Once Upon A Time

A young woman contacts her doctor, concerned about the labor pains she is having. This is not her first child, so she knows what she is feeling ... she also knows that 27 weeks is too early in her pregnancy to be having serious signs of labor. The shot doesn't stop the labor, so she goes to the hospital. Against the odds, she delivers a healthy but very small baby girl just after midnight. Round-the-clock, an incubator is the tiny infant's home for the next 58 days. (written 21 Apr 2008)

If you look back at the circumstances of your birth, do you ever stop and wonder just how you got from that point (helpless infant) to where you are today (not a helpless infant)? From a premature infant to that southernism known as a "grown adult", many things have happened in the last 44 years to create the journey I am currently calling life. Why, you ask, do I consider it a journey? Simply because it is.

Let's take a road trip as an example. There are those of us who have to have every last bit of minutiae planned and organized to the nth degree before beginning anything, whether it be a phone call, a grocery shopping trip, or a road trip/vacation. Most of us, or rather, most of the people I know, are not quite so detailed. You know your starting point, you know your destination, you know approximately how long you are going to be gone (although this is not always the case), and you (hopefully) know what your funding options are. With a few exceptions, like reunions, planned shows or events, or even family events that might require specific attendance at specific times, your schedule is open. That is so freeing! How relaxing can vacation be if you feel like you are constantly "going?" Planning our upcoming trip to Texas this June, we have a few dates that are fairly firm, but the rest of the trip will be filled with doing whatever strikes our fancy, subject, of course, to budgetary constraints. This trip is something I'm definitely looking forward to!

What about your overall life journey? Since we are human, not machine, we experience a range of emotions. We've all (once again, I qualify that "all" by referring to 99% of the people I know) heard, seen, or done things in our lifetime that have made us look back with that 20/20 vision known as hindsight and wonder "what in the world was I thinking?" There have been many upheavals in my life over the past few years, and they have given me the clarity of vision to realize that while there are things in my past that might be less than stellar, I don't know that I would change any of them. Why? Every step I have taken on my journey of life has brought me to today. I've stumbled, walked backward, and even fallen. Each "error", and every positive step forward have combined to make ME. Every new thing I learn about myself, and my surroundings, deepens the person that I am.

Nearly 35 years ago, I dedicated my life to Christ during revival. Before you even think it, the answer is NO ... as in, NO, I have not been perfect all those years. I've had the stumbling years, the fallen years, even the backsliding years. Never did I lose sight of the fact that Christ is and always has been there for me. Renewing my faith last summer gave me a new outlook on life, and the continuation of its journey. I cannot do anything alone, and where I need to be is the place that Christ has set for me. I feel that I have reached the beginning of that place, and will continue to develop into the person that Christ intended me to be, even before that fateful day 44 years ago when He decided it was time for me to make my entrance into this world.

Jesus, thank you for the gift of life that was my birth. Thank you for the gift of eternal life that was my dedication to you. Thank you yet again for the reaffirmation of my place in heaven by never allowing me too far from you, even when my vision is cloudy and my path obscured. Help me to continue the journey in a way that would shine great glory on You, and give me the tools so that I may be a help to others who may stumble as they walk forward. And by the way, great thanks go also to mama today. Had Jesus not put His hand on her to bring me safely into this world some 44 years ago, well ... I wouldn't be writing this, now would I?

"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world." ~John 16:21 NIV