Today, one of the scariest events of my life took place...our office building burnt down. Literally within 5 minutes of realizing what was going on, the entire place was engulfed in flames. Why is when things like that this happen, do we stop and realize the precious gift of life. We realize how fragile life really is. Yes, it could have been worse...not only could the office have burnt down, but lives could have been lost. It happens everyday.
My first instinct was to start calling the ones closest to me. I called Gregg immediately because I knew he would know exactly what I was going through. He deals with this stuff on a daily basis. Being a fireman, I don't know how he does this all the time. Many times he has to watch people lose everything they have ever owned in their life and sometimes even their own life. He is so brave and I love him more than I could ever tell him. Starting tomorrow, our office will be divided between the other 2 stores in the area until further notice. I'm not worried about that, just want to make sure all of my clients get taken care of. That's the most important thing. That, and the fact that we all made it out safely.
While I was driving to Myrtle Beach this past weekend, I stopped and was getting gas. Anyone that knows me, knows that I keep my phone on me constantly. While I was pumping gas, I was reading through my twitter feed and realized that not only would George W. Bush be at the Billy Graham Library today, but so would Billy Graham. For some that might not seem like its that big of a deal, but it is. At the tender age of 92, Billy Graham doesn't go far from his NC mountain home. I just got done watching a segment on Greta Van Sustren where she interviewed both Billy and George today and the interview blew me away.
The interview with Billy Graham made me cry. Here you have a fragile, 92 year old man who has witnessed the redeeming love of Christ more than any other person in the world. They estimate that over 2.5 million have come to know Jesus as a result of one man being faithful to God. Just one man! And those figures were only as of 1993. Im sure in the past 17 years, that those numbers have steadily rose. Why? Because we serve an AMAZING God. Billy Graham doesn't have to be in your face preaching in order for your life to change. Just listen to one of his sermons. Watch one of his crusades. Watch an interview with him. If I wasn't already saved, just this little clip with Greta Van Sustren would have had me on my knees begging God to save my life. Billy Graham is humble. His heart is in the right place. He knows what it takes to make it in life. It takes Jesus Christ. It takes His Holy Spirit living inside of us to truly know what its like to live. You may think that you are only one person and that you can't change people's lives. Well one man just proved you can.
My first instinct was to start calling the ones closest to me. I called Gregg immediately because I knew he would know exactly what I was going through. He deals with this stuff on a daily basis. Being a fireman, I don't know how he does this all the time. Many times he has to watch people lose everything they have ever owned in their life and sometimes even their own life. He is so brave and I love him more than I could ever tell him. Starting tomorrow, our office will be divided between the other 2 stores in the area until further notice. I'm not worried about that, just want to make sure all of my clients get taken care of. That's the most important thing. That, and the fact that we all made it out safely.
While I was driving to Myrtle Beach this past weekend, I stopped and was getting gas. Anyone that knows me, knows that I keep my phone on me constantly. While I was pumping gas, I was reading through my twitter feed and realized that not only would George W. Bush be at the Billy Graham Library today, but so would Billy Graham. For some that might not seem like its that big of a deal, but it is. At the tender age of 92, Billy Graham doesn't go far from his NC mountain home. I just got done watching a segment on Greta Van Sustren where she interviewed both Billy and George today and the interview blew me away.
The interview with Billy Graham made me cry. Here you have a fragile, 92 year old man who has witnessed the redeeming love of Christ more than any other person in the world. They estimate that over 2.5 million have come to know Jesus as a result of one man being faithful to God. Just one man! And those figures were only as of 1993. Im sure in the past 17 years, that those numbers have steadily rose. Why? Because we serve an AMAZING God. Billy Graham doesn't have to be in your face preaching in order for your life to change. Just listen to one of his sermons. Watch one of his crusades. Watch an interview with him. If I wasn't already saved, just this little clip with Greta Van Sustren would have had me on my knees begging God to save my life. Billy Graham is humble. His heart is in the right place. He knows what it takes to make it in life. It takes Jesus Christ. It takes His Holy Spirit living inside of us to truly know what its like to live. You may think that you are only one person and that you can't change people's lives. Well one man just proved you can.
Greta asked Billy what he would do if he were given the chance to live his life over. And he said, "If I had to do it over again, I'd spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord how much I love Him and adore Him and I'm looking forward to the time we are going to spend together for eternity..." Wow! Talk about humble. How much do we take praying for granted. How much do we take meditating on God's word for granted? How much do we take this life for granted?
No matter what age you are at right now, if you could start your life over, what would you change? What things would you do differently? Would you still make the same mistakes? Would your choices in life take you down a different path than you are on? Are we doing our best to live the life that God has chosen for us? Not the life that we have chosen for ourselves because of our own freewill, but truly the life that God has laid out for us. We were formed by our Creator's hands. We were knitted together. (Psalm 139:13) God took time to pay attention to every detail on our tiny body in our mother's womb. How can you not praise God for that?
When you wake up in the morning, what changes will you make in your life? Will you look a little more closely at your life? Will you realize that eternity is too long to spend in a literal hell? Don't wait until it's your final hour to make your decision to follow Christ. Life is so much more rewarding when you do, why wait?
Thank you Jesus for once again opening my eyes...You never cease to amaze me. I pray that I'm always in Your will. I pray that when You look upon my life, You will be pleased. I can't wait to worship You for eternity! I love You, Jesus!
