I gave him my famous, “Fine as flea fur.”
He looked at me very perplexed (not puzzled; this was more intense) and asked, “What?!?”
I smiled and said, “Have you ever seen a flea?”
“Yes,” he responded, it looked to me like he was thinking, “of course, who hasn't seen fleas!”
“Well, you can't see the fur on the flea...”
And he began laughing as I finished, “....that's because the fur is so fine you can't see it.”
Continuing to laugh he said, “I have never heard that before!”
“That's because it's a Coleen original.” we both laughed and after that, as I finished my transaction he couldn't help but continue to smile and chuckle.
As I left the store, he called out, “Thanks for the laughs today!”
And I waved, laughing as well.
You probably wonder why I even bother to write about this. It's just my normal interaction with people I meet, whether they're complete strangers or well known, whether I see them on a regular basis with my daily business or only occasionally. I may never see Kevin again, but if I do, I'm pretty sure he'll remember me.
And this is part of true Christianity: being joyful and spreading the contagion to others. Christianity is supposed to be a joy and people are supposed to be drawn toward God from our lives.
I may not see Kevin ever again, but what if the Lord used that moment to prepare him for a moment of meeting God? What if Kevin and I interacted as a prelude to Kevin getting to know Jesus from someone else?
Now, not everyone can be like that with total strangers, this is me and this is what I've been called to do. Don't be surprised if we're together at a restaurant and I start making jokes with the wait staff. Expect it.
Let's take that to another level: what if a movie about how someone comes to know God prepares someone to actually encounter God after watching it? THAT is what I'm believing God for in Ebenezer Films. This whole believing God isn't that it's going to bring me any special glory. It's a dream God has given me so that my life can influence others to take a second look at Christianity and say, “maybe there really is something to this. Maybe God really does exist and really does love me?”
And what better way than through parables?
All to the Glory of the One True King.
Yesterday I was reading in The Circle Maker and found where Mark Batterson wrote that we need to grab a Biblical Promise to hyperlink to our dreams. This morning in my prayers I asked the Lord to help me find what I needed but before I could finish the sentence, I was reminded of the verse I have on every email I send out. Of course, and it was much like the “Oh!” moment I had yesterday with the stone of the building I'm believing for. “Of course! This is a verse I have in front of me every time I write an email!
“But the people who know their God will be strong and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32b
Now, some of you might be thinking, “She's crazy to think of starting a business now. With all the terrible things happening to small businesses, she's actually believing God is going to bring a business to her that's going to create Christian movies? And she comes out of a small business that closed last year? She's nuts.”
Those of you who know me are not wrong. I am nuts; but this nut is singing, “and step by step you lead me and I will follow you all of my days...”
You can read about it in Jeremiah 32, but I will give you a Coleen synopsis:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2032&version=NIV
Jeremiah was in prison because he was telling the king and the people the things that God told him to tell everyone. Poor Jeremiah was thrown in prison because he was obeying God; and that happens sometimes. We obey God and bad things happen.
While he sat in prison, God told him a relative was going to ask him to buy a field. In spite of the situation, God told Jeremiah to buy it and do all that is usually done to seal a sale contract. Then Jeremiah prayed and when God answered Jeremiah he gave us one of the most powerful verses in the Bible:
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:26-27)
“Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord.”