Look Back. Engage Now. Move Forward. (Living Life to Its Fullest)
Nostalgia hits hard during the graduation season. Life takes on a new urgency.
Parents cling a little tighter to those children still home and wish for just one more year with the one leaving.
It is tempting to time warp to the middle of our kids’ grade-school years or the sweet baby-scent season and freeze there. To not just reminisce about the special years of togetherness, but live them perpetually.
Oh, how I longed for this ability last year as my son stepped out into his next adventure! But thank God, He didn’t grant it.
Living Life to the Fullest
Looking back on the season of a full house conveys warmth and much-needed perspective. Yet dwelling there steals this moment and the next.
Failing to look back brings a stunted life. Failing to experience now brings emptiness. Failing to move on brings stagnation.
Although we can’t live in the past, we can let it influence how we engage today and approach tomorrow.
Although we can't live in the past, we can let it influence how we engage today and approach tomorrow. Click To Tweet
Together, yesterday, today and tomorrow combine to form a complete life.
It is easy to glamorize the past. To paint the idyllic scene with you in it. But don’t be tempted to sacrifice the beauty of today and the promise of tomorrow for a skewed perception of yesterday.
Together, yesterday, today and tomorrow combine to form a complete life. Click To Tweet
Each day is a gift to be embraced and built on. In that light, letting go of one cherished moment makes way for the next, allowing us to embrace the full cycle of this ordained life.
Each day is a gift to be embraced and built on; letting go of one cherished moment makes way for the next... Click To Tweet
Look Back. Engage Now. Move Forward.
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24).
- Brown sugar/butter-topped homemade buttery rolls; Potatoes planted; No morels, but did get a walk in the woods 🙂
- Watching Joey’s mid-Hawk relays; 5th & 6th grade spring band/choir concert; Spotted an owl on my wog this morning
- Apple, pear, cherry & peach trees blossoming for 1st time as well as lilac; Mowing the lawn; Scents & sounds of spring
- Removed nettles from Pooh Garden (Rachel’s garden); Cuddling kittens; Blackberry, nutella, yogurt smoothies
- Daniel’s home from college!; Attended great middle school musical to watch niece & nephew; Morning photoshoot
- Write-to-Publish piece submitted on time; Badminton w/ all the Sunne boys, & Rach cheering; Young people bold for the Lord
- Worshipping w/ all 4 kiddos today–so nice to have Dan w/ us; 1st taste of morels this year; Graduation party fellowship
Also linking with the following wonderful sites:
By His Grace,
Julie
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Hello, I'm Julie, an imperfect wife and mother of four. Life in this broken world is not always easy. Yet, joy can be found in each day through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I find it's easy for our day's blessings to get lost in its happenings. But God's "mercies never end" (Lamentations 3:22) and His "grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
May the posts and pages on this site offer you a measure of peace and encouragement.
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{Melinda} Just heard a quote from Andy Stanley, “Growth brings complexity.” Maybe that’s part of why we don’t want to move and change and grow. It’s messy. It’s out of the known into the unknown. It’s chaotic. But all the good stuff is there, too. Most of all a Teacher who is with us each scary step of the way.
I’m sure fear is a big motivator in our hesitation to change, Melinda. but you are correct, with God right beside us, we can look at change as an opportunity–the gift that it is.
I prefer to live in the present. My past has too many things that were bothersome. The future is not guaranteed me. When Hubby and I remember something from the past, it’s only for a little bit. Having to face hard issues in my past has made me closer to God. I am grateful for those times because of God’s guidance.
The present is a good place to live, Cecelia, although that too can get difficult at times. I’m sorry you had a troubled past. Sometimes it is necessary to look back though to guide our present; and as you mentioned, those tough times often draw us nearer God. But, my Friend, you do have a guaranteed future. Although you do not know what tomorrow will bring to you on this earth, in Christ Jesus, you have a secured future with the Lord. A beautiful destination to look forward to.
Praising Him for grace! God bless.