Yes, that title was placed there to grab your attention but I promise it will make sense! Before I start let me say this; Geese are vile animals…

So, this morning I decided to start running in the mornings again.  We have gotten semi-settled in our house here in Appleton and got to bed at a decent time so I set my alarm early and got excited to run on a sunny, unusually warm, early April morning.  Our house is located downtown Appleton and not far from the Fox River, a seemingly perfect place for a beautiful morning jog.  I wake up, run to the corner of my street where it turns to head down to the river (.25 miles – Thank you, NikeId app), and take the turn to head down to the beautiful park running along the Appleton Yacht Club.  Now, mentally, I am hoping you are going exactly where I was going this morning… Sun coming up over the calm river, beautiful docks along a long T-shaped pier… then it caught my attention.

For those of us who grew up near water in the spring up here in the North we know one thing, where there is water, there are geese.  And where there are geese there is an abundant supply of “goose droppings.”  My beautiful morning run went from jogging peacefully along a path that wound along the river, past a perfectly manicured park, piers, and gorgeous boats…  to dodgin’ dookie!

My eyes were fixed on the path, my stride was broken as I tip-toed down the sidewalk (still faking a jog), only glancing up a couple times to see how close Mama Goose was in her impending attack!  Even as I try to think back now, just an hour later, I’m guessing the view down there was amazing, but I obviously missed it! My concentration was elsewhere.

While reflecting on my little adventure this morning I was reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples in the book of John.  At the time the disciples were actually distracted by food but Jesus had much more important plans for his evening.  His words to them in John 4:35 were “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe with harvest.”  

Jesus’ principle was simple, “your focus is on the wrong things!”

So often in life we can be distracted by the little things.  In the grand scheme of this mornings run, the part along the was maybe half a mile.  Honestly, as soon as the trail got close to the road again I took that instead of the sidewalk along the water.  The view was still great, but my fear of stepping in something kept my eyes down.

Jesus’ words are clear, don’t let the small obstacles distract you from the great plan he has for your life!  Life is a lot better when your focus is on Him and not on dodgin’ a little dookie. His plans for you are bigger than that!