reflect

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A Dinner To Remember And Reflect

It was a dinner to remember and reflect on the past decades. Sometimes you just have to take time to reminisce.

a dinner to remember and reflect

We probably have all done this. It seems I’m doing it a lot more lately. 

It’s good to reflect on the past year, or years, and recall what you did, accomplished, or should have done differently.

Now that I’m retired, I’m doing a lot more of that. 

In our family room right now, there are eleven boxes of files and memories from the past almost four decades of ministry. I’ve started sifting through them and some of the files go back to when I first started in ministry. 

There are a ton of things like old youth event calendars that Lily or I made, or Graham one of our youth designed. He was a master creator.

But with each calendar, form or contact list that would cross my eyes, I had to pause. People and events needed to be reflected on before I could dispatch them to a keeper file or the trash. 

Some of these files I will never use again but I need to keep a sampling of them because they help when I go back and remember the past. 

This summer Lily and I spent a couple of hours with an old and dear youth leader, Audrey. We’re so glad we did because she passed away just a few months after our visit. 

When we arrived at her house she had a file for us to see. In it there was a list of the names of students who’d attended a certain retreat. 

We spent a lot of time just looking at those names and talking about each student and our memories of them.  

It was a special time.

You can’t just erase the past and start fresh; you need some hooks to remember the past. Sorting through my files will provide me with a point of connection to the past the next time I take a trip down memory lane. 

Two days after my last day of work, Lily and I went out for dinner. It wasn’t just dinner at a restaurant; we ate at the revolving restaurant at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. 

It was significant and reminiscent of years ago when we would have dinner after the Christmas Eve Service in Edmonton. We would eat at the Chateau LaCombe Hotel, in their revolving restaurant that overlooked the river valley and city. 

Seeing the sights of Toronto as the landscape slowly changed before us reminded us of those days. 

At dinner we talked about ministry at our churches and the people who have walked through our lives, enriched us and encouraged us. We spent time reflecting on what we have experienced over so many years. 

After dinner we strolled around the observation deck and, as we looked out at the night and the lights that glimmered and sparkled, we talked about our future. 

Looking ahead capped off a perfect dinner of remembering. … for there is no point reminiscing if you don’t also look ahead.

Here’s the thing: Reminiscing should spur us on to what is next. When you recall your past, be sure to recall the times God provided, answered your prayer, supplied your need, protected you, gave you wisdom and helped you make decisions. When you do that, you will boldly continue to move on with Jesus as your guide and strength. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When will you take some time to reflect and remember? Leave your comments and questions below.

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A Word On The Last Day Of The Year

The last day of the year is a perfect time to reflect on the past and dream about the future.

It’s like you have one foot still in the past and one foot ready to step forward. It’s like a freeze frame for a brief time.

… Kind of like those ultimate mannequin challenges that are all the craze right now.

They’re a moment in time that tells a story, or something … I’m not sure I really get them.

But they’re much like the last day of the year. It’s a moment in time that tells of what was and points to what might and could be.

I guess the caution is not to stay there too long or you end up getting stuck in time … caught listening to 70’s music over and over and sporting a mullet haircut.

It’s good to reflect back, but you don’t want to do it for too long. Just take the best from the past and continue it; take the worst and learn from it. The rest you won’t remember.

The older we get, the more life speeds up. There is a tendency to try to put the brakes on to stop your life from flying by. You end up staying in the past in some way.

When I was a child I remember that a year felt like a long time. Once Christmas was over, it felt like three years until the next one came around.

Now it feels like Christmas comes around every six months.

Don’t fight the speed of life. Embrace each moment but don’t hold on to it too long. There is more to experience just around the corner.

Look to the future and make plans for what you want it to be. If you make no plans then other people’s plans will become yours.

You can end up getting into a routine or rut that you feel trapped in with no way to escape it. In reality, it is only a lack of planning and future thought that keeps you from breaking out.

I remember as a teen sleeping in on Saturdays until 11 or 12, or even 1 o’clock. I would get up and feel tired because I had overslept. I would feel that the day was half gone which also made me feel frustrated that the day had been wasted.

But I couldn’t seem to do anything about it; every Saturday was the same.

That was until I decided I needed to have a purpose to get up. I set my alarm and had something I wanted to do. I ended up reclaiming hours of my precious day off.

It was my purpose and planning that helped me make that change.

The future is unknown and therefore it can feel scary. But put fear aside and look at the future as exciting, with new adventures that await.

On the last day of the year, you have a foot in both the past and future. Use it wisely.

Here’s the thing: No matter how you look at life, if you know Christ as your Saviour, this is what the Bible says about your life: Your past has been taken care of and, as for your future, He has a wonderful plan for you. Step into it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is one thing you are going to do in this next year because of this past year? Leave your comments below.