Reaching Forward

As I write it is the end of May. Graduation season. My daughter graduated from college, my youngest graduated from high school/early college, and my oldest graduated from Fire Academy. So much achievement going on around here, and we are very proud of all of our kids. Graduations celebrate accomplishments and mark endings with exclamation points! But they also signal transitions…the “dot, dot, dot” before a new beginning. It’s an exciting time and a hard one. Our kids are moving on with their adult lives, and my husband and I will have to figure out what to do now.

I was talking with my daughter about all of this, and she shared something I think is helpful for anyone facing a transition. And it may be particularly encouraging for any of us who struggle with regret. A few weeks ago, someone prayed for her at church and saw a picture of her making her way out into the ocean and getting past the surf. She saw my daughter facing the vast ocean of the rest of her life. The turmoil of the surf (high school and college) was behind her, and her future spread out before her.

The surf can be the most challenging part of swimming in the ocean because that is where the waves break, creating white caps. After breaking, they roll the rest of the way to shore and then recede. Near the shore, it is lots of fun for little ones as they play in the wet sand. They laugh and giggle as the waves advance and retreat over their chubby little feet. As kids get older, they bravely march toward the surf and challenge the waves. But if they aren’t paying attention, a wave can hit and take them under for a moment (and fill their swim trunks with sand and broken shells). To swim freely, you must get past the surf. But once past it, it’s best to face the incoming waves rather than to face the shore because at any moment a wave could catch you off guard and take you under.

To apply the analogy to life transitions, you have to face the turmoil to avoid getting smacked under by it. Once past it, it’s best not to focus too long on what you’ve come through. If you’re facing the past, you may get caught off guard by what’s coming! Regrets, mistakes, missed opportunities, wasted time, broken shells…it’s all in the surf. Paul’s advice in Philippians 3:13 is to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. To “forget” in this verse really means to intentionally let it go, to overlook it. Sure, we have made mistakes. We have missed opportunities and wasted time. But it’s best not to stay focused on our regrets, otherwise, they may pull us under, and the brokenness of our past may get all up in our swim trunks!

Reaching forward to what lies ahead (straining, as some translations put it)…that’s what I want to be doing. Forward is where our hope is. Forward is where our calling is. What lies ahead is still there to be seen and realized. No matter whether you have just graduated from college or have just seen your last grandchild graduate college, the time you have left on this earth is ahead of you. If you are still here, you still have purpose and destiny. It doesn’t matter whether that destiny has been detoured or delayed. With Paul, let’s reach forward and press on believing in God’s hope for our future (Jeremiah 29:11)! All of us have an eternity ahead that is bigger than the biggest ocean! Let’s reach forward and strain into it with joy!