The good ole days

I lent my button collection to my girls as a means of entertainment. Worked like a charm! My girls love to play with things that are not toys and are considered “mom’s possessions.”

We sorted through the button collection, finding buttons that were small enough to fit through a piggy bank slot. Many buttons brought back memories. I recalled the blouses and jackets to which they belonged. These buttons were spares that were never used, so the article of clothing is gone but I still have the button. Many items were purchased when I was working full time outside of the home. There were buttons to articles of clothing that had been purchased for a special occasion. And as I filtered through buttons on the playroom floor, I took a little trip down memory lane.

Do you ever find yourself dreaming about the past? Days when life seemed easier, simpler, more certain? This year has given us a long lesson in uncertainty, and it hasn’t been fun.

Do you ever wish to go back? Back when you were ———- (fill in the blank)?

It’s easy to romanticize the past because there are no surprises there. We know what to expect. That’s not the case with the future.

But long before we make it into the future, God is already there. He has already written it out for us. There are no surprises to him!

“See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.”

-Isaiah 43:19

He goes ahead of us. He is making a way. Our job is to follow. And whether it be wilderness or wasteland that lies ahead, we won’t walk through it alone.