~Upon never looking back~

When I was a little kid growing up in Haven, my dad would sometimes take my little sister and I to town on Sunday mornings where we had our first experience ever of going to Sunday School.  The Haven United Methodist Church stood on the corner except it wasn't the modern looking stone one of today.  Instead it was the "old church" with a wooden frame exterior that was painted white.  The church was "catty-corner" from the Beltz sisters' house right there on Main Street, oops I mean Kansas Avenue.   I'll never forget the first Sunday that we went how shocked I was to learn that my music teacher at Haven Grade School, Mrs. Esther May, was also the Sunday School teacher for the 4th graders' classroom.  We found that many of our classmates at school also went to church there as well and even though going to Sunday School was awkwardly new for us, we soon got used to it and enjoyed going. 

For whatever crazy reason that this should stick out in my mind, I will never forget the first Bible story that I learned from Mrs. May.  It was the Old Testament story found in the 19th chapter of the book of Genesis in which Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed the angel's command to "not look back".  To be right honest, it kind of scared the living daylights out of me.  Imagining a person who would disobey God becoming a stone statue was just a little unnerving to the 9-year old girl that I used to be.  Weird what you remember from your childhood days~and how it seems to surface at just the right moments in time.

You know friends, I have spent a great deal of the 57-year span of my life doing just what Lot's wife did, "looking back".  And although I never turned into that proverbial "pillar of salt" as she did, I guess I truly have at times become my own version of that.  I would love to tell you that my life has been perfect from the "get-go" but if I did that, then I would lying to you.  I'm just like any other human being, just like you perhaps~I have made the same mistakes, sometimes twice or more.  I may have received my Master's Degree in Education in 2003 from Wichita State University,  but this I tell you with much conviction~I learned my greatest lessons in the school called "LIFE", with several visits to its satellite facility affectionately known as "The School of Hard Knocks".  I've been a regular there over the years.

Now on this idea of "looking back".....without a doubt there are some good reasons to look back on life because for sure, not EVERYTHING that happens is bad, painful or traumatic. Coming from a family of 7 kids, you can rest assured that we haven't always agreed with one another and hey, have had our differences.  But the wonderful times that we've had growing up together by far outweigh any negative.  There have been decisions that I made that, even though at the time I thought were the best for me, well they turned out to be not the best.  And through it all, I still learned and that "learning" is ongoing even as I type these words to you.

But it's the looking back with regret or the desire to return to what really isn't best for us that can harm us.  Ever been there at that point in time my friends?  Just a quick show of hands~I figured I probably wasn't alone in this.  I have my own way of looking at this thing we refer to as "life" and I would never preach to you or try to get you to see things my way as far as this is concerned.  But, here's the "gospel" according to me.......

My life has been planned out, far in advance, by someone much greater than me.  The path that had the name "Peggy Miller" on it lay waiting for me from the moment of my birth, October 26th, 1955.   As it would turn out to be,  I didn't stay on the "straight road, the most efficient way" instead I found myself taking some twists and turns that led me up mountains that were harder to scale than all of those I had to drive up along the Western slopes of Colorado.  Oh, and there have been some valleys as well and those valleys were a little on the "deep side" and it took just as much strength and energy to come out of those as it did to finally make it over the top of the mountain.  But I have made it and if you are still struggling with the journey, then you will make it too my friends!  Have faith and just believe.  Easier "said" than "done"?  Maybe~but please never give up hope.  It gets better all the time.

I got a nice message from one of the dearest and truest friends I have ever had in this life just a few days back.  We visit back and forth, sharing the news of what is happening in our lives.  You know how some people will be friends for life?  Well, that's what I hope he and I will be.  His message contained words of encouragement, for remembering the "plan" set out for me.  And although I have to admit that some of the advice he's given on my behalf over the years hasn't been exactly what I wanted to hear, I know that everything he has told me has been because he is a friend who truly cares about what happens to me.  The message's last words were these, "don't look back" and those 3 very powerful words are ones that I will hold dear to my heart from this day forward.

Friends, go forth in life.  Move forward~don't stand still and don't go backwards.  Life's brevity would dictate to all of us that our very days are numbered and have been for a long time.  Don't waste precious time by worrying about things that you can't change anyway and instead concentrate on the "goodness" and the blessings that are right in front of you....ones that come when you least expect it or when you are sure that they will never be yours.

Have a great Sunday, all of you!  Friends...I love you all and I thank you for your kindness to me always.  If I  needed anything, I could ask any of you and I am positive you would help me.  The same goes for me to you all.  We are all in this together and I cannot think of better people than you all to go through it with.

This is Sunday, the 3rd day of February in the year 2013~the very greatest of days to be alive in!

You know, I kinda like these two "kids" from the "Land of long ago, and far, far away".  "Two Peggys and the Rev."  You just never know where life will take you.  I've had a wonderful one so far and the future is going to be even better.  Imagine that!