So. A very humbling experience last evening. But empowering, as well. I was sitting in the lane at the credit union, waiting to transact my business. It was later than I usually get there on a Thursday, and consequently, there was a bit more traffic. All three lanes were two-to-three cars deep. There was a lot of waiting going on!


Anyway, I was sitting there listening to a sermon CD by John Hunt. It was hitting home with me and I was listening intently. I was focused. I was not going to give in to impatience, but instead had resigned myself to the wait. I finally pulled up to the teller window and sent my transaction in, but knew I'd still have a bit of a wait. As I sat there, listening to the sermon, I noticed that credit union employees were leaving and walking to their cars. One woman in particular stood out to me. She came out alone and was smoking a cigarette. For some reason, my first thought was, "Ugh. She's smoking. Not attractive." Then our eyes met, and God overwhelmed me with the sense that I could continue to look intense, disinterested -- and look away, or I could engage her with a genuine smile. But it was my choice. I chose to smile, and her face was transformed by a returning smile. And in that exchange, I knew that I had initiated (prompted by the Holy Spirit, of course), something that made a positive difference in a stranger's day. And the ability to do that was rather overwhelming.

Josh Hunt had a tremendous quote posted on his facebook yesterday:

You can measure the character of a man largely by what it takes to put him in a bad mood.

And it was really cool to me until I started really reflecting on what that meant and looked back at what last put me in a bad mood. Talk about convicting!

Back to Isaiah. I finished up the book in NASB and started over in The Message. Wow! For all that the wording may not be technically accurate, the message makes far more sense! I actually think when I finish it the second time, I'll go back and re-read it in the NASB just to see if it makes more sense. Then I'll start looking at commentary.

But for now . . .

Auf Wiedersehen!

:)