Highlights

 

As a child I remember having a brief subscription to a magazine called, “Highlights.”  To this day I have no idea why it was called “Highlights.” The very title of the periodical would suggest to me that it would be…should be…unforgettable. Yet, I remember very little…except for the one and only page in each issue, where you would spend time analyzing two nearly identical pictures deciphering the differences between the two images.  It was always a challenge to try and study each detail and find all 12 differences.  As I would find each difference I would circle the oddities with…a highlighter…perhaps that is where it gets its name?

Our family and I have been enjoying a week of vacation in northern Minnesota and each day is filled with highlights…and lowlights of its own.  One day the engine on the pontoon suddenly stalled and we floated adrift in the center of the lake waiting for some kind boater to come by and see us attempting to paddle a pontoon back to shore…against the wind…with one lone paddle. “Hey do you guys need some help?  Would you like us to tow you back?”

“No thanks…my kids need the exercise!”

“NO WAY DAD!...take the tow!”

“Ok fine.” 

The boaters in the full inboard Malibu threw me a ski rope which I had to hold onto by hand as they towed us back to shore.  This was by far the largest water ski that I had ever used…and my latisimus dorsis are still screaming with muscle pain from the constant pull against the rope as we were drug back to the cabin.  I can’t tell…was this a highlight…or a lowlight?

Despite the challenges…that moment is certainly memorable.  Perhaps that is what a highlight is…a moment to remember.

 One significant highlight from the week was watching every member of our family…that’s right…all six of us water ski.  It was for some…the first time…for some, the second or third time…some for the first time in 20 years and one just trying to prove that he is not as old as his driver’s license states. 

Other highlights include catching large fish, more failing engines, floating in water, bug bites, playing family games, encouraging one another and getting angry with one another, eating ice cream, celebrating a 21^st anniversary with broken glass and the tangy smell of pickle juice all over the kitchen floor.  Again…highlights…or lowlights?

In either case…memorable.

Our lives are filled with memorable moments. The Lord uses these moments to mold us and shape us, and I believe most of all…that the Lord uses these moments to draw us to him.  All through the Bible…we see moments…highlights and lowlights in people's lives…being used to draw them to God.  Revelation in particular is full of them!

May we allow the memorable moments to draw us to the Lord…and may we be led to worship the Alpha and the Omega…to worship the Beginning and the End…the God of the universe...to praise the King of Kings who is coming again! May we remember…who God is!