my wife got the girls ready and took them to school, so that i could sleep in and then leave to hit the trails. what a woman!
god began to bless me even before i got to the trailhead. one of the things i love most about trail running is seeing all the different animals and scenery. on the drive in, i saw a flock of at least 30 wild turkeys. i actually stopped the car in the road and just watched them for about 5 minutes. it was awesome. not something you see everyday.
a few more minutes down the road i saw a huge buck saunter across the street. again, just stopped the car in the road and watched. what a great way to start the run!
i didn't get a long run in, only a 10k which took me a little over an hour. it was perfect. i stopped by an inland lake about half way, felt god stopping me. so, i took off my het, sunglasses, gloves, and stood by the lakeside for a few minutes, throwing rocks. i knew god wanted me to stop. could sense in my heart he wanted to say something to me. so i waited. eventually i got stir crazy, and began to leave, but something wouldn't let me. so, instead of fighting it, i turned back around to face the lake. i began to thank god for making wonderful things like nature. i then sort of got frustrated and began to ask god out loud what he wanted to tell me.
then he whispered, "Don't you know Thad?" even more frustrated, i responded, "Don't i know what?" patiently, god responded, "Don't you know how much I love you Thad?" then it hit me. he stopped me at the lake, persuaded me to run this particular trail even though I hadn't wanted to, made it so that i could/would go trail running this morning. he orchestrated this entire event, this specific moment in time, to tell me he loves me. isn't that just like god?
this put a metaphorical spring in my step. i swore that i heard a chorus of angels begin to sing excitedly once i began to grasp what god was doing. pretty sure i heard them singing, "Get Ready!" over and over again; dancing all over the place. i don't really know why, but it seemed they were excited about something.
now, some of you might be thinking this was something in my imagination. i think this was a divine encounter with my savior, my god, my friend. father, i hear you loud and clear. thank you for meeting me out there today, specifically to tell me you love me.
tomorrow will be day 30. seems like it's gone by pretty fast, this little streak of mine. my next goal is to hit 40 consecutive days, and then we will go from there.
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