Running like a Child

Somedays you just need to leave your worries behind and run like a child. This past weekend I got a chance to do that I what is known as The color Run. This is a 5 k race in which you get a colored powder thrown on you at every Kilometer. Sounds fun, right? As crazy as it sounds in the midst of all my Marathon training it was so nice to run with friends, not wear a timing device, and no iPod .There were no winners, or as we say to our kids " we are all winners" my favorite part was at the finish line. My kids were patiently waiting for me at the end with my parents and Hayley ran to give me a hug.She loved that I was covered in color and couldn't wait to get some of it on her. My boys on the other hand wanted nothing to do with getting colored powder on them. I gave Hayley my packet of color and we followed the loud music to the crowd of people dancing. "on the count of three, throw your color in the air" the announcer said. " 1,2,3" green powder cascaded up from Hayley's bag and into my face and covered my once white shirt. She screamed in delight and began turning in circles from pure joy. I gazed at my sweet 6 year old girl and realized that this must be how God wants us to be, to be so full of joy that we are completly immersed in the moment and we don't care who is watching, what is going on or what the next moment will be but we are so full of joy we spin in circles and love life, love that moment, this life, this opportunity, this challenge and this circumstance because it is molding us into who He wants us to be. Hayley and I continued to have an amazing time singing, dancing and being giddy and joyful in the moment. I know sometimes it sounds cliche and overused but God really does have a plan for each one of our lives. There will be moments, days, months and even years that we do not understand our current struggles but our job is not to understand them. Our job is simply to trust. As I watched the bright colors of the sunset reflecting off of a beautiful lake tonight I thought "God created this beautiful sunset, this view and so many other miracles, my current struggles are nothing for Him to solve." And so I challenge myself, I challenge you to release your pain, your struggles, your worries , fears and doubts once again to God and give yourself permission to run like a carefree child!