Sweet tea, sin, and a 23’ blessing.  What do they all have to do with one another?

Well, I’m glad you asked.
Sweet tea:  Yesterday we went for an early dinner with friends.  Being a southern girl who loves her sweet tea, that’s what I ordered for my beverage. But…drinking sweet tea at a restaurant…I should have known better.  By the end of the meal, I had sipped on three glasses of tea. No worries. The only problem was…the caffeine. Ugh.
The glowing red numbers, on the clock, just kept changing…11:30PM, 12:30PM, 1:20AM, 2:30AM…then that was enough for me.  No more clock watching. That one small ingredient, caffeine, kept me up all night. Knowing that we were going to be awakening early to go offshore fishing, my tiredness, yet inability to sleep, was growing tiresome one me.
Morning (well, the actual morning time we were supposed to get up) came with a little less enthusiasm from me than normal.
But…I wasn’t going to let that caffeine steal my joy.  Groggy mind or bags under my eyes wasn’t going to stop me. No sir.  There was fishing to be done and it’s always an adventure on the boat. Boy oh boy was today an adventure!
Sin:  During those wee hours of the morning, as the red glow was reminding me of my lack of rest, prayers and thoughts would occur.  One of those thoughts was a correlation between that darn caffeine and SIN. Yep, just like that caffeine was being woven through my bloodstream and gave me the side effects of eyes-wide-open and tossing-and-turning, that’s what sin can do to you too.  
Sin can get in you and cause all sorts of unwanted situations.  Sin can affect the body, just like that caffeine did mine.
But…don’t let sin steal your joy.  Overcome it. You can overcome your sin with God.  He has already conquered the world. He can surely help you conquer your wrongdoings.
23’ Blessing:  Every time we go offshore, I’m always hoping to see a whale.  Now, I’m a Florida girl, and we are fishing off the west coast of Florida, so seeing a whale is NOT a common occurrence.  But I always have my eyes wide open. Today, since I was determined to not let the sleepless night rob me of my joy, I was truly hoping for quite a fabulous day.  
We saw more sea turtles than I’ve ever seen on a fishing trip, over a dozen porpoises dancing in the clear blue water, sharks (taking a hefty chunk out of Tim’s red snapper), flying fish, and…then…off in the distance…a fin…another fin…we slowly approached it…a whaleshark!  That’s right! About thirty miles off the coast of Anna Maria Island…a 23’ whaleshark.
What a blessing!  Joy was NOT stolen.  
(See videos!)
I pray that you will rise above the unwanted/unneeded “stuff” in your life (sin), and allow God’s blessings to wash over you.
Don’t let anyone or anything steal your joy.
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie

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