silhouette

I've always found it interesting how you can look at a simple silhouette and know who it is. Have you seen the ones which have the silhouette of a child on a plate hanging on the wall, or sitting on a stand for visitors to see. The child's name doesn't even have to be on the plate, but you know who it is.

I saw one the other day and it started me thinking about silhouettes I remember from the past. As a parent, all the times you have seen your child from a distance, and the light is behind them, you know them by their silhouette. It doesn't matter what they are doing, you know it is them. I saw a silhouette of my son one morning. He was a long way off. I mean a long way off, but I knew it was him. He was running, like he does everyday, but this day.....I pulled up to the end of our driveway, and as I checked the road for traffic, I saw Joshua running. I couldn't tell which running clothes he was wearing. I don't have eyes like a hawk. I saw the silhouette of a runner coming down the road and......I knew it was Joshua. I recognized his stride as he runs. It was a silhouette, but it was Joshua. It reminded me of when I'd go and watch his cross-country races. No matter how far away he was from me, when I saw his stride....I knew it was him.

What kind of silhouette do we have as followers of Christ? Are we recognizable from a distance? Can we be picked out of a crowd simply by our stance, our walk, our stride? I believe we all need to concentrate on the silhouette we have. We are followers of Christ, children of God. We need to live lives so people know who we are, even when we can't be clearly seen. Our silhouette has been created by the Light of the World, and whether we want to believe it, or not, it is for everyone to see.

We are recognizable. But, what do they see?

months

Last night, or morning, whichever way you look at it, was very difficult for me. I had to make a decision that would ultimately lead me to a place to hear things I knew I would one day hear, but didn't want to hear.

Life will do things like this to us. We are comfortable with how things are going in our life. It's spring, and everything seems new and growing. After it rains, the air even feels cleaner and fresher. Everything is moving along as we think it should. Then in a few hours....with just a few words said.....it all changes.

We always consider life in the terms of years; whether good or bad, we measure a person's life by years. We celebrate a loved one's birthday each year to commemorate another year of life. We measure a couple's love by their years of marriage. Life seems to revolve around years, and we have grown accustomed to that. The biggest obstacle for a lot of us, myself included, is measuring life in months. Our first response is, "What happened to the years? Don't we have x-amount of years?"

Sitting in the ER this morning, I heard the few words that have shifted my measuring of life in years...to months. Daddy is not well. He s declining in health. The Dr. says there is a mass in his lung. It is terminal. We are looking at.... "months". This was harder to type than to hear.

Why is it we don't think about months? They are more important than years......now. Do you realize there are more days than months in a year? I know....... sounds a little silly..... but, how important are the days you get to spend with those you love......... your family..... your friends...
your Savior.... your God.

ready?

Today has been one of those days where I find myself taking a moment to stop and realize all that has happened. So often, like most holidays in our life, the anticipation keeps building right up to the last minute.....and then its gone. In the blink of an eye....its gone. Easter almost took that same path this year. There has been so much going on, construction, scheduling, construction, planning, construction, set-backs, not enough time in the day, not enough days in the week, and let's toss in a little stress......not much, just a little to make it interesting.

Then, on Saturday morning, just when I needed it....I got an email from Brian Duncan (Kannapolis Campus Pastor). His email was a wake-up call to me. I know he sent it to more people than just me, but I know what it meant to me. Without saying a lot in his email, he changed everything for me about the Easter weekend. His email was a warning to me; a warning of Easter possibly being covered up, maybe even missed by so much stuff getting in the way. And believe me, there was beginning to be a lot of stuff on my plate for this Easter weekend.

Was it necessary for me to stress over how the stage looked, how prepared the band would be, how would the songs fit into the service, how many people would show up, how would the worship be?.....No.....but I was stressing just the same. Brian's email destroyed all of that. The one thing I needed to be focused on for Easter was how I was going to worship. Would I be ready to truly worship God for His incredible gift of salvation through His Son? Would I be ready to worship a Savior who was raised from the dead and now lives in me? Would I be ready for Easter, and what it represents in my life?

I would be now.

Thank you Brian.......