Learning Along The Way

Back & Forth Living

By

Some days are easier than others to live life joyfully.

Great things happen. A friend comes to visit. Lots of laughter & deep conversation. Lots of considering it all joy when we encounter various trials.

Wait! What?

ladder in front of 1312Yep. Consider it all joy.  ALL JOY.

This was my view in our front yard last year.

When I look back too longingly I can get mired in melancholy.  Woe is me don’t you feel sorry for me?

Well don’t.  And neither do I.  Yes this year has been a series of challenges that sometimes have challenged me just past what I thought I would ever be able to tolerate but I didn’t break.  Or shrivel up & die.  I certainly don’t want to be a tasteless pillar; immovable and unwilling to let go like Lot’s wife.  I didn’t quit moving forward.  And I’m here to tell you you can carry on too.

This life is hard.  So many things don’t go the way we planned.  There are disappointments. There are losses. And the very real pain that comes along with both.  I truly believe we benefit greatly by being real with our pain.  But even more important is that we get real with God and ask Him to use this pain for others’ good and His glory.

current ladderThis is my new view.  Same ladder.  It was my grandfather’s.  A connection with the past that I look back on with great joy and thankfulness in many ways.  It’s also a bridge into moving forward; gardening is something that I HAVE to do.  I must play in the dirt or I will shrivel up and die. (Not really but it sounds nice and dramatic. I’m the only girl around here…)

Moving forward, taking action, planting to grow are all symbolic of change.  There is really only One that doesn’t change.  All the rest of this existence changes.  So getting to spend time with Him in whatever Way helps you connect with Him best is vital for your soul to thrive.  Hanging out with God is vital for my soul too.  My time of deep connection is in the outdoors.  I am a Naturalist.

I still read the Word. Daily. I study and memorize passages.  I love to share with others what connections I see.  I am reminded of what I am passionate about: pouring into the lives of those who are younger than me.

That’s what back & forth living is really about for me.  Looking back at what God has done; through history and my history.  Looking forward to what He will do as He has promised. But also connecting the dots in the here and now while He is very present in our lives.

Back & Forth.  So good.  Join me?

30 Days of Giving #22: Have You Ever Wondered?

By

Have you ever wondered what your life might have been like had you been born in another time or place?

I do. I imagine a lot.

Travel.  Read.  Learn.

Some of my favorite things.

We were privileged to travel together on a business trip that took us to the UK.  We ate in places where locals eat; not chain restaurants from the US (they are there).  We threw our regular way of eating out the window; embracing local favorites like “Toad in the Hole”

20131126-085350.jpg

No trip to the United Kingdom would be complete without scones with clotted cream

20131126-085540.jpg
There is something romantic for me about the UK. Not romantic like kiss-kiss but in the connection to something bigger, a bigger story than my own.
Do you ever feel the need to know you’re connected to the past? I’ve heard people of different ethnic groups express this when they have traveled to their country of origin so I know I am not completely off my rocker here. I have been able to travel to the UK twice and both times I was deeply moved by the sense of connection to ancient origins.
Take a moment and read this plaque posted within the ancient walls of Gloucester Cathedral:

20131126-111325.jpg
For 1000 years a place of prayer.
Nothing in the US built by human hands is 1000 years old.
I stood wondering of the lives who offered prayers to the same triune God because of whom I live and breathe and have my very being.
Their challenges were different to be sure. But Solomon told us longer ago that there is nothing new under the sun. We might argue that technology, scientific discoveries, medicine are all examples of “new” things since Solomon wrote those words. But I think he spoke of something different; I think he spoke of human nature.
Our internal struggles with value, self-worth, relationships with others and with God are all the same struggles the people of south-west England dealt with over 1000 years ago.
My connection to the past is through the Cross.
We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All.
We all have been invited to live a with God life while we are here on earth.
We all have seen the war within as the conflict between two natures rages as we work out our salvation. Not work for. Work out.
Allow God to be seen in us and through us in the way we live our lives.
Simply peeling potatoes or doing laundry. Interacting with family that may be as near strangers through limits of time and space.
God has not changed. Countries change. Cultures change. We change. God does not change.
This Truth is the comforting connection that I arrived at as I stood wondering.

Follow Me…

Categories