on being strong

I'm not quite sure how I want to start this post.

Lately I've been feeling pushed aside by my friends. Ignored, even neglected. People have changed and I've lost sight of what's really important and, in a sense, who I am. Teenagers these days act so different around different people that I really don't know who anyone is anymore. It's rubbing off on me in a negative way, and while my friends still make me laugh everyday, there are those times where they've made me feel...invisible.

I was feeling particularly sorry for myself on Thursday. Some stuff happened throughout the day that put a gray cloud inside my head. So I decided to go for a run to clear my head.
Now, when I say clear my head, I literally mean clear my head. When I run, absolutely nothing is going on inside my head. The only thing I'm aware of is my pounding feet and my heavy breathing.

I ran pretty steadily for a good mile and a half, but then my legs started to get heavy, and I came to that point in the run where you literally feel like death is upon you. So I walked for a bit. And a bit more. And I was thinking I was just going to walk the half-mile back home, but then my song came on. I don't know what it is about this certain song, it just motivates me more than any other tune can.
However, I was still walking. When I walk, I can think. And I was just thinking about the day, and wishing God would send me some sort of sign to help me out with this situation.

It was instantaneous. At that moment, I looked up (I had been looking at the ground) and there was a homemade sign stapled to a telephone pole. It had a giant orange smiley face on it, and above that it read: "Take what you need to be for the day!"
Underneath the smiley face the paper was sliced into individual strips, and each strip had a word on it. All but three were gone, but the one that stuck out to me the most was "Strong". So I took it. And I swear the next moment was like a movie.
I knew that little piece of paper was a sign from above, and suddenly, my legs no longer felt heavy, the cloud inside my head disappeared, and I started to run just as the chorus of the song came on. How perfect is that? The whole thing was so cheesy that I couldn't help cracking a smile as I ran up the hill.
But I felt so blessed, and I was really blown away at what had just happened. All I could do was thank God for watching over me.

"I sought the Lord and He heard me; and He delivered me from all my troubles."

>>>Psalm 33:5

xo,
hannah