Always Looking Forward
By Doug Harrell
Mitchell County
As I look at the calendar I realize that another planting season is right around the corner on the farm. We have already plowed the gardens, ordered seed corn and fertilizer for the fields. We have been feeding the cattle hay and grain for some time now and are looking to pastures getting green and the cattle getting back out on the pastures. I think about the change of seasons that are ever so evident out on the farm and then my mind goes to the changes in our lives, the seasons of change that we each go through if we live long enough.
This year will be the 79th time that Barbara and I have gone around the sun with 58 of those years being married. As we all look at those seasons we ofttimes think back on the past days of our lives. Sometimes we refer to them as the good old days and long for a return to those days. The reality of it is there is no going back, the only direction we can truly have is forward. How we approach those days is critical to our mental well-being and our physical well-being also. When we look back all the time we are heading for a wreck of major impact. When you are driving your car your front windshield is much larger than your rearview mirror for a reason. It is good to look in the mirror to see what is back there, but you need to focus on what’s out front. If you put your car in park or reverse, you will certainly not accomplish much.
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 KJV
We are encouraged to always be looking forward to the next project, the next goal in life. We are also told in the Scripture that a people without a vision shall perish. This is so true for us as individuals as well. I have often heard the old saying that you are either getting better each day or you are getting more rotten each day, we never stay the same. I want to encourage each of you to ever be looking forward with anticipation, setting new goals, and establishing new plateaus that you want to reach. It does not matter if you are in the springtime of your life or if you are approaching wintertime, we need to decide to live until we die.
Many books have been written about a purpose-driven life and how critical that is. Even in these troublesome days we are living in, we need to be ever aware of the fact that we need to constantly be striving to make a difference. The difference does not have to affect the entire world, but strive to exert a positive influence on your immediate environment, the people around you, and the family you come in contact with. Let your light become brighter each day as you continue to gain knowledge that only comes from age. Don’t quit thinking and planning.
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 KJV
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Doug Harrell is a life-long resident of Mitchell County, Owner of Harrell Hill Farms, a member of Bear Creek Baptist Church, and former publisher of Blue Ridge Christian News. You can find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/doug.harrell.77
You can read more good Christian News from Doug Harrell HERE
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