Milestones
(08/25/04)
Greetings To The Church That Used To Meet At Betsy's House,
Many centuries ago the Roman Empire was known for it's remarkable ability to build roads. They needed those roads to provide quick and easy access to their many colonies. They needed them for transporting goods and services, armies and communication.
Time was then, as it is now, important in the managing of those colonies. It was important to know the distance and time it would take to move from colony to colony. In order to establish some means of measuring distance a inventor developed a horse driven device that acted as a counter of the revolutions of the wheel. As the wheel would reach the proper number of revolutions it would drop a smooth, round stone to mark the distance. Each distance was called a mile, hence we have milestones".
Today we use that word to communicate different, and important, eras or events as they occur either in personal or public lives.
I had a "milestone" in my life recently, as many of you already know, when I returned to Coeur d' Alene, Idaho for the 45th High School reunion. I did not graduate from Coeur d' Alene because my family left there when I was 13 years old to move to a nearby city, Spokane. However, my fondest memories are of those first 13 years, the neighborhood and the playmates I had then.
It was a wonderful and fascinating experience to see some people I hadn't seen in over 45 years. Many had changed, put on a few extra pounds and some looked very much the same. Some were remarkably well preserved and some had already died.
All in all it was sort of a epiphany for me. I never wanted to leave Couer d' Alene and always felt that in some way it was where I belonged. I guess you might say I have always felt like a displaced person. In any case, I love the place, the people and the childhood friends but now can finally say good-bye and move on. It was the place of my childhood but not the place of my future.
Many of us hold onto ideas and emotions associated with what we believe were the best days of our lives. We look back with a longing and fondness to return to simplicity and peace of those times. The reality is that they were never quite as good as we remember and that the best is still ahead.
My cousin and her husband, both born and raised in Coeur d' Alene, and now living in California had just returned a week before I got there. They were looking for a house so they could permanently return. They are just a couple of years older than me and I jokingly made the remark to my cousin that her husband was just like the old elephant who returned back to his ancestral home to die.
I was joking but the sad reality is that for many our lives are over after we reach a certain age. I have been in the "retirement" and "getting ready to go" mode for about the last 12-18 months. I'm no longer in that mode.
The reunion was the last event in putting to rest that whole mind set. I'm ready to move on to better and better things that the Lord has for me. I am looking forward to another 20-25 years of productive service should the Lord tarry. I am very, very encouraged at the challenges that are before me.
Have you ever heard someone say "I wish I knew in High School what I know now"?
Who cares! Let's live today because we are better prepared now to make every day count. We are in the best place right now that we have ever been in to do good works. The fact that we may or may not be as physically fit as we were then, although we can take steps to be in amazingly better shape, should be of little or no consequence to what we can do. We can use the knowledge and experience we've gained to make the adjustments we must to overcome any physical limitations we might have.
America needs a revival like it has never needed one. It needs to get back to the "Book". The plague of Biblical illiteracy in America is extensive and at the heart of the problems we, as a nation, are plagued with.
I am absolutely certain that the Lord desires us to be a part of that revival!!!!
I've missed being with you and sharing what God continues to show me from His Word.
I just got back from Salt Lake City and was struck with some insights into God's Word that I've never seen before.
And, no, I didn't get them from the Mormons but the Holy Spirit was able to take some of the things from the seminar and correlate and illuminate some principles from His Word.
Don't miss it this Friday or you will be missing out on some very, very helpful and exciting insights into Biblical principles.
I will be sharing with you the Epistle of Philemon.
This little, generally overlooked, Epistle is backed with principles for today. When they are understood and applied to your life and mine they will transform our days here on planet earth.
I am so amazed, in fact, by what I've learned that I am going to write a book entitled, "The Onesimus Principle".
See you this Friday!!!!
In His Love,
Tomme
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