Rhythm

Rhythm is everywhere. This afternoon it was pounding pretty loud in my life. Pun intended.
It started with this song, which was introduced to me by Allie Fisk, a friend and co-worker: The Chain, by Ingrid Michealson. After listening to the song about 1/2 a dozen times at work, I finally burst out of the doors at work and sang the chorus out loud the entire treck to the bus station. I kept singing those catchy lyrics, trying my best to separate myself from the mob of people who all seemed to be impatiently waiting for our ride.

As I was dropped off at my destination, the lady walking behind me who also lives at our complex kept clearing her throat. Ehem, ehem, eh he hem. I wondered if she was at all trying to get my attention to complain about the bus being over 1/2 an hour late, or the cops that came on the bus and preceded to remove one of the riders for who-knows-what, or the two people that were the last to get on the bus with 5 over-sized luggage bags, removing this lady from her normal, front row, oversized seat. Whether wrong or not, despite her almost rhythmic noises, I kept walking home. Sorry lady with the furry vest, I'm not going to sympathize with you. Deal with it. This is public transportation.

After hanging the keys on the bulliten board, I grabbed this computer and preceded to check my vitals. (yes, my vitals. A term I came up with to blanket all regularly visited internet sites.) I knew that I needed to get out and exercise, as I hadn't gone on a jog for five days. I browsed and browsed and browsed.... subconsciously fighting with the bad voice encouraging me to just chill out tonight again, "come on, you'll be able to make 3 miles at the 5K race. Who cares if you jog it or not!"

I was then led to a blog that I hadn't come across before. I had only met this girl once. She was a girl that I knew of; a sister of a friend. After reading bits and pieces of her 5 years and counting online journal, I was once again motivated, for I could immediately see a change in attitude from her first posts compared to present day. I'm pretty sure she is a very different person today.

The Lord (through her) reminded me that I am at the physical state where I am now beacuse of my choices. MY choices. He did not create me overweight. But as Dave Ramsey says, "The bad news is, you're the problem. The good news is, you're the answer." He's right, but I like to add "...with the Lord's help, I'm the answer."

So I checked my training schedule, laced up my tennies, and started off the treck. This was to be my hardest workout yet! I decided to take a scenic route today, and you better believe I'm glad I did, for what preceded was something I'd like to never forget. Right now for training, I'm doing a walk/jog combination. I was to do a 1:2 combination today eight times. I was on the sixth combination, which was the most I had done so far. My knees were aching and my ankles had this burning feeling that I was sure must be some sort of heating mechanism built into my shoe (turns out there wasn't.)

I rounded the bend of the last 3/4 of the run when, to my joy, I saw a man walking his dog and what must have been a one year old in a stroller. I say 'to my joy' because I really do love to see indirect acts of love like this in our world. He immediately smiled at me, which was contagious. But I thought to myself, "I probably look so ridiculous that he just has pity on me. This is embarrassing." No more was I thinking this when I glanced at him once more and found him still looking at me. With a smile he quickly said, "You're doing great! Keep goin!"

This is the part of the blog where Hannah tells you that through the bald headed man with the baby and pooch, the voice of the Lord was speaking to her. Encouraging. Personal. Perfect timing. Sometimes I get this pattern going where I come to God with prayer requests and praises in a methodical way that doesn't really seem personal. I'd compare it to homework. You get good and bad results from your work, and you keep going forward trying to do better, checking off what you've learned in each chapter, and looking forward to better results.

Can I tell you today that I serve a God who loves both of us more than we can fathom? Not just for the obvious reasons that come from the pulpit or are conveyed in huge fonts on billboards in ditches. No, He loves us enough to notice the little details in life, and He wants to be a part of them. The Lord doesn't just want me to include Him in big-life events and choices; He wants to be a part of every single rhythm of my life.