Joy Comes in the Morning

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Since this winter there has been one promise from the Bible that has stuck with me and come to mind more than any other:  "...pain may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning."  Psalm 30:5

 God has sent it to me during many personal situations, as well as in times when I should share it with others who are struggling.  It fills me with hope that I do not have to stay down in the dumps.  When I put my faith in His promises that there is good to come, it never fails.  Then when I have been through the battle, I have a testimony that I can use to encourage others when they are down.  I hate the trials when they happen, but I am so thankful for the lessons they teach me, strength I gain from overcoming, and opportuinities to share with others that they give me.

 

add lyrics by Newsboys in Your Love Never Fails

Sometimes joy comes in the most unexpected or simple ways.  This picture, for example, was taken one morning before school when I had had a really rough morning at home.  I was starting the day off in a really bad mood!  As I pulled into my neighborhood friend's driveway to pick her up for Bible Study, my heart was lifted at this beautiful sight.  It was just a blessing to see these cute little cows grazing behind her house as the sun was rising.  It may sound silly, but at that moment, it made my day.

This was during the region 3200 race that I won for the second year in a row.  This spring was a rough one for me because of school stress and so much more, but the joy of the Lord always kept me going!  Even when I would have a bad race or practice, I could always find strength to keep on trucking.

Two different years, two different uniforms, two different locations, one goal and One God.

If you want to hear a little more about these two pictures from region this year, let your mouse take a detour for a minute.

There is this awesome social media account that I've mentioned before called Daily Bible Verses that you should check out on instagram and Twitter!  I have found so much encouragement from the verses and quotes shared on there and I am sure you will find something that speaks to you, too.  I also think it is great to have positive things like this included in your news feed so that it helps keep your mind fresh while you also look at the other things you follow.

***As a matter of fact, this is just one awesome and totally current example of how God is always working in our lives!  I love to experiece these moments, and love sharing about them, too!  As I was typing this post, I went to the DBV instagram page so that I could copy and paste the hyperlink, and look what the most recent picture was:

Is that crazy or what?!  God never ceases to amaze me.

This one was posted by DVB a while back.

klove's instagram page also posts lots of similar quotes and verses of enocouragement.

 

There is also a song that gets stuck in my head whenever I think of this verse.  It is so upbeat and makes me want to dance!  It's called Your Love Never Fails by the Newsboys.

Here's just a sample of the lyrics:

 

I know I still make mistakes
You have new mercy for me everyday
'Cause Your love never fails

You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night
But joy comes in the morning

...

And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

You make all things work together for my good

 

Back in the spring when I found this picture, it inspired this post.  It also gave me the idea to make my own version of this picture, because I love my morning coffee!   Earlier this week, I decided that now was the time.  I was going to stop putting it off for "another day" and was determined that I was going to get it done!

Here is my homemade morning joy:

Jesus

coffee

vanilla bean espresso almond butter pancake

 

No matter how restless a night may be, painful or discouraging a day you've had, daunting the tasks behind or ahead, each day is a new one, and God promises that He will uplift and renew your spirits if you simply surrender your mind to His peace.

 

Wonderful Wednesdays

Guess what day it is!

 

I love Wednesdays.  I have the blessing of getting to start every Wednesday morning out with a group of some of my favorite girls.  My cross country team meets at Chick-fil-a for breakfast and Bible Study around 7:15.  Recently, we have all been bringing a verse to share each week.  It is so encouraging to hear things that speak to other Christians!  Someone may know or find a verse that I just love, but have never heard before that day.  We all have positive attitudes going into the school day.  Of course, getting some of their yummy coffee is always motivating for me in first block at school, too.  We also take prayer requests for anything and pray together before we leave.

 

I am so thankful my Dad is willing to take so much time each week to drive us and sit in CFA since our team is so young!  We have only 2 other drivers, and one of them can't go to school first period because of dual enrollment.  Lately, we have been having an over-full car!  Here we are last week!  9 of us total, including my Dad!

 

 

This Wednesday was also a great day at school!  I got so much done and felt confident in my midterm exams.

 

Cross coutry on Wednesdays is very predicatable.  Almost every week, we do what we call in park road run.  It is a 10k through the road of the park, campground, and boat ramp.  This is no easy run!  There is one especially killer hill!  I love it anyways.  Sometimes, however, we do group indian runs on the trails, which is what we did yesterday.  I was so hungry before practice, I was shaking.  It began to worry me, but Coach Farmer gave me a few Gatorade energy chews that he keeps in his truck.  That helped a little bit.  Sometimes we do themes on these runs for the next person going to the front, and this time we did rhyming words!  It was pretty funny; these themes always make the time pass faster.  The last mile was on our own, and I felt so strong through that hilly mile loop!  Every Wednesday we also do accelerations around a triangle of trees in a large, almost flat field next to the parking lot.  We go slow around the two short legs, and go hard like we are finishing a race around the long one.  We only did 4 accelerations today, but they felt terrific too!

 

Now I just had to wait on Dad to pick me up and get home to be in the biggest hurry of each week.  On Wednesdays that I have time (which I try to force time), I go to church after practice.  However, of course I have to eat first.  I like to have pizza on Wednesdays (I make my own). Monday night I had extra time, so I went ahead and made my sauce and mixed the cheese in with it, so tonight all I would have to do is warm up the sausage, put the mix on, and stick it in the oven.  Now I was off to the shower!  After cleaning up super quick, I stuffed my face with half of a pizza and fixed a bowl of cheesecake pudding with pumpkin, cinnamon, and graham crackers for dessert.

 

Now for the finale of my wonderful Wednesday:  church!  I just love going in and worshipping with my friends in Equip (our student ministry).  We also got our new shirts with the logo on them tonight.  I also love hearing Rob and our other leaders preach the Word.  Positive feelings always flow from my church family!

 

I look forward to every Wednesday!

 yummy dinner and dessert, church