Gentle Reminders

I been in Orlando, Fl this week at the Microsoft Teched convention. It's been a great week, but I wish my family were here with me. It's been a busy week of conference sessions, swag gathering, and walking!!! Conventions are like that!

It's funny how a week away from the normality of home, friends, and family can also be a little disconcerting. I do enjoy traveling but over the last few months I traveled much, much more than normal. Trips for work and personal trips. This week was no exception. Good to be here but also ready to be home.

Two things this week helped though. Call them coincidence or maybe God speaking to calm and encourage me. Tuesday I was riding the bus from the convention center back to my hotel and looked up to see a skywriter. You know one of the guys in an airplane making words in the sky with some sort of special smoke. I had never seen one in person before so I was amazed as were most of the guys on my bus. when we left the convention center it looked like the guy in the plane had spelled PRN the N being the script that looks more like an upside down U. I thought "Must be an advertisement." The ride to my hotel was short. By the time that we turned out of the convention center parking I could make our the word PRAIS - I thought "Praise" hmmm. Byt the time I got nearly to my hotel the airplane had spelled "PRAISE J". I thought - "nahhhh". But sure enough when I got off the bus at my hotel and looked up. There it was "PRAISE JESUS". Not a common term that you would expect to look up and see "written" in the sky. I'm still not sure why it was written there, must have been another convention in town, or some church out there wanting to make a statement to the people in that area??? But either way when I stood in the parking lot at my hotel I understood better than ever that "the heavens do declare his name". In that moment I stood there in the sunshine and clear blue sky and looked at those words - not words that I would normally say out loud. Words that for me sounds like a pentecostal buzzword that has blurred the true expression. But right there I praised Jesus. I knew that in some way he was talking to me, saying now matter where I am I can praise him. I can experience him in any moment anywhere. What a gentle reminder of knowing him and feeling his presence. I was truly thankful for the moment.

I've got one more story about something similar that happened while I was here in Orlando but I'll save that until later.