Forward Moving ...

One of my sweetest childhood memories was when my dad would take us, his three children, and our mother out for a drive to check out "the sites". With no electronics we kids would entertain ourselves by looking out the windows as we cruised the city, or we'd count cows and horses if a country drive was the plan. Of course, rarely did we go without a treat during those leisurely drives. DQ was a favourite stop, or he would pull up to the front of A&W. A waitress would come outside to get our order and soon some "baby" root beers would appear on the tray she'd attach to the window. We kids would kneel on the bench seat, resting our beers of root on the shelf in front of the back window. At least one of us would inevitably ask if we could keep the little mugs. Of course, the answer would be "no", but we had to try.

In the scheme of life this may seem insignificant, but these are the memories I prefer to treasure.

My dad loved driving (maybe where I get it from) but I remember my mother accusing him of being more interested in what was behind him than what was in front. I don't know what was so interesting in the rear view mirror, or when he'd turn his head to quickly peer back, but I do recollect him doing that. Thankfully, we didn't get into accidents so, in this at least, I believe he managed multi-tasking.

If you're a driver, you know that we should look into our rear and sideview mirrors every five to eight seconds while we're on the road. (Okay ... I had to look that up. It's been awhile since I took a driver's test.) Obviously that, and common sense. tells us that when we operate a vehicle we should be looking ahead more often than behind.

I think that is a perfect analogy for how we are to live our lives. We all have fond memories, and negative ones as well. Thinking about the nice ones is fun, but confronting the challenging and tough things behind us is very important. Each affect our perspective as we move forward. After the work is done (and sometimes it's lengthy and difficult work) it's then the time to more often focus on what is happening today and what we are anticipating ahead of us.

There's a perfect Bible verse for this and it's a favourite of mine because it keeps me grounded when I find myself inside past memories that aren't happy. To sum up, this was written after the Apostle Paul wrote about how he had acquired wealth during the time he was persecuting Christians. All of that had been taken away from him after he encountered God on the Damascus road. Notably, instead of caring about what he'd left behind, he only yearned to understand the power of Christ and increase his faith. Then he admitted: (Philippians 3:13 & 14 NIV) "I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Just like when we're behind the wheel -- a large majority of the time it is more important to remain focussed on what we're presently doing, and what is coming ahead! It won't always be easy, but if we're following His leading it will be amazing in ways we can't even imagine.

I encourage you today to place your faith in the most powerful and one true God! Give him your hurts and your happiness, and let Him move you forward in the amazing life He has designed just for you!

Pattie

PS - My husband and I are between condos, having moved out of one on the day I began writing this. We are looking forward with excited anticipation for what is to come. I have an embarrassing story to share, but I'm guessing that, as we wait to move into our next place, there may be more to add, so I'll leave that (or those) for next time.

As always, I am praying for you. If you'd like me to pray for anyone or anything specific please feel free to share. As always, everything is kept confidential -- between you, me and God.