Yesterday, Today, and tomorrow

In many respects, while on this earth, in this world, all we have are our memories (past), our
present reality (today), and our hopes for (tomorrow). In a spiritual sense we can have peace, joy and a hope for eternal life.

God has richly blessed my life here on earth. One of the greatest adventures, and there have been many, was the first book my son Wesley and I did together. As you know from my sharing in the past, I had longed to be a pilot all my life, but it was only the “project” with Wesley that brought the dream to fruition. Wesley was far more than just a partner in the effort, he was an encourager. Many times I was almost ready to throw in the towel. There were times I thought maybe I wasn’t cut out to be the pilot I dreamed of becoming. I’ll never forget a lunch we had at a Cracker Barrel in Arizona. I had been really struggling with my landings during training. Wes took the little game that sits on all Cracker Barrel tables with the golf tees, pulled out the tees and used the wooden wedge, shaped like our trike wing, to illustrate how he flared just before easing down to the runway. The next morning, it started to come together for me, and before the morning was over I had successfully soloed.

Life is filled with challenges, and we will be judged by how we overcome them. A dear friend at work who is also a Christian asked me early on, in the history of the Pilgrim’s Chronicles, “what would you do if the company said they did not want you to publish this blog?” My answer was easy and came quicker than I would have thought, “I would say it has been an honor to work with you, and I will miss it, but it may be time for me to go.” You have to have a firm grasp of what matters most in life, if you have that you can never be thrown off the path that God has set you on.

I love the scripture in Hebrews below, it holds much wisdom for how to determine what is the right thing to do. Most important to me is verse (1), where we are admonished to love one another,
verse (5) where we are encouraged to be happy with what we have, and lastly verse (6) which reminds me that the Lord is my helper, that I should have no fear of what mere people can do to me.

Hebrews 13:1-6 (New Living Translation)
 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
 4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
 5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
   “I will never fail you.
      I will never abandon you.”
 6 So we can say with confidence,
   “The Lord is my helper,
      so I will have no fear.
      What can mere people do to me?”

I never ceases to amaze me what God can do in our lives if we will simply trust Him. Some people seem to think that trusting God with their lives is taking a big risk.

Not trusting Him is taking a big risk.

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: Photograph of Wesley and I made by my daughter, Catherine, who turned 34 today!
Happy Birthday sweetheart……..