It's the little things :)

This morning, the sunrise was beautiful! The sky was dark, the stars were bright, and at the edge of the horizon, there was an intense line of burning orange! It was amazing! I can't express it, I only wish I'd had a camera! God is good...

I suppose the other thing I wanted to write about today is just a silly little story that made me really appreciate the little things God gives me each day: one of these being laughter. :)

Ellie, my lovely roommate, and I both received the wonderful gift of 8 am classes this semester... Out of this rather inconveniently early time for class to start, we get to share a wonderful bike ride together each morning. Today, we were running a little later than usual because we had both forgotten something and had to run, one after the other, back into the house to grab what we left. I ran out of the garage like characters from a Mission Impossible movie, barely sneaking under the descending garage door, and we were off! It was a thrilling scene and I'm sure it would have been quite comical had anyone outside the situation been watching. Our bike ride commenced as normal, with mindless chatting, complaining about endless papers and assignments, and encouraging each other just by being in each other's company. As we turned the corner onto Elizabeth street, we were blinded by the blinding brightness of the morning sun. But out of the blindness came the wonderful sight of a GREEN light at Elizabeth and Shields, the gateway from the rest of Fort Collins to campus...and a light that is rarely found green. We were far away. Too far to catch the green? Not us. Not today.

Simultaneously, we yelled, "It's green!" And at the same instant we pedaled faster than ever before. Fort Collins has never seen two girls more anxious to get to campus at ten til 8 on a Tuesday morning! We counted down the seconds as the walk sign did the same. The orange hand flashed, attempting to tell us we couldn't make it. But side by side we strained and pedaled, cheering each other on...and, in victorious procession, we entered the intersection, passing through the middle as the light turned yellow, reaching the Moby parking lot before it was red, fist pumping, smiling, and glorying in our sweet victory! We had persevered down the stretch from City Park Ave. to Shields St. and conquered that traffic light! Laughing hard, exchanging smiles, and congratulating each other, I found myself incredibly thankful for little moments like that one. Nobody else could have found the joy that we did in those 10 minutes on this early fall morning, but I know-at least for me-it is a story, a memory, that I will probably remember with a smile and a little chuckle for a very long time.

I'm thankful for laughter and friendship, and the millions of other little things that remind me that life is meant to be enjoyed, that you can forget about the trillions of other things piled up on your plate, and find laughter in absolutely nothing at all... :)