Last week's God moment: Trip down memory lane

Last week I went to Shiloh IL for a conference with Logos.  Shiloh is right next to Belleville, which is where I lived from before 1st grade up till almost 5th grade.  I purposely flew in a little early on Friday so that I could try and find where we lived.


My mom remembered the address of one of the two houses we lived in, so with GPS it was easy to find: 

The other house was only 5 minutes away from this one, but my mom couldn't remember the address.  I knew which way I had to drive to be pointed in the right direction, so thought, "Let's see if I can find it."

I drove right to it!  And we're not talking a straight shot - there were 5-6 turns that needed to be navigated.  Went straight to the house with no wrong turns:

It was funny to me that I could remember the drive between these two houses after 25 years, but the next day at the conference I had to ask a man to tell me his name again after he had just introduced himself 2 minutes before.

I was also able to find the elementary school that I attended:

At each of the houses I spent some time sitting and reminiscing about our time in Belleville.  At the school I left the rental car to walk the old playground for a bit.  It was empty as I walked around, but in my mind I could remember playing soccer in the field and jumping around on the playground as if it was the day before.

Lots of good memories of Belleville, some not good at all.  But the good ones do out weigh the bad.

I was praying while walking around the playground, specifically about the three things we're praying for during this prayer/fasting time: for God's provision, guidance, and wisdom.  It really hit me how good & faithful God has been to me since my days in Belleville (and even during and before that time).  I am very fortunate to have the wife & kids I do, the family & friends that I do, and the to have had the ministry experiences that I've had.

God has been good and God has been faithful.  

As I was praying about the future the needed "duh" hit me: He's going to continue to be good & faithful as we move into the unknown next.  Sometimes we need to look back and establish God's faithfulness in our minds so that we have a firm foundation to work on in thinking about the future.  He is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Some day I'll drive back to our apartment in Oak Forest and to my in-law's house where we're living now and reminisce about the good memories and the bad memories.  I'll laugh at my foolish sense of worry, my fretting about the unknown.  I'll realize what I've always known but so often forget: God is always good and God is always faithful. 

Spend some time today remembering your past, the good stuff and the bad stuff.  Within the big picture of things, allow God to show you His goodness & faithfulness.