My Day Out the Beach
Today finds me in sunny beautiful Carlsbad California. I gave a speech here last night and am flying home in a few hours. I was awakened this morning by the alarm clock and then loud TV sounds from the room next door to me. My immediate response was to be bothered and a bit frustrated. Then I realized "I am in California! The beach is literally outside my window and God gave me a glorious day to get up and go enjoy!" So I listened to God and got out of bed and was going to take the hotel van into town to get a coffee and paper when I noticed a sign saying "bikes for rent"-- so I again listened to the signs that God was clearly giving me for what he intended my day to be like and journeyed off on the bike.
God is so wonderful. He created the amazing ocean for me to see, the seagulls to watch, the animals running through the cliffs--truly what I was looking at was a feast for the eyes and soul. God rode with me on the ride, he lifted my spirits, filled me with more energy than another hourof sleep could possibly have done.
Then it hit me.
That wonderful energy and closeness to God isn't reserved for a day at the beach; it is his gift to us each and every time that we exercise! What do I mean?
Well, the path that I was riding on was full of hills and my legs were burning. It was not a leisurely bike ride but a vigourous and difficultone. It was exercise! And when we exercise our bodies release endorphines--the thing that gives us that great energy rush. You can't buy endorphines in a bottle, you can find them in a pill, you can't wish them or fake them. You earn them.
I think of endorphines as God's gift to us when he created our bodies. He knew that we would have to work hard to survive and he gave us something to make us feel really good if we used our bodies as he intended for us to do. Problem is that in our modern world, we really don't have to work very hard (physically!) anymore and therefore many people never really get to experience one of the
God is so wonderful. He created the amazing ocean for me to see, the seagulls to watch, the animals running through the cliffs--truly what I was looking at was a feast for the eyes and soul. God rode with me on the ride, he lifted my spirits, filled me with more energy than another hourof sleep could possibly have done.
Then it hit me.
That wonderful energy and closeness to God isn't reserved for a day at the beach; it is his gift to us each and every time that we exercise! What do I mean?
Well, the path that I was riding on was full of hills and my legs were burning. It was not a leisurely bike ride but a vigourous and difficultone. It was exercise! And when we exercise our bodies release endorphines--the thing that gives us that great energy rush. You can't buy endorphines in a bottle, you can find them in a pill, you can't wish them or fake them. You earn them.
I think of endorphines as God's gift to us when he created our bodies. He knew that we would have to work hard to survive and he gave us something to make us feel really good if we used our bodies as he intended for us to do. Problem is that in our modern world, we really don't have to work very hard (physically!) anymore and therefore many people never really get to experience one of the