I loved this post!

This morning I read Amanda Beattie's blogspot (www.amandabeattie.wordpress.com) and I thought this post was great and thought I'd share it...

"So I was at Starbuck’s today… You’re probably familiar with their famous (infamous?) ”The Way I See It” promotion, where they quote people of varying degrees of fame or obscurity on their coffee cups. I’ve seen quotes from everyone from authors to film producers to philosophers to religious leaders to some random dude who wandered into their store and shot off his mouth with something resembling profundity. I think these are designed to be conversation starters for you and your fellow coffee-goer.

Since I’m a compulsive reader, I have read every single Starbuck’s cup (as well as my friends’) that has passed in front of me. Tonight was no different. I took off the little post-consumer recycled cardboard sleeve, and found something underneath that was actually thought-provoking to me.

The Way I See It #274

“People often ask me if it is worth it

to work at sea, isolated from the

world, far from loved ones, seasick,

and running on three hours’ sleep.

To lay eyes on something never

before seen by anyone, to learn

something new about our planet,

for that one moment of discovery –

yes, it is all worth it.

- Katy Croff
Archaeological oceanographer
and National Geographic
Emerging Explorer.

My first thought was, “Good gravy. That’s a whole lot of work just to go look at old sunken stuff.”

My second thought was, “Wow… this lady is really onto something.”

“To lay eyes on something never before seen by anyone… for that one moment of discovery — yes, it’s worth it.” Think about that for a second. Make it not about our planet, but about our planet’s Creator.

Ms. Croff is tapping into a hunger which is wired into each one of us — a hunger to be fascinated, a hunger to behold beauty, a hunger to push into the unknown a little bit and see what kind of wonders await there. I believe that, until it is shut down by one too many bad experiences and fears, we all have at least a tiny bit of an adventurer in us. At the very least, we have all been excited when we at last got to open that really big, shiny present that has been torturing us from underneath the Christmas tree for days. Who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of discovering something beautiful?

Friends, we have access to a God who is infinitely beautiful. If you think you’ve seen all of Him there is to see, it’s time to get out of your box (since we can neither put God in or let Him out of that box we always talk about…). We’re going to spend all of eternity gazing, searching, staring into pure beauty. And thanks to Jesus’ work on the Cross, and to the Holy Spirit who searches the deep things of God and lives inside of us, we can begin on that right now.

Katy Croff goes through all kinds of physical and emotional craziness in order to seek out ancient stuff under the ocean. So why is it so easy for us to take it for granted that we have access to the Ancient of Days? (I’m definitely including myself in this.) She is excited about those underwater things that no one has ever seen before, and we have unsearchable riches set before us.

I can get whiny about a 24-hour fast, while this lady will get on a boat, travel away for her family for days in horrid weather, get seasick, and not sleep. And to her, it’s all worth it.

How much more can we be excited to “explore” God? Suddenly a little bit of fasting doesn’t sound like such a big deal. Suddenly setting aside an entire day for prayer seems like a laughable amount of effort, considering our Reward. I mean, just think about it: we get to search out the God who is beyond our comprehension, where no eye has seen, nor has it even entered into our hearts, what He has in store for us…