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| Nags Head NC 2026 |
For a while, I have stopped writing. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I needed to step back and listen. Sometimes we can become so busy trying to explain where we are going that we fail to stop and ask whether we are actually going in the right direction. Sometimes we need to withdraw for a little while, not to run away from life, but to look honestly at where we have been, what has shaped us, what has distracted us, and where our eyes have been fixed. This has been part of my stepping back to reflect. I have spent time looking backward. At things I have experienced. At things I have lost. At disappointments, changes, responsibilities, relationships, fears, and even some of the things I once thought would define the next chapter of my life. But somewhere in that reflection, I was reminded of something very important:
My story has never been the foundation or focus. God is.
That truth takes me all the way back to the beginning. When I look at the patriarchs in Scripture, I don't see men who had everything figured out. Abraham left his homeland because God called him to go, even though he did not know exactly where he was going. Isaac lived waiting for the promises God had given to his father. Jacob spent years wrestling with consequences, deception, family conflict, fear, and his own attempts to control circumstances. Yet through all their failings, God remained faithful. The story was never ultimately about how well Abraham navigated his journey, how perfectly Isaac lived, or how successfully Jacob managed his circumstances. It was about God and His faithfulness.
God said to Abraham, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1, ESV). Abraham had to move forward without having the entire map. I think there is something freeing about that. We often want to know the entire plan before we take the next step. We want certainty about what tomorrow will look like. We want to know what we will lose, what we will gain, how everything will work out, and whether the road ahead will be easier than the one behind us. But faith has never required me to have the whole map. It requires me to trust the One who does. Perhaps that is part of what I had to relearn.
There is a difference between reflection and living in the past. Reflection can teach us. The past can remind us of God's faithfulness. Our experiences can give us wisdom. Our failures can expose places where we need repentance. Our losses can deepen our appreciation for what we still have. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life staring backward at what is gone. Paul wrote, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14). There is a time to remember. There is a time to move forward. I think I am ready for the time to move forward. Not because everything has suddenly become easy. Not because every question has been answered. Not because life looks exactly as I once imagined it would. But because God has not changed. The God who has carried me through every chapter of my own story has not changed either. That is where I want my writing to begin again. Not with me but with Him.
I don't want to write simply from the perspective of what I have experienced. I want to look at those experiences through the truth of Scripture. I don't want my emotions to become the authority by which I interpret my life. Feelings matter, but they are not the foundation of truth. God's Word is. I don't want to become consumed with what has been lost when there is still so much that has been given. I don't want to spend my remaining days preparing to die when God has given me today to live. I don't want to be remembered primarily for what happened to me. I want to be remembered for what I invested, what I gave, whom I loved, what I taught, and whether my life pointed people toward Christ.
So I am returning to the carpet bag of thoughts. I won’t have all the answers. Perhaps with more questions than I had before. I will have a deeper appreciation for the simplicity of our foundation: God is God. His Word is true. Christ is sufficient. His promises are trustworthy. And my life is not ultimately about controlling the journey but faithfully walking with Him through it.
Abraham went.
Isaac persevered.
Jacob wrestled.
Each had a different journey, but the same faithful God. And perhaps that is something I need to remember as I return to writing my thoughts. I can’t change the past. I can’t control the future. I only need to be faithful with today. After a season of stepping away, reflecting, and refocusing, I am tapping away at my computer again. I believe there are thoughts still worth saying; lessons worth sharing; and people worth encouraging. I believe there is still a God worth writing about.
