Back to the Future

Three More Days of 2014

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screen shot 2013-07-09 at 10.14.10 am

I really can’t believe it. Only 3 more days left in the year? 72 hours? It seems like it’s only been a month since we rang in 2014. Two, tops. Seriously, the year has flown by. But in a little over three days, we’ll be ringing in 2015 with all the usual pomp and circumstance but sadly with no Dick Clark. I still miss that guy.

2014 has been anything but expected, but it’s been good. Why? I’m still here. That’s the best reason of all to celebrate– being alive for one more day.

I’m not dying just yet. I’m just extremely grateful these days, most of all for the gift of life.

Here’s a sampling of some of what I’ve written this year:

https://oneragamuffin.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/my-commentary-on-current-events/

https://oneragamuffin.wordpress.com/2014/11/16/6882/

https://oneragamuffin.wordpress.com/2014/03/09/life-lessons-from-a-great-movie/

Those are three randomly chosen blogs that I wrote at some point during 2014.

On a side note, 2015 is the year we finally catch up to Marty McFly from Back to the Future fame. As you remember from the 1985 classic, he first went back in time to 1955 to save his parents’ marriage (and as a result, he saved himself). In the sequel, Marty goes into the future to save his kids– October 21, 2015 to be precise. Of course, there’s a third movie where Marty goes back to 1885 dressed up as a pink Clint Eastwood. But that’s not important right now.

I have to admit most of the clothing looks like the 80’s on steroids. I’m thankful that current fashion isn’t based on Back to the Future Part II. Especially not that jacket with the retractable arms. And the technology has surpassed in many ways what the movie envisioned for 2015 (like for instance the very excellent blu ray version of the Back to the Future trilogy).

I’m still waiting on the hoverboards. And I can’t wait to see what God will do next in 2015.

One Second and One Year Later

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dontwalksign

“What was intended to tear you apart, God intends it to set you apart. What has torn you, God makes a thin place to see glory” (Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift).

I just realized today that it’s been exactly one year today since I got hit by that car. And for those who weren’t keeping up with my blogs or my Facebook posts then, I got hit by a car. FYI.

I was crossing the street in downtown Franklin, ticket in hand to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I didn’t look both ways before crossing and stepped in front of a Ford Mustang. Hey, I only get hit by the finest American-made vehicles.

I actually only got side-swiped. It was enough to knock me down and to take off the side-view mirror of the car.

I felt worse for the young girl driving the car than for me. She was so apologetic and remorseful. And it really wasn’t her fault. I was the one crossing where there wasn’t a crosswalk, walking without looking.

Even now, it’s easy to wonder what would have happened if I’d waited one second. Just one second.

I’d have seen that movie. I’d have skipped a few hours in the ER. I’d still have roughly $1,600 in my pocket.

I’m sure you’ve done that.

Maybe it’s a word or a phrase spoken in the heat of the moment out of frustration or anger.

Maybe it’s a bad decision made in haste or out of desperation or anxiety or exhaustion.

Maybe it’s the friendship you ruined or the family member you drove off with an insensitive remark or unkind word.

Maybe it’s one false step on a slick spot in the garage or on a slippery patch of ice on some stairs.

You wonder what it would be like if you could just have that one second back to do over.

I know two things: 1) if you could go back, you’d erase every good thing that’s happened since, and 2) you can’t go back anyway (at least not without a 1985 DeLorean or some other time-travelling device).

What you can do is:

1) Be thankful that you’re still here and that you’re still alive and blessed with life and friends and comforts and (best of all) God Himself.

2) Remember that God can turn even the worst moments of your life into stories worth hearing, stories that make people want to know more about your God.

3) All really and truly is grace (something I borrowed from Ann Voskamp). Nothing that happens to you is in vain or needless. God works everything– and I mean EVERYTHING– together for your good and His glory.

I finally got to see that movie. My finger looks a bit funny but it still works. I look both ways EVERY time before crossing the street now. Life is still good, God is still great, and I am still very much blessed.

Back to Your Future

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I’ve always been intrigued by time travel. I’ve always been a sucker for movies like The Time Machine (the first one, not the remake) and Back to the Future (all three). Even the remote possibility of going back or forward in time is exciting.

If you could go back, what would you change? What mistakes would you avoid? What brave, courageous thing would you do? What would you tell your younger self?

I have a novel idea. I wouldn’t change a thing. Not one single solitary thing.

Sure, my life isn’t what I thought it would be. I’m not even close to married and my job status sure isn’t what I thought it would be when I was daydreaming back in the olden days. My bank account is missing a few zeros, too.

But I’m rich where it counts. I’m blessed in all the ways that really matter.

I have family who has stuck with me. I have friends who actually like me and have yet to bail on me, despite some extremely dumb and dorky moments on my part.

The reason I still believe that God is real is because I have seen Him lived out in the people around me. I’ve had so many show me Jesus and what He can do in someone’s life if given even the smallest chance to work.

I don’t know what the next few days or weeks look like, but I know God does. I am trusting my unknown future to a known God (to borrow one of Corrie ten Boom’s most famous quotes).

I don’t know where I’ll be, but I know it won’t be alone. I’ll have my brothers and sisters with me. All of them, including the ones who may not share my DNA, but call on the same God as Father.

My future’s looking bright. And I want to do everything in my power to help you realize yours.

May we all find God to be more than faithful, more than able, and more than enough, no matter what comes next. Amen.