Completion

Well, it’s been almost three weeks now since my folks moved to their new abode at an Assisted Living community in the Rincon Valley area of our town.  The building itself is similar to a Tuscany Villa, the grounds are beautifully kept, the staff is outgoing and friendly and from what I hear the food is great!  In many respects, it really is a community all to itself.  The amenities that they offer seem to be without end and the daily activity schedule is a page or two long.  But with all these wonderful offerings, it still is not home to my folks.

Now that the newness of the adventure has worn off, my Dad longs for the familiarity of their house, and as for my Mom, well… she was never fond of the idea anyway!  The difficulties lie though, in the medical, safety and overall daily care that they are now requiring.  Moving back into their house is not really a viable option at this time.  All three of us kids received multiple calls from Mom yesterday requesting (demanding?) us to come and pick them up and take them home.  Needless to say, this has been a difficult and emotional time for our entire family.  It just comes down to the fact that life has changed, a portion of our past has been completed and there are now new directions that must be taken.

As I was dwelling on all this over the last few days, I was painfully reminded of how my wife and I have already been dealing with these experiences for about four years now.  I think that is why I have been so empathetic with my Mom and Dad’s feelings and words.  I mentioned above that “a portion of our past has been completed…”  The Lord gave me those exact words last week when we stepped down from the Children’s Ministry position at our church.  He was clear in His use of the word “completed” instead of the term “has ended.”  To me, to say something has “ended” carries with it the connotation of finality, never to be remembered in a positive note again, it almost expresses a sense of pain and failure with it.  But to say it was “completed” just seemed more positive.  It brings the thought of a job well done, a course of action that was followed through on to the completion of the task required.  It’s kind of like the feeling of satisfaction that I always get when I walk away from a yard that I have just completed trimming, mowing and sweeping.  The job is done and it looks good!  It is something that I can be proud to walk away from.

And now with another part of life completed, it is time to reset, refocus and move on in order to complete the next adventure, or job, or phase in life!  For a Believer the most important foundation for the next step is found in the Lord’s words to our old friend Joshua in Joshua 1:5.  He said, “No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live.  I will be with you (as I have been with you in the past).  I will never neglect you or abandon you.”  (God’s Word © - personalized)

You might as well plan that there will be those people and obstacles that will oppose you in your next phase of life, but the Lord says that they will not be able to successfully accomplish the deed!  He then gave the clincher saying:  “I will NEVER neglect you or abandon you!”  People may not give you much support or even abandon you in your deepest times of need, but you can rest assured that the Lord Himself will ALWAYS be at your side, through thick and thin, through the tough times as well as through the periods of easy living.  And I can vouch for this statement of truth through the experiences that we have been through since returning from Bible School in Oklahoma!

I was able to gently share a few of these thoughts to my Mom this morning as we talked about their house and it seemed to bring a peace to her.  Now it is time to know that the mission of the first 86+ years of their life has been completed and it is time to move on and (as my cousin alluded to) enjoy the spoils and rewards of a job well done!

That’s also the same confidence that you can have as you move onto new frontiers with and for the Lord.  You can go forward with the understanding that your past assignments have been completed and the next one is awaiting you.  Having access to His relentless and limitless resources along with the knowledge that He will NEVER neglect nor abandon you should be the extra boost to send you merrily on your way.  Get ready (as my youngest daughter told me), for the best is yet to come!   I hope that your day is going great, that you are staying in tune to His Word and that you are continually asking yourself… “What Good Things am I expecting today?”