I am thankful for the future and its promise.
In 1976 Cindy and I toured the West for the first time and had a remarkable 14 days. On Friday night of Memorial Day weekend we were in the reliable and durable 1971 VW zipping along the interstate in Missouri and needed to be home for Tuesday as we both had to work and a summer class I was taking also began. Our VW had 170k and never an issue. Then it did. Suddenly the engine blew and the now free spinning transmission thought it should join in the chaos. We were on the side of the road, little money, no credit cards back then and a very broken car.
I’ll give the end of the story but first, the point is the car. I have way more miles than it did and remarkably, I seem to be steaming down some sort of Interstate. But I know there are limits that I do not see and they can be gradual or sudden. I also know there is less of the road ahead than behind. But I am so thankful that is not the end of the story. Believers in the completed work of Jesus, imperfect as we are, faulty as we are, prone to fail as we are, are gifted with a future that is well beyond what might appear to be the end of the road. And, while an occasional doubt dances across my view, - that twitchy humanity again, it is a solid, logical and secure reality. “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. …. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1: 4 & 11 NLT
What we did have is AAA. A tow truck arrived and towed us to a full campground - Memorial weekend, remember, but they let us pitch our tent on a hill. We had torrents of rain that night and spent the night watching the lightning & sitting up in the car, soaking wet. In the AM the tow driver came back - he thoughtfully left his ticket open so we could use the whole 50 miles, and took us to the airport in St Louis to rent a car and the remains of the 1971 VW to the VW garage. We had enough to rent a car for three days and slept on the floor of a room at St Louis Chrsitian College. On Tuesday we got the bad news on the car and the time we spent trolling auto dealers Sunday and Monday paid off as we had a car in mind and Cindy’s old boss at a bank arranged financing for us over the phone, so off to Johnson only one day late with our Western trip souvenir a 1972 green Dodge Colt with A/C!
It is hard to know the whole path before us only that it leads to the Son.