I sat down this morning, in the early hours of 4 am, under the twinkling lights of our Christmas tree to jot down
these thoughts about the past 12 months. As the year finally starts to roll to an end I have been thinking much about the lives we live, the loves we have, the people we intersect daily, weekly etc., and wonder what’s in store in our next year? Last week, I had a business trip that covered about 1200 miles in Texas and Oklahoma that seemed like it would never end.
A coworker and I landed in Dallas, went east 2 hours to meet a client, then back 4 hours west of Dallas, then north, eventually to Amarillo Texas, and then off to Guymon Oklahoma. With 4 tanks of gas and A LOT of pavement between the time we landed and left, I got a good look at the land.
It’s so interesting and I am so blessed that I can experience many different facets of life, whether in the air, on the water, or the unfolding of the road, there is a texture, almost a ‘rolling’ wave of movement from the creation of time that takes place in our world. The sea of course allows you to see the ‘waves’ move quickly and it leaves an immediate feedback under your feet. The air, well unless there are clouds you really don’t see it, but you can sure feel its movement as you fly through it. The road, like the land of Texas, might come at you a little slower but is nonetheless dramatic in how it ‘feels’ as you move across it. Driving past the giant wind turbines, the single little oil wells pumping away, the blowing scrub brush, the low to the ground foliage, you can’t help but wonder if our lives are much like the rolling land, sea and sky?
Age gives perspective, perspective gives balance, and in my thinking, balance is much of the key to getting by every day.
This year has been fraught with many ups and downs for all of us and in the end, the road goes on, much like some of those long, straight highways in Texas. Mile after mile seems, when looking forward, to never end, but one look in the rearview mirror shows you some of the distance you’ve covered and the memories of the miles past.
My son is 14 and just yesterday, while at the grocery store I was behind a couple with a 8 month old baby boy. As my son stood beside me I was amazed to think he was once that size (though never that quiet), and look at him now. How did that happen?
Miles down the road… as a good friend at work often says ‘keep on truckin’. We get up, try to do our best at school, work, church, life in general and see what God has for us every day. Though I don’t cherish some of the scarier challenges, it comes down to ‘trust’. As the miles and years roll past, we might not move as fast as we used to move, might not be what we ‘were’ but ‘we’, you and I, continue as long as God wills it. That ‘continuation’ much like the two lane blacktops of Texas, actually has a destination. There were times last week when it seemed like it would never end but one mile at a time, added up to 1200 miles over 4 days. For each of us I am sure there are days that seem like they are never going to end, but I firmly believe, down in my bones, there is a ‘plan’, a destination so to speak and that ‘plan’ is good.
Going ‘through’ a situation isn’t like looking back on a situation. How many times do we all refer to the ‘good ole days’ when really, when you stop and think about, what really made those days so much better than today?
Perspective for the past.
Hope for the Future.
I would say one of the most significant things I have learned this year is how powerful ‘hope’ can be. It’s been said hope is a weapon which in our militaristic world seems to fit. However, I like to think of it from the perspective of what the Bible states about itself. The ‘word’ is sharper than a two edged sword and it can divide between the bone and marrow. As we look toward the future, let us ‘cling, grasp, hug (bear) onto hope. Not hope in men, hope in money, hope in relationships but hope in the One who created us all, holds us all and came as a tiny babe to demonstrate for us all, how to live and die. With His perspective and life we can overcome anything in this new year. He demonstrated sacrifice and the outcome of ‘giving’.
My wish for you each as your year rolls up and you come to the ‘state line’ or the ‘approach lights’ of starting a new year, is that you ‘see, experience, feel’ your way through the next year, being ‘thankful’ for what you do have and not discouraged by what you don’t. Hope for all that is good, right and honest to lead us day to day. I can say, I’ve spent a lot of years wasting away on what I don’t have vs. looking at what I do have. I listened to depression and no hope for far too long. (Foolish on my part.) This next year will have its joys, and its sad times, but it’s always moving like the waves of the sea, the wind of the air, and the roads of Texas. Keep moving forward trusting in the ‘plan’ that has been laid out for you. It’s meant for good, it’s meant for growth, it’s designed for you.
May you be blessed all of your days and may you have safe journeys through the end of 2016.
