Hard to believe that one more year has come and gone.  When someone comments about something that happened 20 years ago, I still think of the 1980’s.  I know better, but it is still hard to comprehend in a moment’s time.

But, the seasons continue, winter into spring, into summer, into fall and back into winter.  Time is an ongoing and revocable part of our lives and the passage is just another part of it.

Carla received a frantic call this morning – ‘We have two trucks and only one person to unload them – can you come down, immediately?!?”  Yep, not sure how long she will be there, but wearing a nightgown I don’t think they will keep her long.  (Okay just kidding, but it was almost that fast.)

One truck was scheduled for last week, but there was a problem, the truck driver was injured, so they put it off – until Monday.

Couldn’t make it Monday, couldn’t make it Tuesday and Wednesday the dispatcher wouldn’t send it out because of the weather – why she didn’t wait a couple of hours who knows – and even that would not have been necessary since the Gorge was clear.

So, the truck scheduled today arrived, to find the truck scheduled earlier in front of it at the back door – with no extra help scheduled because even the truck for today was to come in later.....

I am impressed...

She has to put in a full day on Saturday.  To help get it all on the shelves.  I don’t like her to put in 8+ hours a day, it ain’t good for her.  On occasion, maybe, and hopefully this will be that once in a while. 

Isaiah 43:18-19 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

This time of year we are encouraged to look back at the ending year and look forward to the new year.

Memory is a multi-faceted; it is a blessing and but it can also be a curse.

We look back to remember the blessings that God gave us this past year. 

And satan creeps in with the many times we failed in our service to God.

We look back and remember the positive things we did and how it affected others – but too often rely on those memories, sit back and go no further.

We look back and see where we faltered, where we could have done something so much better, and we get discouraged.

We see the times we let people down, when we ignored the needs of others.

When we look back and see these things, we all too often believe that they mark us and condemn us.

AND sometimes they do.  Mostly because we let them.

So what do we do with these things? 

We need to look at them as a building stone that God is using to draw us closer to Him.

To use everything we have faced or done as an encouragement to do better in the days to come.

To learn to look forward, with anticipation, each day, of what God has in store for us.

Forgetting how we failed, or how great we were – and focus on each day as an opportunity to serve Him anew.

We do not want to look at yesterday as our defining moment, whether it be failure or success; because He will use today to His glory and we have the opportunity to experience His moving in the world.

History is important – it reminds us of who we are, where we have been and how decisions – good and bad – have shaped us.

But to rest on or beat ourselves over the past, is to forget that God is still alive, and continuing to work within the world – and He wants us to be part of His miraculous works.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

We need to follow Him as He makes those new paths and rivers in eager anticipation to see where He leads us.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again