Be Happy

"John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" - Luke 3:3

In my earlier adult life, it seems as if I ended up making major changes every-so-often, rather than frequent smaller changes. When I left for college, I went to a school where I knew nobody, and had no means of easily returning home. When my wife and I were married, we moved together down to where I went to school, far away from those that surrounded us just days before during our wedding. And when we moved back home, I started a new job, bought a house and had our first son all within six months of one another. 

For the most part, those days are behind us - with three young kids in tow, major changes have given way to minor course corrections (this year notwithstanding!). We've taken this approach, as, while we want our kids to be as agile with change, we also know a stable, consistent home helps us to firmly establish roots - roots similar to those that our parents provided for us. 

I've often wondered about the choices we've made so far, and what our life would be like had we taken a different route. My wife and I often find ourselves in the minority for having our kids first, rather than waiting as many of our friends have done. I wonder if we would have traveled more,  stayed in school longer, have more "things" than we do now, or wouldn't be as tired at the end of the day. But I try not to dwell on the choices of our past, because what we've done and what we've chosen is just that - in the past. Written in stone. In the books. We can't change what we've done.

And we shouldn't try - every time we try to change our past, we end up wasting our future. We spend time worrying, anxious about how our decisions made will affect what's in front of us. Instead, we should be looking towards the future with hope and excitement - because we know God is still here, and is still ready to guide us.

But how do we let go of the past?

We can start by listening to John the Baptist. We need to repent, ask for forgiveness, and move on trusting that God will forget our transgressions that are in the past. We can let go of a little control, knowing that God is there to guide us, to help us. And we can work to recognize when God gives us opportunities to make changes - big and small - and take advantage of them.

John's message is about forgiveness, but it's also about hope. That soon our savior will be here, and that things are going to change - big time. And that we won't have to keep looking at our past, because Jesus is our present and future.

And for the record, I am confident my wife and I made the right decision. Our kids rock. :)