divine moments

this past week, i was able to attend catalyst conference in atlanta. this was my second time attending. while my first trip a few years ago was an incredible experience, this year is almost indescribable. i have so many ideas and thoughts now burned into my conscious that keep floating to the front of my brain and are forcing me to consider them. one of the overarching ideas of the conference was shared by andy stanley. he stated that you often don't know your greatest defining moment - the moment that you will leave your "mark" - until long after it's happened. this idea has really rocked me a bit and i'm still processing it...

i think it's true that most of us have no idea of the impact of a moment until it's passed. and perhaps i have already made my mark and am unaware of it. however, i hope that my greatest defining moment or my greatest contribution to humanity is yet to come. i feel that i still have so much to give.

but i also wonder, who's to say that a person's greatest defining moment has to be big? i mean we aren't all mother teresa or albert einstein. maybe your mark is just simply in the imprint you leave in another person's life. the person i am today is the sum result of all of my life experiences - which have mostly been defined by people with whom i've interacted. i think of the impact my family, my friends, and my mentors have made in my life. most of them will never know if or even how something they said or did affected me and steered my path in a whole new direction.

i guess that the bottom line is that every moment we are alive has the potential to be a defining moment - one in which what you think, or say, or do, could leave echoes on others for a lifetime. my prayer is that i really consider my thoughts, words, and actions and allow them all to be used to create divine moments in the lives of those around me.

grace and peace,
dana