Hi, all! Just a thought.

One question to begin — Do you ever feel as if you are an outsider looking in on what’s going on around you?

Many of you may not believe me when I tell you this, but by nature I am very introverted. I very much enjoy loving on people and having the relationships I have and going the places I go. However, my comfort zone is simply a party with me, myself, and I in a quiet place anywhere. I work very hard at being outgoing and a people-person. But it sometimes seems so much easier to simply step back and watch from a distance.

Look through the window panes in my picture. You will certainly notice the large desk and the other furniture. You may also pick up on some of the smaller details of the space. A keen eye may be able to deduce that this is the “Oval Office” of the White House.

Now, before I get accused of climbing the fence, crawling across the lawn, and hiding in the bushes outside the President’s office space in Washington, D.C., let me tell you this. I was actually standing in a hallway of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. A full scale replica of the Presidential office was just beyond that window, and moving just a few feet to the right, the walls disappeared, and I actually stood in the space, taking it all in.

Had I remained outside that window, all I would have seen is what you are now seeing in this photograph. But because I stepped out beyond that space, I was able to be present in it all, take it all in, enjoy several moments of looking around the room, and leave with a sense that I had visited an important place, albeit a replica of the real office.

That may seem like a simple example of the point I’m trying to make, but for those who find it difficult to brave the crowds, it becomes difficult to interact with people, which is the very thing a Christian must do in order to speak the Gospel truth to the masses.

What I’m asking you to do this week is to look beyond your space. Look beyond the limited, the uncomfortable, the moment in which you currently reside, and see how exciting the world can be as you step out, view it with all the awe and wonder of a faith-filled child, and then share your experiences with anyone who will listen (or read the words you write)!

May we all be led to brave our fears and share our findings with a world that so desperately needs to hear about Jesus this week!

Just a thought. ’Til later.

 

Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.