The Past

via we heart it

Dear Friends,

It seems that as years have flown by and I've gotten older, the sand in the hourglass is slowly trickling away. Days seem like minutes when I look back, and I can't help thinking that it all goes by so fast. Yet the things that linger; the memories that remain are the ones that we have bookmarked in our hearts. They can be beautiful or painful moments, but in some way we hold on to them... carry them with us forever.
But I am learning that those moments are not what define us. Often we think that just because of something we've done or of who we once were that it means we can't become the person God wants us to be... but that is not what I see when I run to Jesus.
I see complete and total forgiveness. I see a blank page. white. new. A fresh start.
So I believe that who you once were does not need to define who you are right now. Look to Jesus, and you will see that His arms are open...
Now I believe that the past has a place in our life. I personally think that we should look back every know and then and realize that without Christ we are nothing. But don't ever let your looking back, turn into turning back. 
The past has no control over you. You are a new creature! God has set you free! Even your name has been changed!
So when we take moments from the past and carry them into the present; let us only take the moments of beauty... of healing... of forgiveness; the moments that make us into better people, and leave all the hurt and sin, behind.

So I want to try to remember every tear of joy, every hug of forgiveness, every sunset, every gentle spring breeze, every prayer lisped by a child, and every moment that I sense God's presence surrounding me.  And let those moments define who I am as God's child.

     -Amy Jane