Theme: Looking Back to Go Forward!

Verse: Hebrews 12: 1-2

I lost my aunt this past week.  She lived a very full life and I rejoice that she has gone home to be with Jesus.

These moments are a good time to reflect on those that have guided us along the way. This would include parents, aunts, uncles, teachers, pastors, co-workers, and even exercise partners.  I have fine examples of all of these in my life.

The small town where I grew up is one you can’t find very often these days.  My Dad was the local newspaper editor.  My Mom was a piano teacher.  The schoolteachers taught me well enough to get me through high school, college, and a marginally successful career in the United States Air Force. I played sports for some of the finest coaches one could ask for.  They taught me more than how to hit, catch and throw a ball.  They taught me to be part of a team, win with grace, and lose with dignity.  Many of these same people were Sunday School leaders in the local churches where they taught us many of those same lessons.  I can honestly say I would not be anywhere in this world without the collective effort of a small-town community that raised a generation of kids along the Mississippi River in Missouri.

This is a shout-out to Crystal City, the town that raised my mother and aunt, then in the next generation, my sister and me. People there strived to make their town better than they found it. My assessment of that goal is MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!  I hope those I grew up with, realize what a special place we had.  As our generation takes the baton to complete our race, if we do it half as well in our communities as our elders did along the banks of the Mississippi, our kids and grandkids will be just fine!

Have a great week! 

Adapted from They Will Run and Not Grow Weary by David Alan Black