Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Memories

One of the great things about facebook is that it brings back memories from prior years. This morning it showed a picture I was tagged in of my son out Trick or Treating with his friend and a couple others. The picture was taken in 2014 and it was the last year my son went out. I had no idea it would be the last time when he was getting ready but it was. He was in fifth grade.

It seems that lately time is speeding up in all the places I want it to slow down, and dragging in all the places I want it to speed up. I don't want my son to start high school a second sooner than he needs to but I also want the extra weight to come off in the blink of an eye. For all I know the two events will coincide. One I will cry over and the other I will celebrate. 

As all things pumpkin begin to rush towards their peak season with November creeping up ever so quickly, I want to take the next few weeks to focus on thanks. I have some verses selected already and will continue to sort through more and see if I can find others to include. I don't want us to start lists of things we're thankful for each day because if I am any indication of the norm, we'll get to the end of the day realizing we haven't taken even a second to be intentionally thankful for anything, and write down the first three things that come to mind. At least that's how it's always worked out in my reality.

Instead, I want us to focus on the things of the past that we are most thankful for. The things that we can see how they worked out for our good and God's glory with the benefit of time and distance on our side. The things that we never had any indication would matter so much because at the time they seemed insignificant but were actually turning points or hinges on which a new journey started that we didn't even think was an option.

My hope is that if we can focus on this until Thanksgiving Day, our hearts will be so full of gratitude as we sit down to turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy, that our conversations around the table will overflow with evidence of God's grace in our lives. And perhaps instead of just feasting on incredible food, we'll feast on the goodness of the Lord.


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