Tag: nostalgia

Looking back and moving forward

Traffic cone
Traffic cone | Photo by Jonasb

It’s been nearly two months now since Laurie and I left the plains of Red Oak for the fields of Forney.

As part of the move, we of course carried with us a number of dear memories and relationships that we made during our four years with encounter.

Luckily, we don’t leave these things behind when we move — we carry them with us.

Yesterday, Brian and I were trying to remember when it was that he shared an illustration that’s stuck with me and others ever since.

Setting out four construction cones around him, Brian drove home the point that we should be building spaces of grace wherever we go — especially as followers of The Way.
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Why we enjoy nostalgia

In a post I wrote for We Live Simply yesterday, I was reminded of this column I wrote for The Belton Journal in August 2004. I got a little nostalgic and decided to repost it (with a couple updates) for those who may have missed it.

WWE Wrestlers
Photo by greggocnnell

I’ve noticed something about today’s culture — for many, there’s a strange sense that “back in the day” things used to be different, things used to be better, things used to be amazing.

Back in the day we didn’t have socialist presidents, we didn’t have kids zoned out playing their Nintendo DS’s, we didn’t have teenagers so caught up in text messaging that they don’t know how to talk to their parents at the dinner table.

And with these memories, we’ve begun a never ending search for a better yesterday. A time when the flowers bloomed a bit brighter, the summers were cooler, our skin had less wrinkles, our waistlines were half the size they are now and gas was less than $1 a gallon.
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