As We Prepare to Turn the Page

If we live long enough and if the Lord has not come in the meantime, we will mark the passing another “old year” and the beginning of 2016 at midnight Thursday night. The transition from one year to the next means a lot of different things to different people.

In many ways, this particular transition promises to be one of those milestones we hear about from time to time. When 2015 comes to a close, Donna and I will complete our fifteenth year of worshiping with, working with, and loving the people who comprise the Central church of Christ in Paducah, Kentucky. 

There have been a lot of changes during these fifteen years. Some have made the headlines of major newspapers and have been “big news” on various television and radio networks. We’ve had three presidential elections during that time and are less than a year away from another one. A variety of national and international “incidents” have taken place. It may be that the most well-known of these is known now simply as 9-11. It has been observed more than once that our world changed significantly on that day.

There have been changes where I preach. These changes have included the size of the congregation, our physical facilities, ministries, and a host of other things.    

On January 1, 2001, I began serving as the preacher. I was the first “full-time” preacher for Central in a number of years. A few years later, I also began serving as one of the elders. About two-and-a-half years ago, I became one of the preachers. I now share the preaching with Robert Guinn, who came to work with us in July of 2013. The number of changes in our eldership and among our deacons would be difficult to document. 

Although our building has not moved, in many ways, Central is not the same place it was fifteen years ago. Our spiritual family has changed quite a bit in fifteen years.

The same could definitely be said about our physical family. Where do I start with that?

All five of our grandchildren have been born during the past fifteen years. Both of our children and their families have moved to different locations (a couple of times each) during those years. Both of Donna’s parents have passed from this life, as has our son-in-law’s father. (My parents had already left us before our time at Central. My father passed from this life less than a month before we began our work here and my mother had done the same a little over a year earlier.)

Just the past few months have been a whirlwind. While we still live in Paducah, we have “downsized” and moved to a new (for us) house. We made it over our first hurdle during Thanksgiving. Both of our children, their spouses, and their children were at our new residence. That meant that eleven people were sharing an area that is maybe 3/5 the size of the area we used to have. 

It was a new experience, but it was a good new experience. I hope that you have read Donna’s post “Where Love Abides,” which is about our first Thanksgiving in our new place. We learned that it is, indeed, true that “love is where the heart is.”

By the time a person gets to be my age, he or she should have figured out that most of the new experiences in life are in the past. That does not mean, however, that there is nothing worthwhile or positive to which we can look forward.

As we look back with fondness and appreciation on times spent with those who are truly our loved ones, we can also look forward to opportunities to deepen those relationships and focus on what truly is important. 

In reality, “world events” are not the things that are really important to us as individuals, unless they affect us personally. Our address doesn’t matter as much as the relationship we have with the others who live at that address. Various “roles” mean much less than close relationships.

Those special holiday times and other things like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. may also cause us to reflect on memories we all have of those who are no longer with us, but who are still in our hearts. It also may cause us to think about the times when we will be only a memory to those whom we love. That realization, hopefully, will instill in us a resolve to leave behind good memories. 

I have a suggestion as we come to the close of an old year and prepare to embark upon a new one.  To coin a phrase, it would be difficult to think of many resolutions for a new year than to leave behind–

A Legacy of Faith

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