Saturday was Endure the Dirt. A 5K mud run that is our major fundraiser, raising money for our nonprofit, Personal Pep Rally.
I started watching the weather a week in advance. Rain was in the forecast, and the percentage kept going up. I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday and immediately checked my weather app. 100% rain 8am, 9am, 10am. Right when the races were beginning. To be really honest, I wasn’t that worried about it because what could I do about the weather, nothing.
Racers began arriving at 7:15 for the color run at 8am. At 8am, it was still ok, so we lined them up, and the race started. The weather was rainy, but it stayed good until the very end. The next race was to start at 10am. We kept watching the weather and the clouds. Lightning, we knew we had to wait 30 minutes between strikes. Finally, after an hour of weather-watching and sitting in a big tent outside, with the wind blowing back and forth, some of our police officers called me.
We can’t do the race this morning. We need to push it to 3pm. So, we announced and sat for 4 hours, hoping and praying that people would come back and get dirty for cancer.
To be honest, I wasn’t nervous about it. It was what it was. I couldn’t do anything about the weather. I couldn’t decide whether people should come back. I had control of nothing except myself, sitting and waiting for the storm to pass. I could sit and worry and wait, or I could wait, well knowing that we had done everything we could to prepare for the race and trust God with the weather and with the people showing up.
Waiting is not a strong suit of many. It is difficult not to know, not to see what is ahead, not to be in control, and to sit and wait.
Yet, it’s often in these times of delay that God shapes us for His purposes.
The Lord is not the Lord of quickness most of the time. He is less concerned with when it happens. He isn’t on a time frame like we are. He is an on-time God on His own time. I mean, really think about it.
Abraham waited for his promised son. Moses was in his 80’s when he was in the middle of his calling. David waited for years to become king. Noah was in a boat for over a year. God didn’t speak for 400 years until Jesus was born. Can you imagine waiting for years for something to happen?
2:30 arrived, and participants began pulling in and walking up to the tent to pick up their timer chip. It was amazing. I’m not sure exactly how many we had come back to run, but we at least had 200, if not more. And we had MUD, lots of mud!
The next time you are anxious about the wait, remember to be anxious for nothing, Christ will show up, and it will be worth the wait.
This week, remember to:
1. Show up for JESUS every day – Start your day in the Word.
2. Show up for OTHERS – Serve others, whether or not they are like you, whether or not they annoy you, or are difficult to understand. That is what Jesus did; He showed up for everyone.
3. Show up for YOU – Fill your cup before you help fill others’ cups.
WE WILL FIND JOY WHEN WE SHOW UP FOR JESUS, OTHERS, AND OURSELVES.
As Father Mike says, “You pray for me, and I will pray for you.”
As Tara Leigh says: He’s where the joy is.
Have a great week, Cupcake loves you and so does Jesus.
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