A new year is only nine days old. Does it feel normal to
write 2017 yet?
Our family went on a virtual field trip over the holidays.
With the help of “street view” from Google Maps, I was able to show my children
the first home (5000kms away) I have memories of, my walk to school, and the
church our family attended. We “travelled” down the country road to my wife’s
childhood home and the places she remembered. Much to our children’s delight,
these visuals were a trigger for an avalanche of stories from our past. What
fun to recount the fond memories and laughable moments!
Things have changed: a second story had been added to my old
house, many trees are gone, and there is no trace of the busy dairy farm that
was adjacent to my wife’s home of long ago. These all seemed to be reminders
that the past is not a place we can return to, or at least as we remember it.
The close of one year and start of a new one reminds us with
greater perspective that, one day at a time, God lays before us new
opportunities and possibilities and asks us to be wise stewards of them. When
we end up in life where we don’t expect to be, or when circumstances cause us
to be weary and worn, we may wish to fall back to “how things used to be.“ Perhaps
nostalgia is a strong motivator because it shifts us to a place in our memory
where we are surrounded by comfort rather than the complexity of making tough
choices in new uncharted waters.
Do we choose preservation, or pursue possibility? They probably are not mutually exlusive. God
assures us that he has plans to bless and lead us, all for his glory and for
his kingdom – as our chapel this morning confirmed. May God find LCES faithful
with the possibility and potential He has for us, wherever they take us. SJ
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