When You Realize You’re Hanging History Today

When he left for work this morning,

did he realize the significance of the tools he carried?

Tape

Paper

A drill

Was he dreading the long hours on his knees, steadying himself with only an elbow placed firmly on a sometimes shaky leg?

Or was he able to wrap his mind around the responsibility he held in his hands?

His work would be seen by hundreds in the years to come…………….and even the slightest slant in the paper or misplaced hole could destroy the rock and cause the lettering to be off………..

forever.

His work today would change everything about what the world would see tomorrow.

There was something very special to me about walking by this man as he performed such a significant task.

On his knee, meticulously drilling………………

dust flying as he carefully created space for letters to hang

which would eventually spell out the name of this Christian college.

I was moved as I watched him work……………………

How often does the hanging of history happen right before our eyes?

  Concentration

Precision

A well thought-out plan

When history is being hung every decision matters.

As I approached the sign, he turned toward me,

and I had to comment on the beauty of his work.

Of course I asked if I could take his picture.

He smiled and I hope he knew in that moment just how much he mattered…………..

how much his work was appreciated.

All work deserves recognition…………

and I find the nameless deed doers the most beautiful ones of all.

Doesn’t everyone need to know they’re changing

something about tomorrow

by the work they’re doing today?

A row of letters waited…………………

Their position on the wall would be determined by the hands of this man………………..

this man who may have showed up for “just another day of work” only to learn he would be hanging history for years to come.

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I couldn’t help but think of the many things in life we may be called to do today………………….

Feed a baby

Change a diaper

Clean a bathroom

Cook a meal

Do laundry

Sit in a waiting room with a friend

Write a note to someone who is hurting

Create a lesson plan

Take someone’s temperature

Make a phone call

Do homework

Text a friend

The list goes on and on of the many little things that may add up to make our day,

but how different these things would seem if we saw each of them as etches in a rock…………..

the hanging of history.

Every word

Every action

Every moment……..

slips out and slips by,

sends dust flying and

changes every single thing about tomorrow.

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Today, don’t underestimate your worth.

You’re a hanger of history………………..

And when history is being hung every decision matters.

————————————————–

I walked into my writing room this morning,

and the light coming through the window seemed to sparkle as it hung in the air,

cascading all the way to the floor.

I had to laugh as I realized it was actually sunlight reflecting suspended dust that was causing the beauty in that moment.

Dust, hanging in space, catching light.

Isn’t that what we all are????

—————————————

Only God could take something so simple and create something so complex.

Who else could give the task of reflecting His light while impacting history to something we thoughtlessly sweep into a pan and toss away almost every single day?

The devil whispers,

You’re only dust.  Stay focused on your frail existence.

God proclaims,

You’re my child, created in my image.  

Shine for me and make the world a better place.

Reflect My light.

Hang beautiful history.

You matter.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Gen. 2:7