My son and I went for a drive today. I guess you could say that we took a trip down memory lane, as we drove through our old neighborhood and past his childhood home. It’s been 20 years since we lived in that house, 20 years since we played in that park, 20 years since we had a picnic lunch on the grass by the vines…
As we drove past the school we both noticed something unusual: the field was much smaller than we remembered it being. The slides were not quite as tall, and the distance from our house to the park was surprisingly close. And so, while everything looked the same, it all felt quite different.
I’ve come to learn that memories expand over time, the good ones get better and the bad ones tend to get worse. As they evolve, they can be quite deceptive–tempting in fact, as we look back on the picture-perfect past we once had.
The past can be tempting in so many ways as we long for the job we once had, the love we once had, the house we once had, the single life we once had… Satan tempts us to look back instead being content with the life we have now.
As I thought about that today, I got to thinking of Numbers 21:4-5 where it says,
But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:4-5, NIV)
Memories have a way of deceiving us. In doing so, we could easily fall into the same trap that the Israelites did when they idolized their past more than they should have. If they thought that a life of slavery back in Egypt was better than the freedom they were given, imagine how much our memories can deceive us.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8, NIV)
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Tilling the Soil
As I think about this topic of looking back today. I can’t help but be reminded of Lot’s wife. Let’s read that story today in Genesis Chapter 19.
Planting Hope
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. (Proverbs 4:25, NIV)
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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
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You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife
