Dear Neighbor,
There is a saying, “One can never return home.” Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NASB) says, “Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”
Earlier this week, I happened to be in the town that I grew up in, which also happened to be the town that we raised our children in during their early years of life. I drove around the town to the places that I once knew; my boyhood home and also the home in which Darlene and I loved our children. Both of these homes were shells of what they once were; in fact, the town itself has changed so much that it could only be recognized by someone who spent many years of life in the area.
I have such fond memories of these, especially the first home of our marriage. We had difficulties, many in fact, but we were a young family, and we had children to raise. I do miss those days, but one can never return home. It is not from wisdom that one says, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?” One cannot return to the former days but must continue moving forward for Jesus’ sake.
There is much that I miss about the past but I do not know yet what I have to look forward to in the future. In the present, all seems so difficult, and confusing, but I trust the word of Lord. God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)
Michael Peek
Your Servant for Jesus’ sake
