In reading through Acts and listening to the sermons on Sunday, I've been struck by the power and initiative of the Holy Spirit.  The analogy that's been going through my head is one of a wave and a surfer (this analogy would not have worked in Iowa, but it does here!).  In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is generating this tremendous wave and the first followers of Jesus are doing their best to catch up so they can ride it.  God is on the move and his people are along for the ride.

I've been struck, too, by some of the people riding the wave.  Peter and John say, "Silver and gold we don't have, but what we have, we give you."  When Ken, spoke about this passage he urged us to give what we have -- to "Step in."  On Sunday, Bill talked to us about ordinary Barnabas, who was always stepping in.  Over time, his stepping in had a tremendous effect -- he ends up mentoring Mark (the person who wrote the gospel of Mark) and Paul (the person who wrote half the New Testament books).  Barnabas didn't have much, but what he had he gave . . . he stepped in and didn't wait around for himself or the circumstances to be perfect.  I think that seizing our divine moments looks like us being open to a couple of small steps every day -- little things we can do to ride the wave of the Holy Spirit -- as well as being open to huge, scary, life-shattering stuff that happens on occasion.

I've been praying, "Lord, help me to see what you're doing today and give me the courage to step in."  A lot of what this has meant for me in the past few weeks is to bless people with my words.  When a thought about saying something kind or encouraging comes to me, I'm just stepping in and saying it rather than waiting for the perfect moment.  How are you stepping in?  What waves do you see the Holy Spirit creating that you want to encourage us to ride?