Enjoying the Journey

When I was a young man I often tried to see how fast and how far I could hike in a day.  Age has now slowed my pace and I can’t cover the ground or carry the loads of my youth.  In those early years I found that the faster I walked, the more ground I could cover, but with speed I sacrificed my ability to see and appreciate the vistas along the trail.  Slowing my pace allowed me to enjoy the trip and enhances my appreciation of God’s creative works.

This past week Becky and I began the summer-long process of celebrating our fifty years together.  Our actual anniversary will be August 16^th, but we’re getting an early start.  Our first part of remembering and enjoying the journey was to invite our two sons and their families to go with us to the state that was our first home.  Off we all traveled to Florida, meeting at Disney World for four days; then to a beach house on Ponte Vedra Beach, just north of St. Augustine.  I will have to admit, four days at Disney World is not my idea of slowing down, but it is definitely a change of pace in a wonderful place, experiencing a lot of fun stuff and meeting a lot of very nice people.




One of the nice people we met!

The beach was a totally different story and the pace much slower.  Everyone got a chance to enjoy the majestic views of the beach, interesting marine life and Atlantic Ocean.  Everyone also had some laid back time on the deck, sofas or bed.  It was a great time with family and we definitely “enjoyed the journey.”

 

View from the third floor deck.  We had a deck on each level and made use of each one.

 

Becky and I took a "memory lane" side trip by ourselves as we drove from Disney to Ponte Vedra; visiting Titusville, Florida, our first real home as a married couple. We visited our old church, our first schools, Nels & Sue, a couple who still lives there, and our first trailer park where we parked our first home, a 55’x 12’ Skyline trailer. Becky got a full tour of her old school. 


Becky's first school teaching job in 1963 was at Coquina Elementary in Indian River City, Florida  It was the first fully air conditioned and full carpeted school in the United States.

Park Avenue Baptist Church began when we were members of FBC Titusville.  We were involved in the building campaign and construction began in 1968.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time as members. Peter Lord was our pastor, his son is now pastor of this church.

We drove by my old school, but no tour; then drove to Park Avenue Baptist Church and talked with the church secretary.  Our old trailer park is now a “retirement community” and still has a beautiful riverfront area on the Indian River. 

Oak Point Trailer Park on the Indian River.  The small blip on the center horizon is the VAB across the Indian River, on Cape Canaveral.  It was used for NASA's assembly of the moon rockets and other space launches back in the day.  We could walk down and watch the rockets launch!

 

We definitely enjoyed the visit down memory lane, but it was sad to see the depressed economy of the area with the demise of NASA’s space program on the Cape (Kennedy) Canaveral area.  Our old church has dropped from a membership high of 2,000 to the current 800.  Many homes and business locations are empty.  Our old friends live in the same home and like us, are aging grandparents.  Life is short and moving quickly forward.

Our intent this summer is to slow down the pace of life and enjoy the journey of remembering these past fifty years together.  This past week was a good start to our remembering the journey, but impressed on us again how brief fifty years actually has been.  There is a Biblical truth that relates to the pace and brevity of life, found in Psalm 39:4-6 (New Living Translation)  “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.   You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.  We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.

As I’ve reflected on this truth I’ve come to realize that I need to enjoy the process of living; enjoying each day.  My life on earth is a finite time with an unknown termination point.  For people of faith, the destination is assured so why not enjoy the journey.



Enjoy every sunrise and keep rambling!