Time

time really does fly. I often think about the passing of time and it makes my brain hurt. It's something I try to figure out and it's like that first long division problem I tried to do in 3rd grade...there was no possible way there was an answer to that. I think about how when a person flies to Australia and somehow on a journey that actually doesn't take 3 days, you lose a day. Like, you take off on a Monday and you land on a Wednesday but you weren't actually flying for 48 hours. Where the heck did Tuesday go?? Last week, a friend of mine was in a country that was 11 hours ahead of us here on EST and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how it was possible that she was existing in the future. Also, her journey back started on a Tuesday, she traveled for 30 hours and arrived here still on a Tuesday afternoon. HUH? Anyway, things like this keep me awake at night. Time, as we understand it: in a linear, chronological order is weird. There's the answer you've all been searching for regarding the passing of time. It's weird - don't try and figure it out.
It's a really great thing that God is outside of time. There's nothing linear or chronological about the way God looks at time or the way He is involved in our timeline. I like that. Even though it's maybe even more mysterious, I like it better. It feels safe. Because we can be going along with our day, watching the minutes go by and suddenly...the Creator of time itself can insert Himself in a moment and bring peace, comfort, revelation, challenge, direction, etc, etc, etc...and it has NOTHING to do with the time on my watch (or my phone. who wears watches anymore?). Anyway, I've learned that there are fancy words for the way we understand time. Time, as we view it most of our days, in the seconds, minutes and hours that pass is chronos. Time, as it pertains to a specific point in which God enters and makes Himself known is kairos. It's the kairos that we must look for. It's the kairos that we must pay attention to.

Here's what Webster says:

Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature.
In the New Testament kairos means "the appointed time in the purpose of God", the time when God acts (e.g. Mark 1.15, the kairos is fulfilled). It differs from the more usual word for time which is chronos (kronos).

Anyway, on this day one year ago, God intervened.  Many of you remember the journey I was on last year to get Ana Maria to the states for brain surgery. Looking back, I cannot believe all that has happened in a year. One year ago today, I took my place on a dirty, loud, smelly street corner in the Dominican Republic and fixed my eyes on the door to the American embassy. The hope was that Ana Maria would walk out with a Visa. We had no idea what the minutes, hours, days, weeks and months ahead had for us. If we knew, we may have backed out. Too much time, too many obstacles. But since we have a God who is outside of that kind of time, we leaned into His understanding and gave Him our trust. The 5 1/2 hours of waiting and inhaling diesel fumes became meaningless when Ana Maria got her 'yes' from the immigration official...because God stepped into that moment and demonstrated his sovereign nature.