#5kMay2023 Daily Fun Photo – Day 19

The #DailyFunPhoto challenge prompt for today was to: Take a photo of something cool you saw on your 5k.

I don’t know if this qualifies as “cool” or not, but I found it to be at least a little bit interesting.

This building, as far as we can tell, is what is left of the resort that Jodi and I stayed in 20 years ago while on our honeymoon.

It is maybe a little hard to tell from the photo, but the building is very run down. Broken windows. Overgrown weeds. Cracked concrete. Peeling paint. It looks terrible.

We have been running by this abandoned building each morning as we get our daily 5k in, and each morning it has served as a reminder to me of two main things:

First, it is pretty awesome to think that our marriage has outlasted the resort we honeymooned at. It would have been cool to go back to that same resort 20 years later, but it is maybe even a little more cool to know we beat the resort. Haha. Our love has been victorious!!

Second, and far less facetious, the current state of this building reminds me of the importance of taking care of what you have—of what you have been entrusted with.

Since the moment that sin entered the world (way back in the Garden of Eden), the whole world has been subject to death and decay. Anything not taken care of will begin to break down.

Our world, and everything good within it, needs to be governed over, cultivated, and maintained, or it will descend into decay.

There is no such thing as “coasting”.

And this is true in all of life.

You cannot coast through life hoping that something good will magically happen. It won’t. You have to work as if it depends on you, and then rest knowing that it depends on God.

You will not become physically fit by hoping that it happens. You have to get out and work for it. Take care of yourself. Eat well. Drink plenty of water. Rest well.

You cannot coast through your marriage. It is not enough that I told Jodi I love her 20 years ago. She needs to hear it again today, and I wouldn’t mind hearing it, myself. She needs to be shown in the little ways throughout the day, and it doesn’t hurt to be shown, myself. This is the kind of relationship maintenance that causes a marriage to outlast a once bustling resort.

We have spent the last few days celebrating 20 years of marriage in Cancún, and what a blessing it has been! I am so thankful to God for this marriage, and for this opportunity to celebrate together. Soon we will be heading home to continue to do the things that cause a marriage to outlast a resort.

Hopefully, if the good LORD wills, we will be back in 20 years. If so, I hope the resort we are staying at this year is still here.