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Why #11 Means So Much To Me

You ever just take a little bit of time to look back over your life and see that God has consistently had your back and has consistently shown you in His own special way?  Well, that’s #11 in my life.

Being a November baby it was only natural that I would gravitate towards the month and the number.  I mean that’s just out of any normal person’s typical loyalty to their birthday month...but being born in November was only the beginning.

To the best of my ability I will try not to make this come off like some numerology kick.  Meaning, I do not look to any number to define my life or define my religion or define my beliefs in some weird, spooky, what-you-talkin-bout-Willis kind of way.  BUT...numbers have always been important to God (just sayin’ there’s a whole book in the Bible called Numbers) and appropriately always important to me but...

#11 is not about the actual #11 at all.  It is more so a symbol, a little thing that me and God have.  It is our “wink”, our “I see you”, our “Dap-POW”, our “I know your name”, our “Secret handshake”.

My mother told me a story that when she was just a child she witnessed a hit and run outside of her house.  As she saw the man laying there dead in the street and was clearly scared to death....she saw a butterfly.  The most beautiful butterfly flew past her and she felt a peace come about her and she felt like God was saying “I got you” and “Everything is going to be okay”.  Ever since then, every time my mom saw the butterfly she was reminded of God and His “wink” towards her and His peace.  Growing up, you knew you were hitting a home run with my Mom if you got her something with a butterfly on it or in it, or if you drew it, or whatever.  Below is a painting I made for her not too long ago....you know she loved it.   Alas, she has the butterfly and I have 11.

Now back to me...So not to bore you with a whole bunch of words, I’ll just give you the list of what I have noted so far.  It’s amazing when you can take note of something AS it’s happening, and not only in hindsight.  Hindsight suggest that you missed it as it was going down...Father give me NOW-sight!

The List (Not all inclusive, just some of the more significant items)

• Born in November (11)...
• Received Christ as my Savior in November (11) at the age of 11 years old...
• My mother was the 7th born in her family - if you start with the “known” cousins (You know exactly why I said that) that were born after her I was the 11th born in the family (Uncle E-1, Aunt C-2, Uncle J-3, Aunt J-4, Aunt D-5, Aunt V-6, Mom-7, Cousin T-8, Cousin U-9, Cousin R-10, ME-11)
• When I received a basketball scholarship to college the article about it was featured in the news paper on page 11c
• When I got accepted to Spelman College, only after arriving did I learn that the school was founded on April 11, with 11 students, and 11 Bibles
• The church I joined while in school had a foundational scripture of Jeremiah 29:11
• The communion scripture, which is also my birthday is 11:23-26 (1Corinthians)
• When I was promoted at work I was sent to Tech training in November (11)
• I was on a magical date on 1/11/11 of this year that parlayed itself in a magical relationship...
• UPDATE: When I was in college Theresa Weatherspoon, #11 of the New York Liberty, came to do a basketball workshop.  I got to play her one-on-one (she beat my tail) and she told me how she got 11 cornrows braided in her hair...

It will be the room number of the hotel I have to stay in for some special conference...

It will be my number in line for a leadership training when I’m asked to count off...

It will be 11th day of the month for some fun event or surprise or awesomeness...

It.Never.Fails.

Big or small, I just want God and the world to know, I see it AS it is happening.  I appreciate Him for giving me OUR special thing.

Do you and God have a special thing? Do you have a special number for whatever reason?  I would love to hear about it.

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Great 11-11-11 Blog by @milanford
http://milanford.com/back-to-one/

Another great 11-11-11 Blog by @mashable
http://mashable.com/2011/11/10/111111/

Musical tribute to 11-11-11 by @GuyKawasaki 
http://holykaw.alltop.com/ode-to-11-11-11-video?tu4=1