Fully Aware
Good afternoon from Westminster, MD!
I can remember when I truly realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my wife, Jen. My realization changed the trajectory of my future (for the better I might add!). Saul, our friend from the last post, had a realization that not only changed his name to Paul, it completely changed the purpose of his life and his beliefs about God. When I realized that God was asking me to spend three years of my life living and working in Nicaragua it turned my view of the future upside down.
What does it mean to realize something? Our friends at Merriam-Webster say that it is, “To understand or become fully aware of something.” In many ways, it is a lot like waking up when you didn’t even know you were sleeping. Your eyes slowly open as your mind groggily connects with the fact that it is a new day, and that yesterday is forever a part of the past. The day has changed and there is no way to go back.
Coming to a realization is much the same- it changes your reality and the way you see the world forever. Whether you like it or not, your eyes have been opened to a new “day”, making it impossible to live in yesterday’s reality. In the moment that something is realized and we become fully aware of what it really is, we cannot go back. Sure, we can deny its truth, but we cannot put back in the “box” what our heart and mind have discovered. When something is realized it challenges everything we believed before and creates the possibility for a different future.
If you were living in hopelessness, what would it mean to truly realize that there is hope? Would it change the way you live? Might you see the future with new eyes? I hope you will continue on this journey as we continue to explore the power of realized hope.
– James Belt
In2theRiver 