Looking at the past through the eyes of the present

Originally written as a Facebook note. Copied to MySpace and Friendster. Written on October 9, 2008

Text sent Thurs, October 9, 2008 1:53pm while at Starbucks on 5th Avenue in Naples, FL to several friends

"Vacation in Naples has been a healing experience. I can look back at the past thru the eyes of the present. I continue to be healed thru God's mightly graces"

Looking at the past through the eyes of the present is phrase I came up with one night talking to JE. It something I have been able to do these last few months since God has transformed me and created me anew. I am better able to deal with the past and anything that remains because I can see them through the eyes of a someone who has been healed and transformed by God. No longer am I hurting by what happened in the past. All old wounds have been healed. I am a new person.

Coming back to Naples for my vacation has been a healing experience. I've been back in Naples on several ocassions but never for this long. I am usually here for 2 or 3 days which is never long enough to really go around and see the sights. This time I really had a chance to go out and see the sights. This time I really had a chance to go and visit my old stomping grounds and see old friends I haven't seen or connected with in a long while. I really had a chance to look back on my life and where I was and where I've been. But I wasn't looking back on my life with respect to the past but through the eyes of the present. I am able to look back on my life and see how far I've come and how much I have grown and changed. I realize that no matter how hard my life was, no matter what I went through, it was all necessary for me to experience it all in order for me to find God. If I never experienced all the pain and heartache and anger then I would have never known God's love. My life here in Naples wasn't all bad but it wasn't all good either. I had my share of ups and downs here. But I did not have the peace that I have now. While here in Naples, I have been able to reconnec with people who have had the most influence in my life. I have been able to bear witness to them of how I have found peace through God and through God alone. They can really see a new person, a transformed person, a person created anew in Christ. Every day I am changed and created anew in Christ. My vacation in Naples has been no exception. As I drive around Naples and visit places I used to go, drive past places so familiar, and see friends who have changed my life, I am reminded of my old life and healed again and again. God gave me the will to choose and I chose to be here in Naples for a long time. The whole time I was here He was nudging me to the right direction but He let me come to that realization in my own time. He brought me through all this so that in the end I would find Him there waiting for me. He never left me or forsake me. Along the way I met people who have changed my life. Some of whom are still part of my life no matter how much time passes since I have talked to them last. Along the way I experienced both good times and bad. Living here in Naples was a necessary stop in coming to know the Lord. I chose to live here and God watched over me and protected me while I was here. He allowed me to meet people like David and Taryn through our Collier Catholic Singles group. They are two people whose friendship has meant so much. They are two people God put in my life to nudge me in the right direction. He put Ron and Anne in my life to help me learn about love and acceptance. He put them in my life to teach me about sincere friendship. Seeing friendship through their eyes has taught me a lot about genuine friendship. Naples was a good experience and necessary experience for me to come to know the Lord. While I was here I knew of the Lord and who He was but it wasn't until now that I have come to KNOW the Lord. I have come to know Him on a personal level. I have a personal relationship with Him. I have seen the Lord face to face in my new experiences with him. The past is a part of me. It will always be a part of me. I can NEVER change that. But I can see it now through the eyes of a new and transformed person in Christ. All of those experiences --- from childhood through Naples --- were necessary for me to find God. I had to endure them so that I could be built into the person that God intended fo rme to be. The whole time God was there. He NEVER left me behind. He was waiting for me to reach out and ask Him to lift it from me. I finally had the strength to ask God to lift this heavy burden from me. He lifted not just the pains of abuse but EVERYTHING. Bipolar and EVERYTHING. Even before I prayed for it. Even when it was just a mere thought in my mind. Even when the idea was just born in my mind then Lord was already working on answering that prayer. Not in my way but in His way. A way that He would show me is the right way. God is an amazing God. He heals us every day. He mends our brokeness. He truly is an amazing God.

This is what a friend of mine responded after reading the text that I had sent while at Starbucks "Truly God has been faithful to u as u are to Him." This is so true. I am faithful to God in everything I do and return God has been faithful to me. For this I am grateful. For this I am blessed.

Thank you God for the gift of every day healing!