Normally when I sit down to blog I have some phrases and/or sentences already stored in my mind.  But not today.

What I have is a vague idea.  Something that I've often thought of but never really took any farther than a simple thought.

I am the only person who knows all the people that I know and you are the only person who knows all the people that you know.

It's kind of a weird thought.  But think about it.  Nobody else on earth knows every single person that I know.  Larry knows a lot of the people who I know.  But not all of them.  Not the ones I went to elementary school with.  Not the ones I went to church with before I met Larry.  Not the ones I know from random weird connections.  And I don't know everyone he knows.

Just think about it.

I helped to cater a local church board's Christmas dinner tonight.  I wore my I-might-have-to-talk-to-strangers-hat. 

After we were finished serving I was hiding cleaning up in the back room.  But I could hear what the pastor was saying.  He touched on a verse in Acts.  A verse I'd heard before but that stilled me anew tonight.

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." ~Acts 4:13

Two things grabbed my attention.

#1: "...they were unschooled, ordinary men..."

It's no secret that I find great delight in the ordinary.  I've blogged before about how the shepherds are my favorite characters in the Christmas story simply because they are so ordinary.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night."

It always makes me smile.  

Envisioning the shepherds.   

Cloaks, long beards, staffs.

It always makes me still with wonder.

Envisioning the night sky.

Diamonds glittering against black.

It's a peaceful scene that I see.  And then.

"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified."

No kidding.  I imagine they might have looked a little like this:

Eyebrows raised.  Mouth agape.  Body tilted sideways (or "sidewards" as Jake likes to say). 

Can you even imagine?  The Lord of heaven and earth chose to have his birth announcement go first to unschooled, ordinary men.

Fast forward to Acts.  Jesus chose to have his gospel, his kingdom, furthered thru unschooled, ordinary men.  Men who had more knowledge of fish guts than people.

Just, wow.

#2:  "...and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

Herein lies the secret of being memorable.  The rulers, elders, and teachers of the law recognized that Peter and John were just ordinary guys.  But what made them courageous, what made them stand out, what made them different was that they had been with Jesus.

Which brings me around to my first thought.  I am the only person who knows every single person I know.  You are the only person who knows every single person you know.  Your sphere of influence is different than mine.  We most likely know some of the same people and so our spheres overlap a bit.  But here is the question:  do the people in my sphere take note that I have been with Jesus?

Am I making time to spend with Emmanuel so that my brand of ordinary becomes noticeable, memorable?  I confess that I don't always.

It's 11 days until Christmas.  My prayer for you, for me, is that we influence our spheres well.