Making Moments, Without Kodak…

A girl tip-toed out of the house with her family, her mother, father, sister and brother were all there. She felt the excitement tingling through her as she listened to the whispered inquiries and answers of her siblings and parents as they tried to decide how many blankets to bring.

They didn’t have to whisper, the girl didn’t have to tip-toe, there was no one who could be awakened by their midnight antics, it just felt right. The little family crept around the corner of their house and piled the blankets onto the old trampoline, climbing on after them. The few clouds covering the moon were an odd brownish-grey color and the whole sky was bathed in an eerie light, but the girl felt safe.

The family cuddled up under the fuzzy brown electric blankets, and five pairs of sleepy eyes gazed up at the wide purple heavens, void of stars aside from a faint few around the horizon. As they watched the wind blew the sparse cloud-cover away from the moon, revealing a brilliant orange orb with just a hint of shadow nipping at its edge. What was happening? Why was the moon that weird color? It was a lunar eclipse, the girl had never seen one before.

They watched until the moon was again free of the shadow and lay there, still, a little longer…

She felt so full, of what? Everything. Of wonder and happiness, and contentment. A million emotions swirled round her, she wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. She felt scared but still drawn in amazement. She wanted to cry but she didn’t, and she marveled at the conflict of feelings within her. She was very happy, yes, but it wasn’t the happiness that comes with an ice-cream cone or a birthday gift, she certainly wasn’t bouncing off the walls, she just was, that’s all. She knew she was safe and loved that night, and she also knew that there was a God. She looked up in the sky and saw him through the wild glory of his creation. She felt his presence through the peace and joy that reverberated between her family and all around her…

Years later, that night is still a treasure remembered to the girl, the family grown by one and decreased by another, beginning to go it’s separate ways. She has seen more than one lunar eclipse since then, but that one night still stands out in her memory as one of the best times in her life.

The moment was not expensive, it did not take hours of preparation, it was not a stressful indulgence, it just was. You don’t have to be a millionaire to enjoy life, you don’t have to be popular or lead your class. The only requirements are that you love God and live for Him with all of your being. You can have a moment without Kodak. So stop and smell the roses, take time out, in the middle of your busy lives to wonder and acknowledge the glory of God in the wind, or the bright reds and yellows of Fall leaves. Live so that you won’t have any regrets.

~Triss

Storms

I have never understood why people tend to give their bad experiences in life the picture of a storm. They say things like (to quote a flair) "Don't tell God how big your storm is; tell the storm how big your God is."

True, some storms can be very destructive, but they can be healing too. Is this just another reflection of how humans tend to focus on the bad things instead of the good?

So storms are scary. Guess what? It's ok to be scared, and inspired, and exhilarated. There are so many things about storms that remind me just how awesome God really is, especially when I remember that the freakish power I'm seeing is hardly the smallest fraction of His own infinite strength. Storms help me remember that God isn't "cut and dried." I think C.S. Lewis said it best, "He's not a tame Lion."

The Bible says, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

The saying that "life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." Has a lot of truth and sense to it. We need to be careful that we aren't so afraid of the lightening that we don't let ourselves be refreshed by the cool water. We can't put up walls against all people because a few have hurt us in the past; we have to realize that sometimes loving hurts, that loving is worth the losing.

The other day I watched an interview with a guy who had been hit by lightening when golfing. The thing about him that struck me most was that he didn't seem to recoil from storms even after he had been seriously injured during one.

It's amazing how many people can watch a storm and hear the rolling thunder without recognizing the reality of God. Something as scientifically and creatively designed as storms are at the same time that they are so incredibly unpredictable cannot possibly be the product of a freak accident explosion in space.

Storms can be seen as highly unpleasant sensations that you pray will pass as soon as possible, or they can be translated as the epitome of life. You can cower under your circumstances with the single goal of getting from point A to point B, or you can dance through them with all of your heart.

~Triss