So over the past few days, I’ve spent a lot of time reading other racers blogs. I’ve read posts about packing lists, the what-to-do compared to the what-not-to-do’s. I’ve read posts about being present where I am now. I’ve read posts describing the transition teams are having upon their arrivals home. As I sat and read all of these I kept asking God to provide me with a topic to write about in my next blog post. (Is this silly? Probably.)
I went on about my days like normal. Stressing over pointless things. Laughing over hysterical moments. Getting way to little sleep. Procrastinating. Playing. Working. On and on the routine of my life went until one day at work, I saw things change. To preface my story I should tell you that until this last week I had been feeling very discouraged in my fundraising. I hadn’t had any spare time to actually sit down and work on things and it was basically starting to slip my mind in my list of priorities.
So back to my day at work. I had brought my homework in with the expectance of being able to sit down and work on things. I may have slightly underestimated just how busy we would be. You see I work at an outdoor supply store and the gorgeous spring weather had finally decided to show up. And so had the rest of Madison County. Everybody wanted a new ENO or Chacos or backpacks or etc. As customer after customer came in and left with their individual purchases I found myself talking to one man in particular. He was probably in his late fifties and he was waiting on his wife to purchase a pair of shoes. He began to ask me where I had gotten my tattoo on my arm and proceeded to tell me that he too wanted to get one.
He asked where it was that I had gotten it, and I directed him to Nashville. He then asked why I would have gone all the way to Nashville. I told him that I was originally from there and that I was simply in Jackson for college. This led to your typical “what are you studying. Oh. Well what are you going to do when you graduate” conversation. I then told him about my race. We discussed the race in itself, and he and his wife bid me farewell and good luck as they left the store.
Barely two minutes had passed, and I was talking with another set of customers when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see the man holding an envelope with the biggest grin on his face. He then handed me the envelope and told me to “put that towards your trip.” “Now I’m serious,” he said, “put that in the bank and have a wonderful trip.” and then he was gone. I opened it up to see a hundred dollar bill.
All week I have had encounters like this. A barista at the coffee shop I visit daily, who I had never met, introduced herself and ask a multitude of questions concerning my trip. She, like many others, had gotten word of my race from social media. (I feel like my face is popping up every where lately. Its quite strange if I’m honest. A good strange but strange nonetheless). Today alone, one of my professors was describing to me how he had spent a portion of his night reading all of the posts that had been shared about my trip. In the past hour alone, I have had two people, one of whom I’ve never met, walk up to me and offer their support.
Sitting here talking to them both and reflecting back on my week, it seemed obvious what God was laying on my heart to share.
One of my favorite verses in Isaiah 55:12
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
I recently shared this with a large group, but it isn’t until just now, after this week, that the impact of the words are resonating.
“GO OUT.” “BE LED.” Nothing ever comes to those who lay idle and refuse to do work. My week was busy, yes, but it was in the conversations that were had that the Lord was working. It was not in my individual actions. It was in the Lords timing and guidance of my conversation. It was because He urged me and that man from work to go forth and talk about things I didn’t typically talk about with customers.
Perhaps my favorite part of the verse is the image that comes when you read “The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Mountains and hills will BURST INTO SONG and trees will CLAP. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the privilege of seeing a mountain sing or a tree clap, but I personally have not. However, the thought of me simply being willing to share what God has laid on my heart and this being the reaction?! That could make you do some crazy things for Jesus you know. Or at least crazy for me. I mean the crazy I’m talking here is just being willing to have conversations. God has placed the people around me in my life for a reason, I just need to open my eyes to them. To be led.
