Yesterday was Event Day. If you don't know, I organize and run a local ministry here in Randolph County, Indiana, 3F Ministry. This began as a simple discussion between fitness friends who wanted to break down the barriers of religious denominations bringing together those who have faith by offering fellowship through fitness!! Yesterday, 3F Ministry sponsored the Summertime Faith and Fitness Event. We gathered in Goodrich Park for a 5K Fun Run or Walk, faith focused fitness devotions, and a delicious lunch provided by a local business. The activities were open to all, and the funds raised from lunch help 3F Ministry put on other events like the Baby River Remembrance Walk, Frosty 5K, and many others to come!
I have been working on this event for months: reserving the stage at the park, lining up lunch and guest speakers for the devotional, routing the 5K, and more! When Event Day comes, I'm always a nervous wreck. I think I play it fairly cool on the outside, but on the inside my brain keeps going over the list time and time again!
This event challenged me and yet I'm beyond thankful! I'd like to share my story with you.
I woke up at 6:30am Saturday morning instantly remembering I forgot to pick up the Bluetooth speaker and microphone from FLC. I quickly sent two text messages and knew it would all be fine! Up next was marking the route for the 5K, which happened to end up being 3.5 miles. I purchased balloons to place at each turn throughout town. Have a I mentioned it's a gorgeous morning, nice breeze, and cool air? I got the route marked but I had already lost 9 of the 24 balloons purchased to mark the route. Everything is going to plan until about 8:30 (the fun run begins at 9). My phone starts ringing and buzzing about the storms that are headed my way. People aren't coming due to the upcoming weather.
I push past the texts and calls and continue to set up with the help of a great friend. At 9 AM we began the event with 6 participants! While they were running the route, my phone continued to ring, the park was starting to see more activity, and a giant cloud began to move into town! It was absolutely beautiful - I took a short video you can watch below. There were still 3 participants in route when it started to sprinkle. We all could tell by the clouds and the breeze a storm was coming!! Within a single minute it started to downpour!! I was the only person running this event, but EVERYONE stayed to help me take down the tent and load my truck!! We all got soaked!!
I didn't know what to do! My phone is still going crazy asking about the devotional scheduled at 10:30 and the pre-paid lunch... my mind is spinning! I put so much thought into this event but didn't prepare for a rainy day. WHAT??!! I believe that ideas can be whispers from God. It didn't take me but a quick second to shift gears and move the event!! I called my pastor, but she didn't answer... UGH. But that didn't stop me. I made one other phone call to TBD and posted the new RAINY details.
The devotionals were moved to CCC and lunch to my business office in Winchester. When I arrived at the church, I got drenched, and found out there was no electricity! HA. Oh well! We gathered inside and after about 20 minutes to wait on others to receive notice the location had changed, we had a very intimate and rewarding time together. 8 wonderfully and uniquely made women listened to my friend, Marsha share her journey of fitness and how she finally found freedom from society standards once she aligned her health with her faith; understanding how God sees her! This atmosphere was more personal. I felt joy from the fellowship shared inside this space!!
Up next was lunch! The goal was to setup the food truck in the park, enjoying lunch and God's scenic beauty. However, with the storms and loss of electricity in the park as well, we moved lunch pickup to inside of WC Insurance Solutions! It took us about 3o minutes to adjust, but by 11:30 AM we were serving up flavorful BBQ pulled pork sandwich, cheesy potatoes, and green beans. This setting allowed me to work alongside Eric and greet each of the people who stopped by! Another blessing - I sold tickets around downtown to businesses who had employees working on Saturday. My office is downtown, so because of the storm and change in location, delivery was easier!! We served up 95 meals and I can't wait to do it again!! That was so much fun and my office smelled amazing (even today when I stopped there)!
Last part of the day, men's devotional with Pastor Jeff. No one showed up, but I was still blessed by this time. PJ and I sat together for about 20-25 minutes just talking. It was another wonderful blessing of the storm!!
If you are still reading this - thank you for your time! I hope you take away from my story that life will have storms, challenges, and hard times. Ask for help from above and your support team, look for the blessings you received during the storm, and don't forget to share your story with others. We all have struggles and hard times. We need to know we aren't alone and be reminded there are blessings hidden within!
Focus on the blessings, not the struggles!
Peace, Karinsa
This is the only picture I took - I was too busy using my phone to contact people, and find solutions due to the storms!
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