The Distance Is Amazing

​This afternoon I had a few minutes between writing jobs where I decided to go through a few things. They included journals and old videos. I am convinced that the only time I even have a slight interest in revisiting the past in this way is instigated by God. I’m serious because there always seems to be some kind of message I’m supposed to get when I ‘return’ to the present.
 
Well, this afternoon’s short little trip back into my past took me to various places and reintroduced me to several different people I haven’t seen or thought about for quite some time. It was nice to relive some of the memories of those days and then I moved into the recent past. I sat in front of the computer and quickly scanned through a number of videos I had recorded.
 
One of the jumped out at me. It was a video I shot on the very last publication day for our newspaper. It was in July 2016. The video was long enough for me to tell the story about us making our final trip to this building where our newspaper was published each week. I shared some other details and basically wrapped it up with a thank you to all for their support.
 
When the video ended all I could say was, “Wow, we’ve come a long way.” I quickly reviewed in my mind some of the things that had happened in the 19 months since I recorded that video. The changes included the closure of the printing press where the video was shot. However, what stood out most for me was the changed both my wife, Brenda and I had gone through since then.
 
I paused for a moment to soak that in. It made me grateful for the path God has put us on from that moment to now. I had a calmness come over me when I realized that it was His doing that I stepped back in the past in the first place. Clearly He wanted to remind me that we have made some serious progress from where we once were a relatively short period of time ago.
 
Some may call it a reality check. I just like to look at it as a gentle nudge to remind me that through all the good and the bad, He is always there with us. This afternoon’s little side trip was an example of that. A reminder that things are not always going to be the same. This is especially true for times of trouble. He is there to guide us through and to remind us we got through it all.