I had several intensely surreal moments this past week that showed me a glimpse of how big God is and how incredibly complex His plans are, yet simply available to us to reflect his glory and align our lives with such a future.
One moment was sitting with an Iraqi immigrant as a news story from his country came on the television. I'm not sure what the content of the story was because of the Arabic being spoken but the footage being shown was of US tanks rolling through his country. I wasn't sure what to expect next: anger, sadness, apathy…but a simple "I love America" was verbally spoken.
Another moment happened as a couple of friends and I were painting a room for a family overseas. I kept seeing the little children poking their heads around the corner. I don't think they were amazed at the quality of our work or our progress but I believe their curiosity was focused on the 3 Americans who were painting their house. We didn't know them and they didn't really know us but our prayer was that their thoughts of "who" Christians are will be different from the stereotypical assumptions.
Those types of moments shape our lives. They are heavy moments with a brief glimpse into the possible future finding their divine way into our present. My hope is that my life is changed with such moments. Ultimately, we all have to be ready for similar opportunities to dispel the casual assumptions of those who think they know the outcome: moments with our friends, neighbors, children, spouses…moments full of eternity.