Reaching 1000

I am a numbers guy.

Give me some data about monthly expenditures, and I will create a graph to visualize where the money is being spent. Give me stock details and I will generate reports showing returns, projected returns and degrees of fluctuation.  Like Neo in the Matrix, I see numbers everywhere.

I have spent all of my professional career working with data in a realm called Business Intelligence.

This week, Wandering Thoughts hit 1000 pageviews!  Now 'pageviews' means nothing more than somebody having clicked on a link to the web page you are looking at right now.  In fact, it doesn't guarantee anything other than that.  For all I know, you may be the only person to ever read this far!

The blogging tool (Blogger) comes with all sorts of really cool stats related reports to help you understand where the readers are coming from geographically, what time they are reading it, what was the source of the link (Facebook, Google +, etc) or even which browser you are using to read this.

Really cool stuff for a geek like me.

But the amazing thing about hitting 1000 pageviews is, I am not a writer.

I spent high school and college struggling to get a passing grade in English and any other class involving substantial writing. I despised writing! I have great disdain for any game that requires usage of my limited vocabulary.

However, I do appreciate other peoples' written material. I have read blogs from friends and have admired how they could take the most simple event, and capture your attention for 10 to 15 minutes with stories like "getting a phone line."

I am doing something I wasn't originally created to do, just like the ceremonial water jars.  

A number of years ago, I asked a good friend and musician (Geoff Dresser), to speak at a retreat I was organizing.  He spoke about Jesus' first miracle, turning water into wine.

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” John 2:6-10 (NIV)

Most have heard this story about water turning into wine. What blew me away that day was the focus on the water jugs.  The Jewish people were infatuated with being "clean". Anything deemed "unclean" that they came in touch with, required that they clean themselves in a ritual fashion.  Unclean things included specific animals, gentile people (basically anybody not Jewish) and a huge list of others.  If in doubt, clean.

Jesus used the jugs dedicated to cleaning the unclean; to turn water into wine.  And not just wine, the choicest of all wines!  He can take anything, any vessel and make it shine with His glory.

A washing jug into a wine barrel.
A stuttering nomad into a leader of thousands (Moses).
A fisherman into a preacher (Peter).
A persecutor of Christians into the primary author of the New Testament (Paul).
A data geek into a story teller.

What is it that God is turning you into?

I am still a numbers guy.  And while 1000 is an impressive number, I am mostly interested in the number three.  There have been 3 interactions I would like to share with you that have blessed me and encouraged me to keep on writing Wandering Thoughts.

1. A complete stranger from a far away country has connected and responded in a tangible way to these stories.
2. Someone I thought who would never read these, came to me and unprovoked, said "I want to tell you that what you wrote was wonderful - just wonderful".  I don't remember the rest, I was choked up.
3. A stranger emailed me to tell me that he had met my son and to keep praying, it was working.  (Stepping Out Into The Storm)

I want to thank you all for your comments, 'likes' (Facebook), 'pluses' (Google +), encouragements and prayers. I am thankful God is using me in this season to write.  I don't know how long it will last.  And like today, I don't know how many more mornings I can afford to be woken up at 4 am to write these inspirations!  :-)  

For the time being, I will rejoice in being His water jug.


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Thank you for taking the time to read one of the many 'Wandering Thoughts' that God has been putting on my heart.  If this has touched you in anyway, I would love to hear from you.  You can leave a comment below and share your own personal revelations; or send me a personal message on Google+ or Facebook.

May you be blessed today.