looking forward, not backward

One of the perks of moving to Kentucky (because yes, there are a few) is being closer to certain friends. So when Tabitha and Jason invited me to visit them this past weekend, it was an opportunity I couldn't resist. It'd been a while since I'd spent time with them and their son Tyler, and I'd yet to meet their baby girl Izzie. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend - full of catching up and hanging out (including a trip downtown to the local Blues Festival).

A part of the weekend that I really enjoyed was attending church with them on Sunday morning. It'd been a while since I'd been to church - I'd not really looked for a church home in Pennsylvania - so just being there felt soothing. But what's really stuck with me was the pastor's message. The Bible passage (Phillipians 3:12-16) is common enough, and one I've heard many times:

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,

but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do:

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me

heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.

And if on some point you think differently,

that too God will make clear to you.

Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

What left an impression was how well the pastor connected this passage with other stories in the Bible (such as Lot leaving Sodom, and Peter walking on water) and with a story of his own (of learning to plow a field). He made the message so universal...so relatable. I loved his remark that:

"If you want to plow a straight row, you can't look back."

As I'm choosing my own path right now, deciding what direction to go in next, this really spoke to me.

Where I am: Kentucky
What I'm reading: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult