“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care”. Psalms‬ ‭95‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This photo was taken one morning on my way to work. As I drove, I was thinking about the day ahead and various tasks on my to do list. That particular morning I was enjoying the various stages of the sunrise as I often do on my ride to work. However this morning was different. When I turned toward school my eyes were drawn to look in the mirror on the side of my car. My breath was taken as I saw what beauty was behind me and I was struck with the idea of how valuable it is to look back and reflect while still moving forward.

Today is Sunday. Thursday was Thanksgiving and yesterday was my 50th birthday. So today I am reflecting while still looking ahead. Today I am looking back at this year and how my word for the year has affected me. My word for 2022 has been “simple” and my mantra has been “be a light.” I am also looking ahead at what word God has laid on my heart for 2023. I imagine you did reflect on Thanksgiving Day and counted your many blessings. Did you have a word for 2022? How did that word affect your actions? Have you begun to look ahead at 2023? Has God laid a word on your heart?

As we worship this Sunday morning, may each of us do as we are directed in the above scripture; “come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel down before the Lord our Maker.” Psalms 95:6

As we worship may each of us reflect while still keeping our eyes on the road ahead. We mustn’t get too distracted by the beauty that lies behind us. Let’s admire it, thank our Maker for it, and continue to move forward with the knowledge of lessons learned. Let’s allow this time of reflection to encourage our steps forward with Christ as our guide and may we each become more like Christ as we march onward with time.