God was very present

I almost feel guilty saying this but sometimes church just doesn't "do it" for me. There are some days when I just feel like I am going through the motions but never actually connecting with the most important person in my life - my Savior. He has done things for me that just cannot be explained and on His day I'm sometimes present in body but my soul is a million miles away. I hate those kind of days - I feel cheated on those days.

I'm happy to say that today was NOT one of those days. For me music plays such a big part of who I am and how I connect with Jesus. We had a guest worship leader today, Tom Ewing. He is absolutely amazing!! He has truly been gifted with an indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I know that God is always present with us but Tom can just help you connect in ways that very few can. At the end of a worship set that Tom has led you feel like something special has taken place. I can only imagine that heaven must sound like this!

To make the day even better it was my turn to be on the worship team this Sunday!! I got to provide backup vocals and I felt so blessed to be able to do that. You know how truly happy people can't help but make your day a little better? Tom can do that in a spiritual sense. It is obvious that he loves God more than anything else in the world and his enthusiasm is contagious.

During our rehearsal time this morning Tom shared about how when you draw closer to God he draws closer to you. He said it reminded him of a revolving door. I was curious about revolving doors and being that I am a real geek I looked it up on Google. Don't you just love Google?!? I found that H. Bockhacker of Berlin was granted German patent DE18349 on December 22, 1881 for "Thür ohne Luftzug" or "Door without draft of air". But the person who brought us the revolving door in America was Theophilus Van Kannel, of Philadelphia. He was granted US patent 387,571 on August 7, 1888 (wow...same year my Great-Grandmother Arbie was born -- she was a wonderful woman but I'll have to blog about her another time) for a "Storm-Door Structure". In 1889, the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia awarded the "John Scott Legacy Medal" to Van Kannel for his contribution to society. In 1899, the world’s first wooden revolving door was installed at Rector’s, a restaurant on Times Square in Manhattan, located on Broadway between West 43rd and 44th Streets.

With my geeky curiosity regarding the origins of the revolving door satisfied, I started thinking more on the analogy of the door and God's action in our lives. That reminded me of a friend I used to work with who liked to stop or reverse the revolving door at the front of our building while you were in it. That was definitely not very conducive to getting where you wanted to go but it certainly gave him quite a bit of joy. That revolving door is a wonderful means by which to enter the building or leave the building. Up to 4 people can be entering and exiting at nearly the same time -- that is as long someone doesn't come along and mess up the process. Wouldn't you agree that we all have a way of messing up the process when God is trying to engage us in that revolving door? We get in that door and stop walking or change direction. God has the door in control if we would just follow His direction but being what we are, we force our way. The miracle of the whole process is that He continues to wait in the door for us to begin listening to His urgings. I am so thankful that He does not give up. I challenge you to remember God's goodness and mercy towards you whenever you use one of these wonderful inventions called the revolving door.

I have to admit this whole concept started my little poetry wheels turning and I scribbled down some phrases that might turn into something. Not quite ready to show you yet but stay tuned for that. I have a feeling that my fascination with revolving doors is not quite finished. Aren't you just so excited?!?! ;-)