Thoughts On Awakening Day 2

Genesis 8 is the devotional chapter for Day 2 of the Awakening fast. As I was reading about how Noah was watching as the flood waters receded each day, I compared it to the winter storm we just had. As we are waiting for our world around us to thaw out, it gives us some extended time to reflect on God's word without distractions, and we can keep away from our busy-ness for another few hours. It also makes me think how we seem to feel like we're going stir-crazy when we're stuck indoors for 24 or 48 hours, and Noah was in the ark for over a year.

I watched The Five People You Meet In Heaven last night. I had read the book a few times but it's been a while since I have picked it up. There were a few quotes that stood out:

"There are no random acts - we are all connected". Things that you do affect other people, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. A lot of the times, we don't even know that something we did had an effect on someone else. The innocent smiles that we give people as a child can really make a difference in their day...there was one guy who worked as a cook in multiple restaurants that I went to as a kid, and when I started my first job after high school, I was surprised to find out that he also worked there. He had been working there during my entire childhood, yet all I knew back then about him was that he was a good cook.

On sacrifice: "Sometimes when you think you're losing something, you're really just passing it on to someone else."

"The world is full of stories, but the stories are all one." Everything that happens in this world is part of God's story. For example, when I first went to Elevation, the greeters were the first people I saw, and I was impressed by the amount of welcome everyone receives each week. But these greeters were people who first had to go through things in their lives to bring them to that point where they were serving at church. In order for Elevation to exist, (or any church for that matter) the people who were a part of starting the church had to get to the point in their lives where God could use them for that purpose.

I've decided today that instead of looking at the ice as a problem, I'm going to see the true beauty in the ice and snow. After all, it's part of God's creation, just like the wind in the trees and the and the summertime thunderstorms.