Was it you that shared the “Why All The Umbrellas” story? If so then thank you, I owe you. Thank you for sharing a simple story about being a blessing to others. You made a difference.
Whether you were or were not one of the thousands of people that shared the story God inspired me to write I want to tell you what happened. This is what God can do when simply do our part. When we take our place in His story and stop trying to write ours. This is cool……
On Saturday June 17th, 2017 at 11:00 P.M. I posted an existing story from my blog (The1SixProject.com) to my personal Shane Hale Facebook page. The story, “Why All The Umbrellas”, is simply about being a blessing to others. 24 hours later that story had been read a little over 100 times.
Then it took off like lightning as people began to share it. Sharing made a difference.
14 days later the story had been:
- Shared on Facebook by well over 10,000 people.
- Read over 66,000 times (The Georgia Dome seats 65,000 people)
- In 92 different countries
- This led to over 170 additional people subscribing to my blog, The1SixProject.com
At first, I was blown away. Honestly, those numbers are far beyond anything I ever expected. After having time to digest this though I had to ask myself, why was I amazed at all?
Answer – I was amazed because my expectations were based on my resources, which are limited, not on God’s resources, which are unlimited. His plans are always bigger than we can ever imagine., as evidenced by the number of people that read the story.
There is a much bigger story here though……
Let’s back up three years to a Tuesday afternoon in July of 2014 when I was sitting in a company sales meeting. That is the day God told me to write. “I want you to write”. Those were the exact words that hit my mind. They hit me like a bolt of lightning out of a blue sky.
For the record I was going through a very tough time when this occurred but I had been seeking God’s will for my life in earnest. Still, that was the craziest thing I had ever heard. Write about what?! I didn’t act on it.
God persisted though and:
- In late 2014 I began to write and post my stories, mostly faith based, on Facebook
- In Spring of 2016 a man I have never met created a blog for me to post my stories on with the intention of “reaching a bigger audience”.
- In June of 2017 God took a story He inspired me to write a year prior, used that blog He told my new friend to create for me and made over 67,000 positive impressions around the world about being a blessing,
- One of those people is a man named Chuck Graham. Chuck runs a ministry named Ciloa.com and they ran the story as a featured weekly devotional, “A Note of Encouragement”, on his website, which reaches over 180 countries.
- Ultimately the story could be read by over 100,000 people in one month. Clearly God is awesome.
The point is not “look at me, look what I did”. Far from it! It’s not about me.
The point is – Look at what happened when I sought God’s will for my life and was obedient to His call and command.
The writer downer is – Never underestimate what God can do in your life and through your life when you make yourself available.
I may never write another story that reaches that many people or it may be the tip of the iceberg that lies ahead. I have absolutely no idea. What I do know is this. God told me to write. So, I write. I continue to seek Him and He continues to reveal His plan for my life to me.
Know this. God’s power and authority has absolutely no boundaries. Seeking Him and His plan for your life will absolutely change your life!
To take it a step further……..when you share what God is doing in your life it can then make a difference in the lives of those around you. That’s how it works!
Get in the boat. Do your part. Make a difference
Shane / #16
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Read the “The Umbrella Story” here – http://www.the1sixproject.com/2016/04/13/why-all-the-umbrellas/
Subscribe to the blog at www.The1SixProject.com