Encouragement

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I don’t know if it is normal for a person in the eighth decade of their life to reflect on the past with the desire to pass their stories on to future generations. Normal or not, I’ve been writing down many stories for my children and grandchildren. Stories the Lord tells us in Psalm 139, He wrote even before I was conceived.

Looking back on my life, I now see each story as a link in a chain. Examining the links, I notice each is an event in my past that I now recognize influenced following events. Each link is connected to those that proceed as well as those that follow.

For example, the link when I chose a college is linked to my career. Then there is a link in 1964, when I decided to travel to Mexico on my own. That seemed like an insignificant decision, but that is when I met my wife, Helen. Her name is on the next link, and all that follow.

I now know the Lord was in every one of these decisions and events. Each link is tied to the link I’m living today, and that link has already been written in the Lord’s book of my life.
I’ve heard it said that “Hind-sight is 20-20.” If that is true, the older we get the more hind-sight we have. Looking at my chain, it is clear there are connections that weren’t obvious until I had acquired more hind-sight.

When the Lord planned for Helen to be my wife, He had a way to bring together this cute co-ed from Maryland and a teacher and coach from Iowa. It was to happen in Mexico of all places. I had no clue why I felt the need to enroll in a 3 week Spanish class in a town in Mexico. It didn’t take me long to figure it out. A year later we were married.
These things don’t just happen. Every link in the chain since that day we met in Saltillo, Mexico, is connected to what seemed at the time to be more of a lark than a life-changing decision.

Some of the links look extra heavy, thick, and strong. These are the times when I have been in the deep valleys of life, and totally dependent on the Lord to pull me through. Times like when we learned our son had been diagnosed with cancer. As I look at that link, I see it attached to two delightful grandchildren and a wonderful daughter-in-law. My 20-20 hind-sight reveals these beautiful links wouldn’t have been connected to my life without the heavy blow of cancer.

Life is an adventure when we come to the realization the Lord isn’t done with us. There are more links to be added to our chain of life. We only learn what they are by living each day to the fullest.

Would you like to have the Lord show you your whole chain? You would probably turn to the last page to see how and when it ends. But that’s not how it works. Only as we live life do we see the links or pages that await us. Life is an adventure as we look forward to seeing the remaining links in our personal chain. Links that were formed before we were conceived.

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