Looking Back, Yet Looking Forward

photo courtesy of gone garden website

The scent of pine trees often bring me back to my childhood summer camp experiences at the "church among the pines", a Free Methodist family camp where I spent one week every summer from age 7 until my senior year of high school. (yes, I was raised Free Methodist but as an adult I am a member of an inter-denominational church).

I first accepted Christ as my Savior at age 15.....1975...under these pines, in the wooden tabernacle with the soft music of "just as I am" playing in the background........

Oh, the excitement of that first day with my Savior!!  I have shared that testimony here.........

but in this post, I want to share some things I have learned along my walk with God........some good....some not so good...but always with growth of some kind.........

On Friday, the 12th, I will "celebrate" my spiritual birthday........and in looking back, I am encouraged to keep looking forward.......and reflecting back over the years, here are some things I have learned......

• God is always with us.  Always.  We are the ones who run.

• Jesus is the same yesterday, today and He will be the same tomorrow.

•  We can forgive people but we can't make them accept our forgiveness.

• Jesus loves us.  no matter what.

• Scars from past traumas or emotionally damaging situations do heal. In time. But it's only with good counseling and the pouring of our selves to God that we are really set free. 

• Forgiving the other person is free-ing. for our selves. Don't let the other person have that hold over you.

• There are blessings to be found in every day. Really. There are. Even on the hardest days of our lives.

• God really does grant us the desires of our hearts. When our purposes and plans line up with His. 

• God always hears our prayers.  He always answers our prayers.  It might be "yes", it might be "no", it might be "wait". It's the waiting that is tough.  But when we wait on God to move, we can have the confidence of knowing He is the One who is ordering our steps.  We can make our plans....oh, can we make our plans! But He is the One who directs our steps. 

• We really can do all things through Jesus who gives us our strength.

• My true friendships, the ones whom I can turn to for anything, in any situation, and they are there (whether physically, mentally or as a prayer warrior), are the ones who have a solid relationship with God and who are not afraid to be emotionally intimate.

• Sometimes, even in churches, people are not what they appear to be. There is always a story behind that smile, behind that frown, behind that defensiveness, behind that compliment, behind that anger, behind that sadness. It's in getting to know them, through your own testimony, that they will begin to open up.  Treasure them even if they hold you at arm's length.

• Praying for a person really does help you love them even more.  It's the love of God.  and it's real.

• Physical healings do still happen in today's world.  I am one of those people who have had a physical healing from God. 

• Emotional healings do still happen in today's world.  I am one of those people who have had an emotional healing from Christ.

photo courtesy of spirituality website

• I have learned to call God my Father.  

• God can take a person's "junk" and transform it into treasure.  I have seen this and I have experienced it for my self.

• Jesus wants all of us.  We are to be totally dependent on Him.  Not on our best friends, not on our material goods, not on our husbands/wives, not on our children, not on our careers.  He wants us to be so intimate with Him that we wake up in the morning praising Him, turning to Him, and talking to Him.  All day. Every day.

• God can equip us to be leaders.  I am experiencing that now even though I still don't always feel comfortable in that role.  But when it is His plan, He gives us the means to perform the role.

• We all have a spiritual temperament.  Find out what yours is. Mine is Naturalist. Ever since learning about it (about 5 years ago), it has really freed me to totally worship Him in the way I do best  in the surroundings where I feel closest to Him.  Discover yours!

Summit trail on top of Hadley Mt
August 2011

• To live fully, we need to be fully living. In Him.

do you know my Savior??

What have you learned from Him over the years?

I have learned so much more..........and I'm looking forward to learning more on this walk!