ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

HELLO!  That greeting has never sounded sweeter than when we heard our newest great-grandbaby speak that word recently on video via Facebook at not quite two and a half months old!  We were astounded, to say the least!  But … more on that in a bit.

Such a simple greeting, that small word.  We are taught from our very beginning, throughout our baby days and toddler stages “to say hello!” And usually, the emphasis is cheery and inviting and pleasant, leaving us wanting more tagged on to that initial invitation to enter our space.  Something good almost always follows “hello”.  I’ve been thinking a lot about how God can use that one little word for His good.  Saying “hello” is a personal welcome, an expression of our recognition of someone we already know, our choice to acknowledge a stranger, a response to another’s arrival, our receiving someone into communication, conversation, even chit-chat.  It all starts with a “hello.”  So, in God’s Kingdom, just how important is this little word?

I believe a genuinely uttered “hello” transcends many a problem or a limitation, and can reach out and draw people in as they respond and then wait to see what will follow.  You see, our greeting usually is a preface to the message we want to engage in.  In our families, we come together when we all get home for the day, and the first “hellos and hugs” loose a flood of talk about the events of our hours spent apart.  In our churches, we come together after a few days or a week apart, and from the first “hello … God bless you” – we witness an unleashing of the sharing of joys and struggles.  We experience a leaning on each other for encouragement and praying over each other for God’s divine intervention and blessing.  What happens when we decide to open our mouth out on the streets or in the stores, and we utter that hopeful “first-hello-without-sounding-weird?”  When we decide to take that leap with our heart and we open up our mouth, God will fill it with exactly what He wants to gift the other person with.  We can trust Him to do what He does best.  To be sufficient.  He will come through for you – and for the person receiving your “hello-and-more!” 

Then we get to the “witnessing” dimension of “hello”.  A word is nice.  A smile with it is even better.  But the word, the smile … they will fade away.  What if we sought to gift the recipients of our “hellos” with something that will last forever?  What if our greeting turned into an offer of eternal life with none other than the Jesus we introduce them to?  I believe that “telling someone about Jesus” begins with “saying hello to them!”  I challenge you to start praying about your hellos; about who you should say “hello” to – every single day.  You will soon see these one-word greetings as divine appointments from God Himself!  Ask God for “one” opportunity to say hello to someone today.  See where He takes that.  Then, no matter how perfect it turns out, or how obviously awful you thought it turned out, keep going … ask God for another “one” opportunity to say hello.  We don’t have to ask God for scores of opportunities – just one.  Just this one.  Just now.  And then don’t settle for that.  Ask for another one.  There will always be another one out there, many of them just longing for a word, a smile, a warm, simple hello!  Only God knows where He will take each of your hellos!  Watch them multiply, and witness transformations through the love of Jesus that will last for all of eternity!

Alright, let’s go back to the story of our great-grandbaby.  His name is Christian Jones, and he and his mommy were just having a fun little one-sided conversation that morning at home.  She was talking to him and wanting to capture some cute baby sounds or fun giggles to share with her friend.  She started recording the 10-second snap-chat video on her phone, and cheerily said, “Say hello to Amber!”  Christian made some baby sounds that if you listened carefully you might have been able to say it sounded a bit like a baby’s garbled version of the word.  But then she said to him again, “Hello!”  He formed his lips just so, and out came the cutest, clearest, baby “hello” I have ever heard!  We were in a store when our son called us and said, “Have you seen your great grandson on Facebook?”  When I said, “no, we are just checking out,” he said, “just watch the video when you get out in the car and then call me back.”  We did just that, and were surprised, amazed, and could hardly believe our ears!  We played it over and over!  On the ninth second of recording, Christian’s “hello” melted our hearts, and on the tenth second, you could hear his mommy gasp at what she had just heard … and the video instantly ended.  So … our almost two and a half month old great-grandbaby said “hello!”  It is something our family will continue to be amazed at – and treasure always.  We will watch that short little video over and over.  Because when you watch it once, you just cannot watch it once.  You have to watch it again.  And again!  His precious face and sweet little voice are so endearing.  End of story.  Wrong!  One million and nine hundred thousand times wrong.  That’s how many views that little snap-chat video has gotten since it went viral within 24 hours.  People have seen it on most every form of social media there is, and people all around the world have seen baby Christian’s sweet face and heard his clear voice.  It’s hard to believe … who would have ever thought this would happen?  From one little “hello”?  The huge response is overwhelming; 1.9 million views is difficult to comprehend.  How did the numbers grow that large?  Well, o-n-e view at a time.  And it has not even been four weeks yet! 

I share this heartwarming family story with you to remind you that God can do the very same with our o-n-e hello to someone else.  God WILL use it.  People will hear it and share it and comments will be made.  Decisions will be made to “view” your hello again.  Because something about your greeting, your smile, your message cannot be heard just once!  Lord Jesus, give us the desire and the set-on-fire burn in our hearts to win one lost soul.  Just one.  At a time.  And never let us stop saying “hello” to just one.  And then You do with our little greeting as You wish.  Our heart’s cry is that we will take as many people with us to Heaven as we can.  With Your help … just one at a time!

REMEMBER … “How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” ~ Romans 10:14  

Joyfully Serving Christ . . .

Pastor Doug and Debbie