"And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, 'Isn’t this the son of Joseph?' " - Luke 4:22
A few days ago, my wife and I were looking at pictures from (more than) a few years back. There were pictures from when we had three kids, two kids, one kid and, for a short period of time, no kids. And as we're looking through these, laughing at how funny some are, I'm reminded of the different spots we were in when each picture was taken. When it was just the two of us, but we were living off a graduate stipend in the middle of Iowa - making finances tight. When we had just our son, but it felt so busy. When we had our son and daughter, and thought we'd never get sleep again. And when we had all three of our kids, and really didn't get to sleep again - at least for awhile. But in all pictures, I'm reminded of how easy those times were, when compared to our very busy, very active lives we lead now.
Much later, Jesus will be in front of the Sanhedrin, just after being betrayed and arrested. I sometimes wonder, as he's standing in front of the men who will eventually call for his death, if he thought back to the time he impressed (and was later escorted out) a temple full of people he had known throughout his childhood. If he too had the same thoughts as we do - reminiscing about the times it was easier.
One thing I've found in life is the past always seems easier than the future. Maybe it's because we choose to remember only certain parts of the past. Maybe it's because we gain in strength as we get better at practicing "life". But as a good wine, we all get better with age. Our experiences, our hardships, our opportunities taken and our opportunities lost all shape and prepare us for what's to come. And we can look to God, and the life and teachings of Jesus, to help us down this road - so when we get to the end of it, we're where we need to be - in the loving arms of our Creator, our guide and our friend.
