Assessment Day!

Last week I wrote about listening, looking and stopping. Today I reflect on what happened this past weekend at the church. As I wandering around, I did those three things again. I took the time to stop, look at everyone who came and listened to the stories of the past and joy of being together again. Everyone was so positive. Not a sad story or a negative comment. Just praising God for all He has done and the lives He has touched and changed.
There were stories of past pastors, SS teachers, parents, grandparents, relatives, friends and so many wonderful memories. As a church takes years to develop so to with our lives, there have been great time, reflective moments and times of struggle. How did we get here? I would surmise that these questions are repeated year after year. Not only here but in many congregations. Next year we will do it again.
But what about us as human beings? Do we assess ourselves each birthday? Do we ask ourselves, where will I be this time next year? What will change? Will I be better off or worse off? I guess we should plan ahead. Have we a plan in place to move ahead as someone once said, “Onward and upward”. And what of your walk with God? This is what John Charles Earle wrote about when he wrote in 1917,

Onward and Upward

I PASS the vale. I breast the steep.
I bear the cross: the cross bears me.
Light leads me on to light. I weep
For joy at what I hope to see
When, scaled at last the arduous height,
For every painful step I trod,
I traverse worlds on worlds of light,
And pierce some deeper depth of God.

A few years ago I changed direction. I thought I was having a great walk with God. I believed all that was written by Mary Stevenson in Footprints in The Sand. I know there have been times when I walked beside Him and I really recognize where He carried me. Then I heard a preacher say that everyone, absolutely everyone is either walking toward God or away from Him. It changed me. Some people follow God and therefore are walking to Him. Others walk ahead of Him, looking back on occasion to ask Him if we are going in the right direction. While at other times we ask Him if we can walk side by side with Him, going where He is going.
In the next year I am giving myself too not only walking closer to God but to walk with Him. This means that I have to walk in the direction He is going. Next year, how will you see this past year? How will you have walked with God?
Robin