rain on me.

"people often tell you to dance in the rain. but, i prefer to run. something about the rain soaking through my clothes, dripping down my face, makes me feel refreshed. pushes me to run faster. allows me to appreciate God and the beauty of His creation. as the rain washes over me and my feet run against the pavement, i am surrounded with a sense of peace. and suddenly the world is right." - me.

last night, me and my friend brooke went for a trail run. even before we started the clouds were looking pretty dark, and it was thundering. half of the run was amidst a lot of trees, and not long after we got out into the open it just started pouring. as we were getting soaked brooke just yelled, "thank you God! you are so amazing!" and in that moment i really just felt God's presence around us. just acknowledging that He was the one that was making it rain, He was the one responsible for all the beauty around us. we both openly felt the same way. and so we spent the next few moments just really talking about God and how we were doing. it was like the rain gave us an opening to just talk about how we were doing. honestly, we were both pretty frustrated.

its easy to criticize for the things that don't go the way you want them to. to get upset over little things. to get angry for no reason. to not appreciate all the things God does give you, because you are too caught up in all your own crap to focus on all the things you have been given. i find myself getting upset over little things like friends not calling, or this or that and not giving thanks for the friends i have. the blessings God has given me. my family. the list goes on and on. and also, the other night i was praying for my friend mat who went in to have his heart looked at... and i just felt like i shouldn't even be praying because i hadn't even made time for God on a day to day basis for just the two of us. i felt like i shouldn't be asking for things when i haven't even putting God anywhere close to first in my life lately.

so brooke and i had a really great talk, as we enjoyed the rain soaking us to the core. and when we finished running we sat together and just prayed. it was just a really amazing thing to be able to fellowship doing something i really enjoy. running alone allows me to get rid of a lot of stress and focus on things, and combining that with good christian fellowship and focus on the One who brought us together. the whole experience was just really encouraging, and gave me a little bit more hope than i have had lately. :) amazing how God uses the little things to lift us up. i am so grateful for that.