Looking Back

It was a good off day yesterday.
Got a lot done in the yard. Flower beds cleaned out. New plants planted. Mulch hauled in and placed.

Last night, Vicki and I went out back to sit. Our conversation moved from one topic to another with great ease. Plans for the weekend.......Keeping the grandkids last weekend. Somehow we found ourselves talking about our growing up years, but unlike other times, this conversation was about the hard parts of our life. Stupid things we had done. Decisions that we had made that, in hind sight, were not too smart. Rough times in our marriage and how God led us through them even if we didn't realize His hand in the situations. Too be honest with you, it wasn't a very uplifting conversation. One thing struck me as odd after we finished. I think it may be a barometer of how we have grown spiritually. There weren't any old emotional baggage that came up as we talked of these things. I didn't feel guilt or shame or insecurity. I knew that God had truly forgiven us of all the dumb things we had done. These times are a part of our collective history as husband and wife, but God removed the emotional traps that would have come with these sins and stupid decisions, so that we could talk honestly and openly about them. To be honest with you, it was kind of refreshing to be able to discuss and share. So it is with the hand of God. His desire is for us to move on or, as the apostle Paul puts it so eloquently, forgetting the past, I strain foward to win the prize of the upward call of Christ.

Verse of the Day:

Matthew 16:15

"But what about you?" he (Jesus) asked. "Who do you say I am?"