I is for Impact by Carol Harrison

 

I is for Impact

The driver of the large old model car ran the red light and pieces of my car scattered over three lanes of traffic on impact. Even though this happened years ago and no one was injured in the accident except my car, the memory remains. The physical impact also impacted my emotions and left me reliving the moment for awhile after.

As I thought about I is for impact and its obvious memory of an accident with one vehicle slamming into another, we impact the people in our sphere of influence every day with our words, attitudes, and actions. Our impact in their lives can be positive or negative but it’s there.

The words we write, whether a short piece or novel, poetry or devotional, reach beyond our immediate circle of influence. We may never know the impact our words have on a reader. They may be intrigued to read more of our writing. What we write might instruct someone else, inform others, inspire them, or allow their imaginations to take flight and land them in another time or place.

I know reading has always left an impact on me from the time I first learned to read. I loved to escape and live vicariously through the adventures of others. I even enjoyed reading the encyclopedia set to increase my knowledge. I guess some would have called me a nerd or whatever slang term was in fashion at the time.

There have been times when life is difficult or illness keeps me from reading anything too deep. Studying is out of the question when my asthma flares up. Yet I have picked up a light Christian fiction and seen truths portrayed through the characters' lives. I’ve taken a look through their eyes at the world around and found myself having those ‘ah ha’ moments. Have you experienced that as well?

Sometimes looking at life through a character’s eyes brings new insights into our own lives. We are given a moment to apply what we learn to our own situations. As I contemplated how I is for impact, I was reminded of the responsibility we have with our words, whether spoken or written. We need to write the truth even in our made-up stories or other worlds we imagine and bring to life. Once words are out there, we can’t take them back.

At camp I’ve used the illustration of a tube of toothpaste. It’s easy and quick to squeeze out the contents but getting someone to try and stuff the paste back into the tube is an impossible task. So it is with our words. We speak them and they encourage others or knock them down. We can apologize for pain they inflict but the memory remains. Our written words remain for many to read. What they say will impact them in one way or another.

May our prayer be that of the psalmist in Psalm 19:14

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.”

 

Carol Harrison writes from Saskatoon, SK. She wants to encourage others to look for those glimmers of hope and glimpses of joy in all the circumstances of life.

 

 

IMPACT by Joylene M Bailey

 

The word that kept coming to mind for this month was Impact. As I thought about it, I was sure I'd written another post entitled Impact some years back. So I searched the IWO posts back through the years, and sure enough, there it was, and saying almost exactly what I wanted to say this time around. So here, with a few tweaks, is that post ... reposted. 

~~~~~

I was 23 and seven months pregnant with my firstborn when God or His angels stepped in-between the car I was in and the one heading straight for me.

I can still see the grill of that vehicle racing through a red light, aimed right at the passenger door where I was sitting. Time seemed to slow down as I closed my eyes and braced for the impact.

Instead, I heard WHOOOOSH and felt an intense gust of wind blow against my door. I opened my eyes to see that by some strange occurrence we were on the other side of the intersection. I twisted in my seat, as much as my pregnant belly would allow, to look for the car that had been barreling down on us. It was nowhere to be seen. The whole event had happened in the blink of an eye.

My husband hadn't heard the whoosh, hadn't felt the gust of wind. He had swerved but not enough to evade a collision. It was as though we had skipped ahead in time and that the event I KNOW happened had not occurred at all. The memory is so vivid to me. Even after all these years I can describe every second, but I can't explain it. Yet I know without a doubt that God intervened that day.

I believed it was because He still had plans for me, for the baby I carried, and for two more yet to be born. He intended for me to raise three strong, independent girls who would grow up to be women who would impact their world and the Kingdom. He intended for them to raise children of their own who would impact the Kingdom and their future world. 

This is no small thing.

There have been countless times in my life when God's strategic providences were evident. Not all of them have been as time-warping as this one. But each event has added a brick to my wall of faith, making it stronger every time, so that when life takes a dive into the muck, I can trust that He sees the Big Picture from His vantage point. And I can keep slogging it out in the sludge below, knowing He will help me through in His own timing.

He can be trusted.

He can be trusted with my writing too.

It hadn't really occurred to me, until recently, that my writing and its impact might be part of the reason God intervened that day. On those days when I wonder why I think I'm a writer, do my words have any impact, and is it worth it to keep going, I need to trust that there must be some reason He gave me this passion, this drive to write. 

He must need my voice for something.

So, I will write—using my particular voice and my particular style—always trusting that He can and will do whatever He wants to do with it.

Maybe, just maybe, God intervened that day so that I would be around to write this post. To give Him glory for the unimaginable yet very real impact He has on all of us who are blessed to call Him Father and are driven to write about it.

 ~~~~~

All photos from Pixabay

Joy loves all kinds of words, but the ones that have the most impact with her are beautiful words strung together. She writes from lake country, Alberta, where she lives with The Cowboy and a couple of small furry friends named Chara and Rhubarb. Find more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

IMPACT by Joylene M Bailey

I was 23 and seven months pregnant with my firstborn when God or His angels stepped in between the car I was in and the one heading straight for me.

I can still see the grill of that vehicle racing through a red light, aimed right at the passenger door where I was sitting. Time seemed to slow down as I closed my eyes and braced for the impact.

Instead, I heard WHOOOOSH and felt an intense gust of wind blow against my door. I opened my eyes to see that by some strange occurrence we were on the other side of the intersection. I twisted in my seat, as much as my pregnant belly would allow, to look for the car that had almost hit us. It was nowhere to be seen. The whole event had happened in the blink of an eye.

My husband hadn’t heard the whoosh, hadn’t felt the gust of wind. He had swerved but not enough to evade a collision. It was as though we had skipped ahead in time and that the event I KNOW happened, had not occurred at all. The memory is so vivid to me. Even after all these years I can’t explain it, but I know without a doubt that God intervened that day.

I believe it was because He still had plans for me, for the baby I carried, and for two more yet to be born. He intended for me to raise three strong, independent girls to women who would impact their world and the Kingdom. He intended for them to raise children of their own, to impact the Kingdom and their future world. This is no small thing.

There have been countless times in my life when God’s strategic providences were evident. Not all of them have been as time-warping as this one. But each event has added a brick to my wall of faith, making it stronger every time, so that when life takes a dive into the muck I can trust that He sees the Big Picture from His vantage point. And I can keep slogging it out in the sludge below, knowing He will help me through in His own timing.

He can be trusted.

He can be trusted with my writing too.

On those days when I wonder why in the world I think I’m a writer (which, to be honest, is most days), I can trust that there must be some reason He gave me this passion. He must need my voice for something. So I will write, and trust Him with whatever He wants to do with it.

Maybe, just maybe, God intervened that day so that I would be around to write this post. To give Him glory for the unimaginable yet very real impact He has on all of us who are privileged to call Him Father.

**********

Joylene writes from her home in Edmonton where she lives with her Cowboy, her third strong, independent daughter, and a cat named Calvin. She writes at 

Scraps of Joy.

Photos by Pixabay.