Ask and it shall be given...

This was too much of a God moment for me to just let it pass by...
I posted earlier today about how I am seeking something that will motivate me to work out. Just to fill you in on my exercise habits, I will use any excuse in the book to avoid working out. Seriously, anything from dinner plans to "forgetting" to pack a gym bag to (I am not making this up) not wanting to mess up my hair on a good hair day. God has provided me with so many opportunities to make exercise easy-- a free fitness facility at church, a mom who loves to go to Zumba with me, even a friend who teaches Pilates (and who is awesome at it)! And I just turn away from all of those things that He has provided.
So today after work I decided to go up to church and get reacquainted with my favorite treadmill. Even when I'm on the treadmill, I'm always looking for reasons to end early. Today I set the timer for one hour, and I gave myself a little pep talk about actually finishing the whole hour without letting that little ADD devil on my shoulder talk me out of it. Well, fifteen minutes into the workout, I was thirsty. I paused my workout, left my iPhone and earbuds on the machine, ran to the water fountain around the corner, and ran back... only to discover that my machine had been reset. A very nice and well-meaning man with a mental disability who often exercises at the church had taken it upon himself to reset my treadmill when I left the room. How could I be mad (especially since I was listening to Francis Chan's Crazy Love on my iPod)? I jumped back on, restarted my workout, and finished the whole hour. It's just a small thing, I know, but I felt as if God was saying, "You want motivation? I've tried making it easy... now how about a little challenge from me?" I (usually) won't back down from a challenge. If that's what it's going to take, then I welcome those challenges. I'm officially saying, "Bring it on, God!" But along with that, I'm also praying for the ability to recognize a challenge, the strength to tackle it, and the conviction that, in Him, I can do all things.

Praise be to God for the trials and tests He brings into my life, for I know that the testing of my faith produces patience. And in this case, hopefully it will produce the ability to fit into my really cute White House Black Market jeans.