Faithful

the REST of the week #170

It’s the rest of the week. If you could step back in time and stand next to your younger self, what words of encouragement would you whisper in your ear?

Sometimes we are gifted such a moment by something that reaches in and pulls us back to a moment in past time.

Perhaps it’s a whiff of some long forgotten scent—the Rose Milk lotion your grandma wore, or the tuna fish sandwich the boy in second grade waved in front of your nose because he knew you couldn’t stand the smell.

Maybe it’s an image—an old photo someone dug up and shared on social media, or a picture from that box of yet-to-be-sorted snapshots.

It might be a physical place—a place you haven’t seen for years, a place that brings a flood of memories when you finally get back to it.

On Tuesday, Ricardo and I arrived in Turkey. A work colleague met us at the bus station and we walked across Taksin Square towards the church guest flat. I vaguely wondered if it was possible that this would be the same place I’d stayed at as a fresh college grad traveling in Europe with nothing but a backpack, “Let’s Go Europe” book, checkbook, and travelers checks.

(Was there really a time when we traveled without credit cards, Internet, cell phones, and the GPS? How did we even do that?)

As we rounded the last corner, I caught my breath— the same place, 37 years later.

I asked if I could climb the curling staircase all the way to the top floor (now office space) where I had stayed.

Standing and looking through the windows over the Bosphorus straight, I remembered how the view had captured my imagination back then and, for a moment, I was standing beside my younger self.

I whispered:

“It’s going to be OK. There is more good coming than you can imagine and when the unimaginable happens, God will be with you. He will never leave you and you will come to know how much he loves you.”

May you find a window on your life—or maybe in some corner of your heart or mind that reminds you of all that has made you who you are, how much you have learned, and how faithful God has been to you—through it all.

I keep singing this song by Sara Groves.

May you rest in God’s faithfulness and may your rest be sweet.

Alicia