Embrace It!

Several months ago, I came across a website for the “Happiest 5k on the planet”, The Color Run.  As I began to read about it, I was hooked.  Basically there are 3 rules in this 5k. #1 You have to start the race wearing all white. #2 When you finish, color should be plastered on everything. #3 You must have fun.  You see, every kilometer you go through a “color station” where volunteers are standing with large buckets of powdered paint, and they throw cups full on you as you run through.  So, you start the race with a white shirt and you finish the race with a tye-dyed body! 

As soon as I found out that the race was coming to my hometown, Birmingham, AL, I got excited.  A few months later I, along with my friend and mentor Niki and two other friends, Jill and Gabrielle, had signed up for the race!  Niki and I hit the stores and found white shorts and white tank tops to wear.  We decided to wear all white to get the maximum color!  The weekend of the race we both traveled to Birmingham to get ready for it! 

The night before the race, we received an email about the weather.  Thanks to Hurricane Isaac, it appeared that rain was in our future.  Not good.  We checked the radar, and it appeared that we would be free from rain during the race time. So we headed to bed to get up bright and early.  Jill, Gabrielle, me and Niki before the race!The morning of the race we suited up in our all white outfits, picked up our friends, and headed to the race.  We got there, got everything ready and it started to rain.  It was OK though because there was almost 2 hours before the race started.  A few minutes later the rain cleared, we walked around and saw all the crazy people and their costumes and headed towards the start chute with 10,000 of our closest friends.  Ha! Then, as we were standing in the chute, it started to rain again.  It continued to rain... and rain... and rain some more.  We stood in the rain for about an hour before the race began.  We were soaked, freezing and --let’s just be honest-- miserable.  People were getting out of line, and some people were even leaving.  Not going to lie, the thought even crossed my mind.  However, I stuck it out and finally the race began.

As we went through the course, we were doused with all color.  It was everywhere!  It was in our noses, mouths, ears and of course, all over our clothes.  We were nasty!  Because we were soaked from the rain and since it was still raining, as soon as the color hit us, it bled all over our clothes and even began to drip down our faces.  Yep, we definitely were nasty!  There were mud puddles all over the course, and they were now colored so, on top of getting colored we had to run through colored mud puddles.  Did I mention how nasty we were?!

Post race!Anyway, we made it through the course and finished the race and yes, we were a colorful, nasty mess.  However, it was a lot of fun.  As we were walking to the car, we even decided to embrace our messiness and jump in every mud puddle we saw.  The four of us were like four little kids whose mom let them play outside in the rain.  It was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Just think, at one point I wanted to pack it up and go home.  I would have missed a whole lot.

I told you we were nasty!So what does this have to do with you?  Simply embrace the position you are in.  You might not be stuck in the rain and freezing like I was, but you might be in the middle of an undesirable event in your life.  You might be stuck in a class that you cannot stand. You might be going through a struggle, and it’s getting the best of you.  You might be working a job that is stressful, and you are struggling to keep your head above water.  You might be miserable in the place where you are for this moment.  Whatever position you are in, embrace it.  Make the best out of it.  In Luke 19, we see a story about Zacchaeus. He was a wee little man! :)  Anyway, he heard that Jesus was coming through town and he wanted to see Him for himself.  However, because of his short stature he could not see anything.  He could have given up and gone home and thought nothing else about it.  But, he didn’t.  He chose to embrace his position, climb a tree, see Jesus, and his life was never the same after that.  He refused to miss what God had for him no matter the position he was in.  That’s my challenge to you today.  Embrace your position and refuse to miss God and what He is doing in the position.  You never know what fun might be waiting for you.

Comments

[Audrey]

Beautiful!