We’ve Only Just Begun to Live

That was one of our favorite songs (released in 1970) by The Carpenters. The characters in the song were a just-married couple looking forward to new horizons, new roads to choose, and so much life ahead of them. We sang that song completely unaware of what lie ahead, but naïve and child-like as we were, we just knew as long as we were together, side by side, we’d make it through each and every bump in the road that we might encounter. Seems like unrealistic thinking, but it is the only way to live – believing and always hoping for the best, but just in case the worst might come, we’d be able to handle it together. And, oh, my – the bumps did come – far beyond what two kids could ever dream, but we did handle it together – that is – together with God where we placed our hope and trust -- the ONE Who had already prepared the way for us.

We’re well into our second week of this new year and this start certainly gives us those feelings -- a certain excitement about the possibilities that are out there for us. We may reflect on the past, but no longer do we dwell there, because we certainly can’t change the past. Looking through the rearview mirror is no option. I said in a blog last week that starting the year with a clean slate and a clean calendar gives us great hope for this new year. But, the best news is – come what may – we can start a clean slate every day. Or if we make a mistake in this minute, we can start a clean slate with asking God for forgiveness and cleaning up our mess right now! Whew! How good to know! Good thing I keep plenty of clean slates on hand!

Already, just ten days in – I’ve been receiving requests for prayer from a friend’s mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday. Another request was to pray for a friend whose cancer had returned. Another request was a friend’s baby who was admitted to the hospital with breathing issues and is still there – four days later. Life happened. Bumps in the road happened. It is still the same story for each of them and each of us. We can handle this because – IN GOD we trust!

We came upon those bumps in the road, too, when we rushed our own baby boy to the hospital when he started turning blue in my arms. That was truly our first major bump in the road. I was pregnant with our daughter and had to walk down the hall when they were taking his blood. My young husband was helping them hold our crying-uncontrollably-baby down, but they called me back to help them with my husband who had fainted. Then, and now, so many years later – IN GOD, we learned to trust.

The many chapters of my/our story reveal how God allowed us to go through some of the best of times and the worst of times to “thicken our skin” aka strengthen our walk and talk of faith. God brought us through each and every time. We became anchored in our trust in God and I’m still anchored each day as I seek God with my whole heart. It’s the sure foundation for whatever may come in this day. That's the fuel to our trust -- leaning into the ONE with Whom we can put our trust in -- come what may!

Psalm 9:10 "And those who know Your name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."

Our Rich Family Heritage

My friend posted this beautiful photo on her timeline a few days ago. She was in Pocahontas, Illinois. I commented: “I have family roots that go back to John Rolfe and Pocahontas. They were our 10th generation grandparents. Yay! I'm multi-racial! There's a tiny percentage of Native American in me! And I thought I had no famous folks in my family lineage."

That lineage is on my Mom's side of the family. When she was up in years, I realized I knew little of her family history -- stories about her 10 siblings, what it was like living in a large family, how their parents made ends meet, how she met my Dad, their first kiss, their wedding, and what it was like to have us kids. What a shame I waited so long to find out. I realized that I was so "me" focused that I didn't treasure and appreciate where I came from. So, I did something about it. I took my camcorder, set it on a tripod and spent many hours and days (but a few minutes at a time) interviewing her. Her stories were so precious. Fortunately, I stopped to spend quality time with her that resulted in VHS tapes that I gave out to my siblings and their kids when Mom passed away at age 94 in 2004. I was able to pass on our rich (not in money, but in faith and fortitude) family history.

As I type this today, my Holy Lands “bucket list” pilgrimage three years ago comes to my mind. The more we delved into the rich history of Christianity in the tours that explained so many of our “Family of God’s” history, the more I realized how much I need to be living everyday with great appreciation and gratitude for what our fore-fathers and mothers gave us. How can I do that unless I make the effort to know that heritage? Thankfully, I have a dear cousin, just a few years older than me, that kept up so much better than I did with our family. She accentuates all the positives – the blessings – of our rich family history of faith.

Imagine the wisdom that’s stored up in our elderly family members that could give us so much insight to how rich we are today because of the price they paid to get us here. My children are getting the best of me as I archive so many of my personal life experiences as well as all that rich family heritage that I recall to them. Now, take that even further in realizing the rich family history that goes back to our first “mother and father” (Adam and Eve), studying the scriptures to see where they went right…and where they went wrong – lessons they learned that we sure don’t want to repeat. So much wisdom to learn all throughout the Bible that can keep us pointed in the direction of peace, comfort and joy in our lifelong faith journeys.

I assure you that my Christian walk has been so faith-filled because of what I’ve learned in scripture from our “family heritage”. There have been times in my life where I’ve experienced the pain of my poor choices or actions. In those moments, it can be easy to entertain a notion that I have blown it, that God can’t use me and there’s no hope for restoration. I think we all face those feelings when we fail. During these times, I draw strength from God’s Word, where He tells the stories of heroes of the faith who blew it, like King David, Moses, Peter, Saul (Paul), Abraham and even more. In some cases, their failures were so extreme, it would be natural to say that God would have a right to turn His back on them. But that isn’t God’s nature. He is all about redemption. So when we fail, we can be thankful that God loves a good comeback story.

Paul reminds us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) This should give us hope that no matter what we may have done, our adventure isn’t over. God’s at work reclaiming our story. Failure doesn’t disqualify us, even if we’ve been following Jesus for some time. Our story is still being written. The only way that failure can get the last word in our life is if we choose to let it. We serve a God who is able to take our defeats and missteps and still use us to bring glory to his name. Whether we’re walking with Him faithfully or we’ve had a few stumbles along the way, God continues to encourage us to get up, brush ourselves off and build His kingdom.

I started this post with talking about my own family history and how it has affected my life for so much good. But our rich family history of faith is the yesterday, today and forevermore news and if we continue to review it, rehearse it, and make it known to our children and our children's children, we will carry on our rich family history until we all join together in one big, rich family reunion in heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be!