Explorers’ Journey

A good explorer lives within the full expanse of time: the past, the present, and the future.  On our recent family vacation, we spent a good portion of the day in Desmet, SD.  Desmet is famous for one particular reason, or rather a single person: Laura Ingles Wilder.  The celebrated 19th century author captured the reality of everyday life amongst rural living at that time.  We spent most of our day exploring the restored homestead.  We washed laundry, pet ponies, and made rope.  My girls are still enjoying their cornhusk dolls.  We deeply appreciated learning about the past, appreciated what we have in the present, and wondered what things might be like in the future.

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Each of us are explorers.  We are explorers of God, of our world, and ourselves.  Why?  Because they need to understand where they’ve been, where they are, and where they are going.  What have you explored lately?

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What has God given you in the past?  Family?  Friends?  What has God taught you along the way: love, grace, and embrace?  Now, I want you to ask yourself: where do you find yourself?  God has brought us where we are, because God is always trying to draw us closer to him.  So, where has brought us from in the past impacts where we are right now.  Again, why?  Because God is trying to draw us to himself still.  Through adversities and struggles, through trials and growing pains God hopes to see us live our fullest eternal lives in Christ.

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So where do we go from here?  In my time with you here at St. James we’ve studied some church history, scripture, and even God working in the world through us today during book studies.  What I ask you now to think about is: what do we study from here?  I want you to tell me what you want to look at next in studies.  I’ve heard some of you express a desire to study Revelation, couple’s dynamics, and even some cooking tricks and tips.  Why?  Because now is the time to plan our next year’s studies and other ways to explore God, God’s world, and ourselves.