Joy and pain

It's official. I cursed myself. After bragging about my fitness prowess, I totally pulled a muscle in my back. I did nothing all weekend except pop pain pills, rub biofreeze on my shoulder, and lie motionless. The good news is that I finally cleared off my DVR. The bad news is that my 5K training has come to a screeching halt. Not that it was going so well in the first place...

It snowed all day yesterday. Big, beautiful flakes of snow. This morning? Not a trace.

I did manage to take a shower and head to church this morning, even though I had to go to the late service since I overslept. But I'm really glad I went. The church I attend does a lot of worship choruses and new songs, so it's rare for us to sing a hymn. I suppose it's just as well since a lot of those songs I know so well that I start to sing them absently, not paying attention to the lyrics. But this morning we did "Blessed Assurance," and it was like I was hearing the song for the first time (granted, there was an accordion, so perhaps that was the difference?). What a blessing... for I am sure that Jesus is mine.

We've been studying the book of I Thessalonians for a couple of months. This morning the pastor talked about the difference between happiness and joy. God never promised us a lifetime of happiness. But He did promise us joy in Him. We can't always praise Him for the circumstance, but we can praise Him in it. Even when it's hard.

This was a really random post. I'm blaming the pain pills.