"Pressing Forward"

Of all the weeks in the year, I would call this one "The Candy Week." I smiled when a lady in the store last week, as I was buying candy for church, laughed and commented that she had been eating Halloween candy since it arrived on the shelf and she still had a week to go. OMGoodness - I would SO be sick. But then the guy in the line chimed in and supported his fixation with candy week. Well, truth be told, I used to select the neighborhoods that gave the best candy and walk my legs off so my child could have the best treats. REALLY? This select journey had nothing to do with Teree and everything to do with feeding my sugar addiction. So as I looked back and remembered my own journey, I started laughing as well. Three grown candy addicts (well, one ex-candy addict) running through our favorite candies and stories around trick or treating. Not much has changed in 30 years except the wrappers. Big kids still love candy too. Isn't it fun to look back sometimes? Some of my greatest memories are when my family is passing around the photo albums and remembering the special moments often attached to specific photos. We don't do it often, but occasionally the albums emerge and it seems we always pick the same photos and tell the same stories. I guess we are creating a historical record for our children to convey for their children. I fear this tradition will soon be lost as photos are not printed as frequently and everything is digital. Maybe now instead of passing the albums, we pass the laptop? :( But none of us still use horse and buggies, do we? PREACH! Looking back, in some instances though, can be a snare. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Phillipians 3:13-14 that, "13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Here, Paul gives an encouragement that moving forward and pressing into victory is better than remembering the past. I realize the past does have an influence on our journey. But we cannot change one moment of the past. No matter how devastating or difficult - we cannot undo it. However, we can make changes TODAY that impact our future journey and potentially create a life that is less tangled with regrets. My past is a picture and holds evidence of things which inspire me - to repeat or delete. When my kids and grandkids and great-grands look at my laptop, may they see the evidence (fruit) of a life NOW filled with health, laughter, and memories much different than those captured while I was trapped in the prison on obesity. Enjoy your Monday, PK