{Discouraged much?? Story Time! ...theres a prize at the end!}

It took me more than 3 tries to log in because I've forgotten my password. Shame on me!

Well folks, interestingly enough, as I was thinking about sharing something God gave me, Nat so wonderfully introduced the topic...sort of.

It was 5pm and I was feeling pumped up and ready for a nice long relaxing jog. My "routine" had been broken with various occasions our church had..so I knew I wouldnt run a marathon.

If any of you know, the Sun (with a capital s) in lil ol' sacramento does an extraordinary job shinin his face, even at 5 in the the eve...so much that the numerous shades and shadows of trees have been layed off. ha ha.

I get out and start running...my mind starts with a prayer as I look at all the beautiful plants and trees God created...squirrels, rabbits...goats even (i saw goats!)...it's been about 25 minutes when an older gentlemen who came out to water his yard waves, smiles and shouts "a bit too hot for that eh?"
I smile back and breath out "oh its fine"...waving my hand in return.

and that's when it hit me...when I passed his house, it was as if the earth was a golf ball and I'm standing on it, all 5'6.5" tall and the sun decides to see and shine only on me. My forehead was creating bomb size sweat as my brain started to scream "you're the Only genius on this planet earth to run at 5 in the evening!!!!" and of course, my eyeballs examine the streets around me to concur as no other living being was around me...no more bunnies, squirrels or goats, not even flowers.

Funny that I didn't notice the heat or discomfort until someone pointed it out...and the mind grabs on to that particular statement as if for dear life, to make me stop.

In a Christian's life, it's similar. You do something good for the soul, and it might seem so bizarre to the world...However, living a Godly life should be bizarre and not ordinary to the people who are non believers. Sometimes however, we might hear "wow, do you really need to be at church 4 days a week??!!" and it's as if Satan himself wants to convince you that you don't need it or it's too much for you to handle...or what have you.

well, I continued to jog but required to be my own cheerleader...so as I start to listen to my cells yelling at me to stop and I notice I'm slowing down...and my cheers went from "you can do it!!!!" to "five more minutes"...I started to think...what if I can pretend there's a prize at the end...like A MILLION DOLLARS!!

And.. I stopped. no, not because I was tired, because I was laughing so hard!!!
You see, recently, our youth has received great messages from God about analyzing our priorities in life and how we misuse the finances God gave us(nadia will share)..and how people are always drawn to the root of all evil--money!

The reason i was laughing is because although I heard the message and praised God for it...instead of thinking of Jesus or Heaven as my "prize at the end" I quickly jumped to the green paper!!!!!!!!!! And once more, I thanked Him for showing me that sinful nature in me so that I can completely be transformed by Him, run through the race called life with Jesus, to reach my Heavenly Father...waiting at the end.

Be Blessed,
Victoria