When I looked for the formal definition on my trusty laptop here, two words stood out. One was strike. Of course, in the physical sense of impact, there is always a striking.
"The bat made an impact on his brother's head."
See? That sentence implies striking.
The next word that stood out was alter. No, not the place where the priest says the mass- that's altar. Rather, impact carries the idea of that which recieves the impact being altered.
"That bat made an impact on his brother's head."
And likely, his brother was altered, for a time at least.
By both these definitions, the windshield on our 2001 Ford Windstar was impacted this week.
Like much of the area, we experienced 2 major winter storms on Tuesday and Wednesday. The progress of precipitation went like this: 5 inches of snow, then 1/2 of ice, then 4 more inches of snow.
So, we shoveled a lot this week. And our vans sit outside. So, they needed to be cleaned off.
And as we were cleaning off the black van, we got the ice off, for sure.
It wasn't till the next day when she had all the kids in the van that Kristen realized we had not only broken the ice.
Yeah.Striking.
Altered.
And after a few hundred dollars, it was all reversed.
Now, as you can tell, the effect was felt all over, not just at the point of impact.
Then, this morning, Daniel and I went to a simulcast of the Super Bowl Prayer Breakfast put on by Athletes in Action. The key note person was Coach Tony Dungy.
People like John Stallworth, Derek Brooks and Warren Sapp talked about the impact that Tony and Lauren had made on their lives.
Yeah.
Striking.
Altered.
God's Agenda, Not Mine
Yesterday as I sat in the waiting room of the Auto Glass Shop, I was doing my school work. I had binder and highlighter in hand.
But God had a different agenda.
A man came in who was obviously looking for someone to talk with. So, I opened myself up and listened to him. We evetually got to the point where he was talking about losing his dad when he was 15, losing his mom last year, and his own death. He was recently diagnosed with something rather serious that will have life-altering consequences. So, he's thinking about eterninty.
We talked about the eternal nature of God and us, and the temporary nature of everything here.
At one point, when talking about his medical issues, he said once, "I should have died."
Then, again, he said later, "I should have died."
Although I had been just listening mostly, I took a chance here.
"Why didn't you?" I asked.After stammering for a second, he said, "God's grace."
It's amazing when you listen and care and ask questions that people seem to come to that sometimes.
Then there was the nice lady that was working there. Her luck had been pretty bad. Single mom for years. Has one son who just got out of the Marines because he contracted menengitis overseas. Another son is joining the National Guard soon. She is helping take care of her grandbabies.
My heart went out to her. I told her that I have a good friend who just returned from Iraq and that military service is close to our hearts.
At this point in the day, I was on a roll, so I asked if I could pray for her right then. She said yes.
I prayed very briefly for direction for Keith and comfort for Joseph and help for her as she helps them.
She was a little misty eyed, but very thankful that someone had cared.
It's so easy. Really. So, why not do it more?
Impact is a striking.
An altering.
You've experienced it- someone has impacted you.
And Jesus said, "The greatest command is this- Love the Lord your God with everything you've got. Then love others as yourself."
We are on a mission from God. It is characterized by love for others.
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