Be a Miracle for Someone Today

For in the day of trouble

   He will keep me safe in His dwelling;

He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent

   And set me high upon a rock. – Psalm 27:5

As explained in the post “No Fear since He is Near”, David prayed for God’s power to get him through his difficulty. He desired God’s presence and His protection from enemies. David trusted in God and went to Him in prayer for strength. He was confident that God would pull him through.

Many of us in life, fear rejection from friends or relatives. But we don’t have to fear because like David, we can go to the Lord for strength. We may be rejected on earth but rejection is never permanent. What is permanent is our acceptance by God when we follow His Plan for Us. Be a miracle for someone today and reblog or forward this link. Always remember, by accepting Christ as Savior, you are never rejected in heaven.

David said in Psalm 27:6 that he would sing and make music to the Lord. Let’s do the same today as we praise Him with today’s video: Good Fight by Unspoken.

Index of devotionals

Awesome

Thinkers and visionaries see old things in new ways; constantly preparing their minds to be observant and busy. They take on fresh amounts of information all the time, frequently producing new discoveries and conclusions. We can find many examples in history of people who had imaginative plans that have made us all more productive and efficient. It’s hard to understand how these people could think up some of these ideas. If you are like me, it’s humbling and the best we can do is to continue to ask questions, seek answers, and be teachable.

One thinker and visionary in 1948 named Walter Frederick Morrison gives us a good example of what can happen when people observe what’s going on around them and simply think of ways to invent products people will buy. Walter’s father was an inventor. In fact, his father invented the automobile sealed-beam headlight. After serving in World War II and being a prisoner of War in Stalag 13, Walter returned home to eventually be an inventor himself. He worked for the city of Los Angeles as a building inspector but in his spare time, he took action on an idea.

In 1948, flying saucers from outer space were beginning to capture people’s imagination so Walter decided to take his idea and try to turn it into a craze. He remembered as a boy collecting pie tins and throwing them; watching as the wind carried the pie tins long distances. Instead of tin, plastic was beginning to be used in many products so he perfected a pie tin built out of plastic that one could throw through the air like a flying saucer and a friend could catch on the other end.

In 1955, Wham-O bought the rights to his design and they looked for a catchy name to increase sales. They heard stories from people around the community of Bridgeport Connecticut of college students tossing around pie tins just like Walter did when he was younger. Many students attending New England colleges like Yale would purchase pies from a local bakery and save the pie tin; using them for hours of game and sport as they tossed them around to each other. The bakery was named Frisbie Baking Company, hence the toy we know today with the registered trademark name Frisbee. The company sold over one hundred million units before selling the toy to Mattel. Morrison received over $1 million in royalties for his invention.

I hope there is a lesson for you in this story. If you are older, you have all those years of experience to pull from. If you’re young, you have all that enthusiasm to get you going. You may have an idea just sitting in the back of your mind just waiting to be put to use. It’s not always easy but continued focus on the positives to clear out the negatives will help. Be inspired by stories like the story today of the inventor of the Frisbee who went through a difficult time in life as a prisoner of war. If a negative pops up, replace it with a positive to clean it up and keep going. Whatever age, identify your strengths and allow God to continue to form the great person you are. Know the truth about who you are – because God thinks you’re “AWESOME”. He’s been refining you over the years to fulfill the purpose for which He has for you.

What Will be Your Story?

After dinner, Annie went out on the back porch. It was a Saturday evening and darkness had started to set over the Delaware sky. Her mom noticed that Annie was looking up at the stars so she went out to take a look. Annie’s Mom had always loved to star-gaze and had recently noticed that her daughter had this same passion so she had taught Annie the constellations. Annie’s Dad was finishing up dinner. Later he would meet with his business manager about a major project in his shipbuilding business.

Several years went by and Annie was home for Christmas. She was taking a few weeks away from traveling and dabbling in photography to think about her future. She decides to go out on that same back porch she used to go as a child to look up at the Delaware sky. She had graduated from Wellesley College recently where she studied physics and was contemplating reentering college to specialize in astronomy at Radcliffe College.

A few more years went by before Annie got word that she had been appointed to the staff at Harvard College Observatory to record, classify and catalog stars based on temperatures. Five years later, this would lead to the publishing of a catalog of 1,122 southern stars. In 1910, her system was adapted by observatories worldwide. Annie Jump Cannon’s system of star classification groups stars into categories labeled O, B, A, F, G, K and M (known by the mnemonic, “Oh, Be a Fine Girl, Kiss Me”)

She later compiled the Henry Draper Catalogue which was published by the Harvard Observatory between 1918 and 1924. The catalogue lists the spectral types, magnitudes, and positions of 225,300 stars and continues to be used internationally by astronomers.

This story is just one of many great stories found when we look into the lives of people that have made a difference. You see, Annie set in motion the tremendous discoveries that are being made today. Just recently, astronomers have found a new planet in a different solar system that may be Earth’s twin; capable of supporting life. They study the brightness of stars and notice a planet because its orbit crosses in front of the star and causes it to dim. Here’s a link: New Planets Discovered.

What will be your story? Right now, you may know of something that no one else could possibly know about. My hope is that this video will inspire you to give some thought to what great discovery you might make in the future: Giants Awakening - Vision for Success.

You may be like Annie’s mom and give a child a dream or you may be like Annie, looking to make new discoveries. Reflect on these thoughts each day and be thankful for the opportunity to reach for the stars in whatever you do.

Check out my other blogs where I receive a constant supply of inspiration for my writings by clicking on the links below:

Step Ahead

This Day With God

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

The year is around 1970 and two high school students were members of their high school programmers group. The group received free computer time in exchange for writing computer programs. Someone came to them one day about the need to process traffic information so engineers could make good decisions on how to adjust traffic lights and improve roads.

These two friends dabbled with an idea. They kept after their dream with a passion; even making friends with some college students who helped with developing the hardware to a machine. You see, their idea was to develop a device that would process traffic data cheaper and faster than local companies. They graduated from high school and went their separate ways off to college but maintained their dream. They finally got to know enough friends with the hardware knowhow to build a device that would work with their computer programs which would read traffic tapes directly and eliminate the tedious manual work.  

It was a useful device and they started a company called Traf-O-Data. The company produced a few thousand dollars of revenue but later the states started offering free traffic processing services to cities. This ended the need for their device so the company never did take off.  

It was a lesson learned though. They may have failed with their first company but they gained experience in developing software for computer hardware that did not exist. The experience gained in this venture later was used to write a program that started a very successful company. In 1975, the two young friends named Bill Gates and Paul Allen established Microsoft to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for Altair 8800. Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Microsoft Windows line.  

The lesson learned in the story above applies to each of us today. Dream and imagine where you want to go or want to be. Don’t be afraid to take big steps and think about things no one else has thought about. Thinking, believing, passion, and working together may lead to something beyond your wildest dreams.

Check out my other blogs where I receive a constant supply of inspiration for my writings by clicking on the links below:

Step Ahead
This Day with God Devotional