I am a girl who has never really had any favorites. If you ask me my favorite movie, food, travel destination, or song you will likely never get the same answer, or maybe even just a really long pause. That’s because it probably depends on my mood, or my season of life. I like different things for different reasons, and though I may favor some or another, I cant really declare any one my all time favorite. There are two exceptions, one is my favorite color (Mint!).
The other exception to my no-favorites rule is that I have a favorite time. Yes, you read that right. Heck, it even happens twice a day (Bonus!). Leave it to the girl that doesn’t have favorites, to have a favorite that no one else does. To be honest, I am not quite sure why I even started having this favorite time. I used to think this was the time I was born, (it’s not, I have confirmed). There are a couple other reasons that are not all that profound but to me they meant something.
The time is 7:47.
If we are close enough you will know those are the first 3 digits of my phone number, and I have a big love for planes. This is also the time of sunsets and sometimes sunrises during certain times of the year, which are part of my (non-existent) favorites list.
But while those may be slightly significant to my personality, they’re not even close to the reason this is my favorite time.
A few years ago, I decided that every time I saw this time on the clock, I would stop whatever I was doing and just give thanks to God. For one full minute, I would just align my heart to be grateful for everything I have been blessed with. Some days I would catch myself looking at the clock waiting for the minute to be over, clearly struggling to feel very grateful. Other days 3 or 4 minutes would pass before I even realized it. Either way it didn’t matter because the practice of it started to align my heart to a posture of thankfulness. I just spent time telling God how great He is and He has shown up on several occasion to tell me how great He thinks I am and how much He loves me.
One of these times, I was driving through fields to Yosemite, for a vacation with dear friends. I was alone in my car and the sun was setting. I had been singing in my car for probably an hour or so, and happened to look at the clock, which read 7:47. I immediately turned my radio off and just started to thank God for everything I could think of, and for just how wonderful He has been to me. This time I kept my eyes open, I was driving after all and as much as I love Jesus, I was not planning on meeting Him that day.
Well, as I kept my eyes on the road, I saw this bi-plane come out of nowhere and just swoop through the fields right next to my car. To say it took my breath away is an understatement. I had never felt more known and loved than in that moment. To see a plane flying through these fields, made golden by a gorgeous sunset, during my favorite time, was just the definition of pure joy. I knew in that moment, God had heard me, and He loved me and He wanted to wow me. There was no agenda here on either side, it was just pure adoration, love and affection.
Another time was during a more difficult night, where I was struggling to not be overtaken by the negativity surrounding me. I worked as a waitress in a restaurant, and on this particular night, everything seemed to be going wrong. The customers were all in really bad moods, and very demanding, there were struggles with the food, and all of the waitstaff seemed to be on edge. There was something in the atmosphere that could have been classified as a negativity virus, and it seemed everyone was catching it. I was slowly being overtaken by this heaviness when I happened to look at the clock and saw that it was 7:47. I just stopped what I was doing and took that minute to thank God for my job, thank Him that I was able to make money and that He had given me the ability to be a waitress.
I thanked Him that He is good, and that I have the ability to tap into that goodness and spread it around me. I thanked Him that I did not have to give in to the frustration but instead could choose joy, peace, love, goodness, kindness and gentleness. And like a wave washing over me I felt his presence and then I felt an atmosphere shift. I suddenly was not succumb to what was surrounding me but instead got to share with my tables what was within me. The night as a whole didn’t get much better but the tables I encountered were suddenly more joyful and everything started to run smoother.
Later that night, when I went to do my sales report, I couldn’t believe my eyes. At the top of my report, my net sales for the night were exactly $747.00. This has never happened in all 7 years that I have been a server, and never happened since. It is rare enough to get an even number with no change at all, let alone a number that means so much to me. I knew God had heard me and that was His way of reminding me that He was there, that He was always listening and I think proud that I chose to focus my heart on Him instead of catching the negativity virus.
Theres nothing like being fully known and fully loved. Anytime, a friend or family member remembers little details about me, it always makes my heart gleam with joy, knowing someone cares about me and has been intentional in our relationship. I think that’s the beauty about 747 to me. It may be a small thing, but it is intentional time building a relationship, and I have been so blessed beyond measure in so many ways because of it. Not in riches, or fancy things as one may think of being blessed, but in relationship and being reminded that I am so fully and deeply loved and known. I’ll take that any day over material things.
Now, I will get to spend a year flying on planes, discovering 747 in different time zones, and seasons, and getting to thank God for all of these crazy new adventures and wonderful people He is about to put into my life. I am so excited to see what He has in store for me and what cool new God moments will come out of this precious time. 🙂
