“O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.”  Psalm 71:17

Has God spoken to you in the very place you grew up?  When you were there, did you really think about your beginnings and try, from an adult’s perspective, to look through God’s lens at your upbringing?   It’s important because not a single detail escaped the sweep of His sovereignty.

Going back home to visit is a different experience for each person.  While it can be wonderful for one, it can be extremely painful for another.  One thing is certain; it reveals whether or not I have made peace with my past. I don’t even have to visit the house where I grew up.  (Most can’t do that anyway.)  All I have to do is take a day and walk down familiar streets.  Memories come flooding back.

And here is the truth I must cling to as His child:  I was blessed with God’s presence and promises from the very beginning.  It’s easy to believe that about my present life but I can fail to know it as I review what happened on a school playground. The clarity blurs, doesn’t it?  The blessings there feel veiled, hidden behind the ache of the memories.

So I must search. I take time to review God’s promises and look for His fingerprints pressed into the fabric of my story. Without looking, my life cannot feel the weight of His purpose nor experience the healing that closure offers. God wants to speak into the places that still throb, but I must unclench my fists to hear Him. The promised treasures of the darkness await me.

From the first cry of my infancy to my longings of today, You have been present.  And in that truth, my heart rests, Lord. Amen.