"Retrace The Steps We Took On That Long Summer Night ..."

This, my friends ... is my official 300th post on this blog.
Oh, wow.
:o

I find it so hard to believe I've made so many posts on here! But at the same time ... it's not hard to believe at all. And I think it's great that this post is a milestone of sorts.
For starters ... this post is probably the first post I'm going to put a lot of effort into since ending my little blogger hiatus. So, I think it's good to see that ... yes. I left. And I came back. And there's something to show for it (:
And two. Because today, I've been thinking about the person I was a year ago, to this date. And I'm thinking about the person I want to be in the year to come. So in the same way ... I guess it's cool to think about the one hundred posts ahead in the history of this blog x]


Today has been a really beautiful, beautiful day. In a lot of different ways.
Waking up before the dawn ... that was special. I hadn't done that since school got out a few weeks ago. Hopping in the Silverado and driving into the hay field ... bucking hay bales onto the flatbed trailer ... watching the sun rise over the grassy acres ... that was beautiful. Spending time with friends and enjoying some good laughs over some rough work. That was beautiful. Sitting in the baking sunlight, talking to old friends and listening to good music ... that was beautiful.
So much about today was beautiful. And it got to reminding me, how so much about life is beautiful. And that people take a lot of little things for granted sometimes. How I, personally - and I bet a lot of you do, too - tend to get caught up in the negative of our day-to-day lives ... the stress, the imperfections, the heartache or loneliness or hopelessness or helplessness ... whatever else. And forget how beautiful life really is.

Right about this point, you're probably thinking "Life is Beautiful" would probably have made a wonderful title for this post. True, I adore the song by Sixx:A.M. But I chose instead to title this post using lyrics from Anberlin's Retrace.
There's a reason.

Today has also been a day of a lot of reflection. July 4th, 2008 - a year ago to this date - has ... a lot of memories for me. Going into detail would not only a) take up a LOT of your precious, precious time, but also, b) maybe shoot down this lovely perfect mood I'm in.
The point is.
Thinking about the person I was back then ... all those memories come flooding back. And it's sort of hard and it sort of hurts, but lately especially I've learned that those memories ... are memories for a reason. And it's taken me quite a while to figure that out. But I have now. And it's alright.
And today ... I've been thinking about a lot of that. Of course. Was it really a year ago? Really? It doesn't seem that long ago. But at the same time ... it seems like a lifetime.
Well I'm starting to talk in circles, which I tend to do when I think about this. So. I'm going to make my point.

The person I was on July 4th, 2008 ... is not the same person I am, today, on July 4th, 2009. I'm different in a lot of ways ... and I think I'm most definitely different for the better.
And so, sitting here, thinking about this perfect day ... I'm thinking about the perfect days to come. And the perfect moments of the past. And how I wish I could bottle all those perfect times up, and keep them, forever ... unchanged, unaltered. So all I would have to do is - pop! - twist off the lid of an old mason jar, and there they'd be ... like fireflies or candlelight. There for me, forever.
But that's not the way life works. And there's a reason for that. God wants us not to settle with the goodness of the past ... but, rather, to look ahead to all the greatness that's to come in the futures He's blessed us with.

That's why I have these memories. And that's why I have this warm, fulfilled feeling in my heart ... right now.


So here's to many more wonderful sunny Saturdays. And another year of learning and growing. And another one hundred posts in which to reminds me of it all.

KEEP ON LIVING
xoxo