wha'da ya know?

 

This is what I was reading this morning when I heard the first siren.

This is what I was pondering when I heard more of them.

This is what I was journaling about when I saw a firetruck from a neighboring county.

what I have heard

what I have seen

what I have looked at

what I have touched

in short, what I have experienced

this is what I wanted to share today-

that being a Jesus follower is about a relationship with Him,

interactions with Him through Scripture reading, prayer, nature, music, etc.

this relationship is personal,

but it is not something to keep to myself

what I have experienced is my responsibility to share with others

the sirens kept coming 

and stopping abruptly

I thought there might be an accident on Main St. so I began praying

finally, I called a friend who always seems to know what is going on

I was in my library, at the front of the house, when I started the conversation,

and was headed to the kitchen but stopped quickly in my family room

suddenly I could see exactly why I'd heard all the sirens

in my library I was unaware, 

oblivious to what was going on almost in my backyard

my friend who was a half mile away was very aware

there was a structure fire on the street behind me

I began praying more fervently and specifically

I know some of the people who live in those apartments,

not well, 

but well enough to picture their faces and recall conversations we've had 

at yard sales

at the little city park

and my heart hurt for them

it hurts even more now, 

someone lost their life in that fire

this has me crying out to God about so many things, on so many levels. If you are a praying person, I invite you to pray along with me:

• comfort for the families involved
• provision for their needs-physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually
• for healing of those being treated for smoke inhalation
• for the first responders and all they had to do and see today
• that I might not be/remain oblivious to those who are hurting in my own backyard
• to not obsess, but to be mindful that death is inevitable
• to be aware of my responsibility to share what I have seen and heard and looked at and touched, in short, what I know about Jesus and what He has done in my life, with others
• to be mindful of the stark, sobering truth that hell is real and hell is hot and if I refuse to share Jesus with others I am saying "I don't care about you, go to hell"
• because the relationship we choose to have with Jesus in this life determines where we live when we take our last breath

"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
 He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." John 1:1-14 NLT

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:16-21 NLT