I’ve Learned My Lessons About Look Backs

It’s been several weeks since I was able to make my trek back to Tulsa and I’ve missed everything and everyone there, especially Mom and my besties! I’m glad I’m heading there today, even in the rain AND cold!

When I moved to Frisco from Tulsa in 2016, I promised God I wouldn’t look back and wish I were still there. Famous last words. I'm glad God didn’t turn me into a pillar of salt like Lot’s wife when she looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah! I’ll admit I’ve missed my friends and family and familiar places. I haven’t wished to move back, but I have looked back on the best parts of living there. Selective thinking and remembering. Isn’t it funny how, when we’re missing something or someone, we don’t think about the negatives associated with them? And there were plenty. There were some tough and crazy times and my precious husband became fatally ill, but I've locked up the vault on those memories and throwing away the key!

Here’s the deal. As long as we keep looking backward, we’re not making progress going forward. In Luke 9:62, Jesus told the disciple “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Yikes! Thanks, God, for the reminder! I want to be fit for your Kingdom!

Why is it that we have such a longing to look back? God knows we are prone to backward glances and thinking about our mistakes and failures along with our successes and victories. We can learn from those experiences, but as long as we’re looking back, we can’t move forward. Living in those memories keeps us looking in the rear view mirror instead of looking ahead to where we're going.

It’s time to “Let it Go” (Hark! Do I hear Elsa from "Frozen" belting out her song?) I mean “Let go of the past – we can’t change it so it’s time to move forward. The past is the past and, yes, though we have fond memories of precious loved ones and times we hold near and dear to our hearts, but I’m sure we all have past experiences, relationships, and memories that we’re all ready to bury and forget about. Literally, it’s a new day. We can do nothing about our past, but we can do everything about our today and tomorrow, especially when it comes to thanking God for His many blessings and living in those blessings TODAY!

So I’ll give hugs and warm embraces to my dear ones AND even visit some of my favorite places while I’m there. But, God knows my heart and how grateful I am for precious new friends, new places, new faces, and new opportunities to love THIS place! I won’t be looking back, but looking forward with great expectation to what today and tomorrow holds. One thing’s for sure. God holds me and he holds my hand in THIS place!