Waxing Nostalgic

"Nostalgia is a bitter enemy for those of us who dare to dream." A wise man once penned that great thought. Oh wait... I flatter myself... I wrote it. I must explain what I mean.

My mind moves so fast, it would do well on the Autobahn. There is no slowing my brain down, as I'm always thinking of something. My personality assessment puts it politely when it says that I have "sporadic listening skills." It takes every ounce of my being to pay attention when someone is talking. I'm already thinking ahead finding a solution to what they are discussing. Generally, I'm thinking of the future and all its possibilities. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

Lately, though, I've been waxing nostalgic. My mind is on a trip, flying through the peaks and valleys of my past. I don't really remember much from birth to age 5. Oh, I remember Kindergarten in Archie, MO, with Ms. Fuller. I learned to use scissors there. We moved to Harrisonville, MO, when I was 6. Halfway through first grade, we drove up US71 and planted ourselves in the Seat of Cass County. It was a tough transition and I even remember crying in school about it. But Michael Jackson's "Thriller" came out around that time and everything was OK. (Thanks, Michael. Now beat it!)

Elementary school was awesome, even though I spent a lot of time in the Principal's Office all the way up through 6th grade. But my mind cannot escape daydreams of ages 16-19. I'm not going to bore you with any details. Heck, I'm not even going to write anything vague.

I just want to say this: God has been faithful to me each and every step of the way. He used Mrs. Cavanaugh pinning me against the wall by my shirt in sixth grade to break my rebellion. (I still struggle with that one, and I wish Mrs. C was still around to put me in my place.) He used the socially awkward years of high school--yeah, I hated high school--to show me that I needed to find my identity in Christ. (Hey, I'm still struggling with that one, too.)

Every single thing that has happened in my life--all the experiences, all the friends, all the hard lessons--were designed by God to bring me closer to Him. He is guiding me every second of every minute of every hour of every day. In all my nostalgia and daydreaming, I need to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. I must allow the Holy Spirit to give me spiritual sight into my past. When that happens, I can see clearly that God has been faithful to me my whole life until now. And when I understand that, I know that He will be faithful to me each moment from here through eternity.