Virtues. Treasures.

I am not sure where this post will go.  I remember lying there after finishing a devotional and thinking it was time to write another post.  Not sure which devotional I was reading or what I am supposed to writing about.  This past Friday I showed up at work and was blessed with a pleasant surprise...I was voted Employee of the Day by the local radio station.  I am not sure what that really meant, but I got flowers and some gift certificates and lots of congratulations.  It definitely made me feel loved.  It was a nice hug from God that I needed.  Then Saturday I run my half marathon (#7 in 11 months) and got a  wonderful new PR.  I beat my best by 12 minutes!  So, my first race for my buddy Sophia I got a PR, and not just a PR, but one by 12 minutes!  The cool thing is that I never thought I would break 2:25:00 and I hit 2:15:52, all with Sophia pushing me forward with each step.  This little girl is such a positive in my life.  I had a great running partner that day.  It was a friend of mine who was running her first half, we jokingly call me her "personal running coach."  The cool thing is that she motivates me just as much or more than I do her.  She doesn't realize how much though.  Then had a nephew who ran his first half that day, surprised me with a thank you gift after the race.  It was very touching and meant more to me than he will realize.  So, God really took these two days and loved on me, and sent me lots of hugs.  It reaffirmed for me that I am where God is calling me to.  That may be what leads me to this post.

Proverbs 30:7-9 reads in the HCSB
"Two things I ask of You;
don’t deny them to me before I die:8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.Give me neither poverty nor wealth;feed me with the food I need.9 Otherwise, I might have too muchand deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”or I might have nothing and steal,profaning[a] the name of my God."

I love that I am right where God would have me to be.  He provides for me exactly what I need.  Sometimes I think that there are things that I would like to have or to do.  I mean I am human and we all want for certain things.  We collect things.  We buy things to have as our own.  But reality is that if you are a child of God then your belongings here are not your treasures.  You treasures are to be stored in heaven.  I have everything I need, and I praise God for that.  The things here on this earth, the material things, are just that...material.  And material can go up in flames in no time.  Material things can lead to us being bound and in more debt that we can wrap our heads around.  I have treasures stored in my heart tonight.  I got the blessing to train with a wonderful group of people for this past weekend's race.  They cannot begin to imagine how much I have enjoyed these past few months and training with them.  I have Sophia who is setting in my heart filling a space that keeps me moving forward, keeps me pushing ahead even on days when I don't feel like it.  I have friends and family who love me and support me in my adventures, who many times are right beside me in those adventures.  It's these things that add up to have the most meaning to me.  These verses tell me that life is lived on the inside.  It's what is in there that matters.  And God is in there.  He lives inside of me.  That is encouraging and makes me want to yell on the mountain tops.  I am blessed to have a half daughter that I get to help raise.  I pray that I will also be a role model to her that she can learn and grow from.  I want nothing but positive experiences for her life.  I pray that she will also look up for guidance in all the decisions of her life.  

I am in a play.  One of my lines stand out to me significantly, "He showed me that I must practice the virtues that I would have my daughters possess." That can mean so much.  We must live as we want our children to live.  We must live how we want other children in our lives to live.  It also reminds me that God has showed me the virtues that I should possess through His modeling of them when He lived on this earth as Jesus.  What a perfect model!  I am His daughter.  And He came to this earth to leave me a perfect set of virtues, ones that He would have me to possess.  He did the same thing for you.