impressions

Back to the dentist on Friday. I had some impressions made. If your haven’t had this thrill, it is where they fill your mouth with quick-dry cement. They try to make the experience more tolerable by giving the concrete a – non concrete taste. It doesn’t help much. The hygienist loaded up the mouthpiece-shaped tray and held it in my mouth. “It only takes a few minutes to set up”, she said. It did. Within a couple of minutes, this stuff was hard as a rock and she removed it from my mouth.

If you read this blog, you know where I am going. Sorry to be Captain Obvious. It only takes a few minutes to set up an impression. People form opinions about us within the first few seconds of meeting us. Right or wrong, they determine what kind of people we are and whether or not they like us based simply on the way we present ourselves. I do it all the time, you do, too.

What impressions are we making? Is there anything in our at-first-glance lives that speak of hope? Is there anything in us that help turn someone toward Christ? I believe that it is entirely possible to impact someone, at least on a minimal level, in only a few seconds. If you don’t believe me, think about the last time a total stranger smiled at you. It helped, didn’t it?

Sometimes you have a lifetime. Sometimes you have a split second.