A Note From Tom: April 13th, 2012

Hey, everyone!!

Or better still, Good morning, everyone!

It's still dark out…It is 6:07 am. Or a.m.(with the periods after "a" and "m"!) …or AM (in capitals)…Apparently you can write it either way! Where we used to live, they didn't use am or pm (or a.m. and p.m.) time. They just used all 24 hours. If you had a meeting at 20:30, it was 8:30 pm…or if you usually get home at 18:15,…well, you can figure it out!

Ever wonder what they mean? Well, it's Latin..."am" stands for "ante meridian" and "pm" means "post meridian", or "before the meridian" and "after the meridian"…with the "meridian" or "middle" being noon!

Ever wonder where the word "noon" comes from?

Me too. Anyhoooo….

Something awesome is happening right now outside our window down here in OS!

You can beeaaarrrrly see it, but…the sun's starting to come up!!

It fills your heart to just see it! Because you know that today is going to be a beautiful day!

"Another nice and sunny day, may see a few clouds in the northern half of the viewing area. Temperatures will be even warmer, reaching into the low 70s…"
Thanks, Todd Howell!

And the first light of dawn is a promise in blue and rose colors that it's just the beginning!

You, know, if this was January and we were watching this first light of the day in Juneau, Alaska, we wouldn't be all that pumped about it…Because we'd only get this first ray of sunshine at about 3:30 pm (or 15:30!) and this would be all we get! It'd start to get dark about 3:45! (It might not be as rough as that, but that's what Ive heard!)

The dawn in Alaska wouldn't be the promise of anything more. It'd just be all you get! 'Til May…ish!

So, looking over Mahoney Road, I know the little morning light I see is a promise of a beautiful day ahead!

Just before the sun began to peep over the hills, I read some amazing words from one of my favorite people ever…
John Newton was a pastor in England for years and years in the 1700's and was one of the sweetest! One early  morning, he was sitting with his Scriptures, looking out the window at the breaking of the day. He began to write.

Check this (you might have to read it a couple times! I did!)...

"The day is now breaking: how beautiful its appearance! How welcome the expectation of the approaching sun! It is this thought that makes the dawn agreeable, that it is the presage of a brighter light. Otherwise, if we expect no more day than it is this minute, we should rather complain of darkness, than rejoice in the early beauties of the morning. Thus the Life of grace is the dawn of immortality: beautiful beyond expression, if compared with the night and thick darkness which formerly covered us; yet faint, indistinct, and unsatisfying, in comparison of the glory which shall be revealed."

Wow!

Did you catch that?! The dawn is soooo beautiful because it's the promise of a bright, sunny day! If we thought this was all the light we get for the day, it'd just be frustrating. But since we know it's the beginning of…more! we're up and eager for what's coming!

Maybe you're trying to read the Scriptures yourself. "I get something out of it, but I'm frustrated! I wish I understood so much more!"

You will! That's not all the light you'll get! It's just morning in our hearts! We're just waking up! "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known!" (1 Corinthians 13)

Maybe there's something you really don't like about yourself! You do pretty good sometimes, but find you still stumble and fall in the same mud hole! It's soooo frustrating! But, hey! You'll do better! You ARE doing better!! You used to not dislike it so much! You used to kinda jump into that mud! Now you don't like it! It's morning! The dawn is coming! There are rays of light and hope in that heart!

And it'll get brighter!

Maybe there's someone you struggle with…Y'know…they drive you nuts! And you don't like disliking them! You'd like to like them! And you're frustrated…But, Hey! You used to like disliking them! Now you dislike disliking them! And you'd like to like them! You'll love them one day! I know it! Because you can see some rays of light in your heart! it's getting brighter! The Son's comin' up!

Here's a Scripture I love! It's Proverbs 4:18…(or 16:18…wait! That's not right!)

"The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day!"

Today is April 13, 2012. It's 6:48. The sun's coming up! It's getting to be a bright, beautiful day in Oliver Springs!

And in your heart and mine!

Good morning, everyone!