Feeling a Bit Nostalgic!

Nostalgia is defined as "a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for or return to some past period." I was experiencing just a touch of nostalgia earlier this week as we travelled to and from Carlisle, PA. To get there, we had to go through the Harrisburg area. I was born in the city of Harrisburg and lived there until I was 13. Then we moved to the Harrisburg West Shore, just outside the teeming metropolis of Lewisberry which is located in the northern reaches of York County. So in our drive to and from Carlisle, we passed the Farm Show complex (which hosted the Shriner's Circus which I attended each year that I was in elementary school), the cemetery where my grandmother was buried when I was 12 and the Embers Restaurant where several of my high school banquets were held.

Passing these places brought back a rush of memories. As I reflected on these, I was reminded of how great a role our past has played in defining who we are today. Past actions and choices have done much to shape us into who we have become. BUT having said that, we are not bound to our past. Earlier this month, our music ministry offered up a delightful reminder of God's faithfulness to us and our need to return that faithfulness to Him with their musical simply titled, Today. The musical's theme was, Today, I choose to follow Him. You see, no matter how poor your choices were in the past, TODAY you can choose to follow God. And the choice to follow Jesus is a choice that will transform any life! Follow in the footsteps of Joshua, the Old Testament leader of Israel, who proclaimed to all Israel, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).

So if your choices of yesteryear have not been the best, make a change TODAY and choose TODAY to follow Him!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

P.S. The photo is of me in fourth grade. I like that bow tie!