Tom's Message - July 14
So, you know how when someone encourages you to do something that you’re not totally sure will not be just a little bit dorky and it actually turns out to be at least seven times cooler than you thought it would be?
(Still with me?)
I totally had that moment this morning!
It seems that Tina, while she was out in California with her family had gotten interested in finding out when the International Space Station flies over… (there’s a website where it will tell you when it’s flying over overhead!)
“Let’s go out and watch it in the morning! We should be able to see it coming from the West/ Northwest starting at 5:51!”
“Ok…(yawn)”, says I.
So, we’re sitting in our front yard in the dark in our folding chairs with our coffee trying to figure out where the Northwest is and suddenly…
HERE IT COMES!
It was really moving! I didn’t realize it, but it’s going at about 17,500 mile per hour!! (If they had a dog up there in it, it would have had its head out the window the whole time!)
And the further it went in its trip across the sky, the brighter it got! The brightness is just the sun shining on the solar panels, 248 miles above the Earth!!
And to think there are people in it! Seven, in fact!
Hey, Frank! Good morning, Nicole! How’s it goin’, Jose?
(I waved. I know they can’t see me but I couldn’t help it!)
And then in about 6 minutes it was gone, heading South/Southeast…
You could see it if you wanted! Tonight you can catch it from the 'Ridge, coming from 10 degrees above West/ Southwest at 10:34 p.m.!
Or if you miss that one, try tomorrow morning at 3:27 a.m.! Be looking toward the North!!
Dusk or dawn are best because it needs to be pretty dark but with rising or setting sunshine on it…
Quite frankly, it was more quietly spectacular and more emotional than anticipated.
And to think I’ve never bothered to notice something as cool as that!
Somewhere today, someone is saying something kind to someone who really needs a word to encourage a broken heart. And somewhere else someone is quietly making a big sacrifice to help another who thought there was no one who cared, only to discover they she had a better friend than she knew. And in another quiet corner, someone got up before the sun (and before you could see the ISS fly over) to get down on their knee to call out someone’s name before the Throne of Grace because everyone needs someone to intercede for them from time to time…someone who has the faith to do for them what they may be too weary or discouraged to do for themselves.
And like the beauty of the International Space Station in its orbit, these quietly spectacular moments can pass totally unnoticed and unseen.
But God sees.
Anything anyone does for the love of Jesus will never go unnoticed or unremembered.
It even says in one place that “God is not unrighteous and will not forget your work of faith and labor of love that you show to His Name, in that you have served His people and continue to serve them!” (Hebrews 6:10)
If you thought no one knew, He did!
If you thought no one noticed, He always does!
If you thought no one cared, He always will!
In the meantime, if you want to go out of your way to see something quietly spectacular, check out the International Space Station!
Today at 10:34 p.m…
or tomorrow at 3:27 a.m…or 9:45 p.m…
or Monday at 9:47 p.m…
or next Thursday at 1:03 a.m…
or next Friday at 12:16 a.m…
or next Sunday at 12:15 a.m…