More on awesome possibilities

             Awe or awesome are words that rarely come out of my mouth, partly because these words are, in my humble opinion, overused and often spoken in expressions not even close to the actual meaning of this word.  Technically, according to dictionary definitions, awe is “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.”  Plans for the weekend, even great ideas, are generally not awesome.

             For me, nature or natural phenomena, can stir a sense of awe, a feeling with an element of reverence like the definition suggests.  Seeing the ocean in all its grandeur impresses me and stirs within me images of the greatness of God.  Because of my love for waterfalls,  Jim planned a trip to a Tennessee state park called Falls Creek Falls, just south of Chattanooga.  What a simple, quiet place with an amazing range of falls.  Off in the distance, one rushed over a high cliff and fell a very long way into a canyon with water below.  I well remember how close we stood to a two-tiered rush of water into the rocks.  We actually got wet posing for group pictures with other visitors.  And the sound, the awesome “voice” of nature.

              However, the lovely state park—set apart and so quietly tucked away from any towns or trafficked roads—couldn’t compare to experiencing Niagara Falls.  As has often been the case, our traveling ventures “circled” the places our children have lived over the years.  David attended Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, a little town of many little falls.  When we did get to the Niagara Falls, it was a glorious summer day, showing off the pastoral setting and the lovely, rushing water heading toward the big drop off.  The voice of nature yells, but it is a yell that again, overwhelms me with wonder and awe, affirming the grandeur. 

            Our daughter Bonnie lived in the northwest corner of North Carolina when her husband was hired at Appalachian State University.  They were right up next to Grandfather Mountain, so named because from some angles it looks like the profile of a grandfatherly man.  When we stayed at one lodge there, I could look out the window and see old Grandfather right across the way.  It was supposed to be one of the big tourist attractions in the state.

             Aside from nature, works revealing what only God can do, also stir in me a sense of awe and gratitude.  An excellent illustration of this is how David came to stand on a pitchers’ mound in collegiate baseball.  His athletic capabilities were evident even when he was young, and with a physical education teacher/coach for a father, he had much nurturing in his athleticism.  He fared well until high school, largely because the school teams had talented but also very confident players.  Our shy, less aggressive son was just finding his way on his winning sophomore baseball team when his ACL got torn during a practice. 

             Fast forward to the end of his long rehab in time to play varsity baseball, a team whose coach had parents complaining for years,  yet the coach remained in place.  Playing for him and David’s lack of fresh encouragement and confidence after his injury produced a very disappointing high school experience and no interest from any college scouts or coaches.  But coach Jim kept encouraging David to play summer ball.

             After just a couple games with a team David joined with some reluctance after his freshman year in college, he got his first chance to pitch.  An older man with a cowboy hat pulled into the park area about the same time I arrived.  That “cowboy” was the baseball coach for William Jewell College, a small liberal arts college near Kansas City, Missouri.  He was there to see a player on another team , but started watching David pitch.  That was the beginning of David getting a full tuition scholarship for baseball to a very good college—his heart’s desire suddenly fulfilled.  The wonder of God’s providential hand—awesome, indeed.

Some really powerful and encouraging lyrics of a few contemporary Christian songs are nurturing my faith in an awesome God recently.  One is called, "The Father's House," by Cory Asbury.  One line I just noticed today (even though I have listened to the song a number of times) struck me: "What looks to me like weakness is a canvas for Your strength."  Later is this list of seeming impossibilities: "Prodigals come home . . . Miracles take place.  The cynical find faith and love is breaking through when the Father's in the room."  Impossibilities--suddenly--become possible by faith in God.