Breathless

Have you ever been truly breathless? I guess I have been only once or twice in my life. The first times was at the birth of our middle daughter, Hilary. I was able to be next to Donna during the c-section that brought Hilary into the world. It was the most awesome experience up to that point in my life. The doctor delivered Hilary through the surgical opening and he handed her to me. Yes, to me, I was the first person to really hold her, amazing and breathless. Two descriptive words that still don't do justice.

The second time was such an incredible experience that even today when I talk about it I sense people's disbelief. I stood and walked on some of the very ground that Dr. Livingstone stood on more then one hundred years ago. His journey across the African continent has never been equaled. The work that he accomplished in the name of Christ changed the south of the continent forever. Really, a man that will stand as one of the greatest missionaries to Africa of all time.

There is a town in the Southern Province of Zambia that bears his name. The town is located on the banks of the Zambezi River. The Zambezi River is the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe in the south. Victoria Falls, one of the greatest natural wonders of the world is at the small town of Livingstone. Around Vic Falls there are NO safety fences or guard rails. A brave soul can walk right out to the very edge and look out across the largest water falls in the world. Just after the rainy season it would be impossible to have a conversation with a person if you were within hundreds of yards of the massive walls of water that crashed into the gorges below. Breathless and unable to speak I stood amazed.

A time is coming when standing in the footsteps of Dr. Livingstone and holding my newborn, as breathless as I was, will pale in comparison to the time I stand before my Holy and Awesome God. I will be breathless, for their will be no need to fill my lungs any longer.