In Awe

This is my 8 month old kitten Woody, and this is his first snow.

Woody, in case you can’t tell, is in awe.

He’s cautious and curious, simultaneously. See how his hind quarters are low to the ground and his ears are erect? Woody is definitely tuned in to all of his surroundings. Even his eyes are wide with wonder.

When Woody ventures out of his warm comfort zone, he immediately knows that his world is different. He sniffs the cold air in an effort to try and distinguish what has changed.

He knows that as long as he stays on familiar turf, he is safe. But he can’t. Woody is awed by something he has never seen, never touched. The unknown becomes more than he can bear, and it prompts him to step out into the unfamiliar.

And he likes what he finds – a whole other world, waiting to be explored!

Is this how we first discovered Christ?

Were our eyes wide with wonder?

Were we so awed with the unknown that we had to check it out, regardless of what we might find?

When I first discovered God I was very young and curious.

I watched others.

I saw how God affected them and how his love moved through the church I attended . . .

and

I was in awe.

I saw a plethora of emotions, too.

I saw men and women, husbands and wives, and families and children pray and cry with each other . . .

and

I was in awe.

It has been many, many years since I answered God’s invitation to follow him, and I am still in awe when he works in my life, especially when I face, what seems like, impossible odds, or when I find myself struggling through, what feels like, a long dark valley.

And,

I am in awe each and every time God holds me up when I think I may falter, encourages me when I think I am not worthy, comforts me when I feel alone, and loves me when I feel unloved.

But mostly, I am in awe because