Cinco de Kevin

August 1 came and went without any fanfare this year. It was a normal day for everyone, perhaps, except me. It’s a day I celebrate every year, but few know of it’s significance anymore. Five years ago I left the Texas sunset behind me and traveled to a new job, a new state, a new community in Alabama. As I steered the U-Haul along the Texas plains, watching the Dallas skyline slowly shrink in my rearview mirror, I couldn’t help but feel a much-needed catharsis was finally taking place.

I could never have known at the time all that God had in store for me. What I thought was going to be a sidestep, if not a step backward personally and professionally, has turned out to be quite the opposite. One year turned to two, and two to three, and eventually they began passing faster and faster. Slowly the Lord rested me, renewed me, and healed me. He even gave me the desires of my heart. I quickly fell madly in love with a tremendously beautiful Alabama girl. And thankfully, she fell in love with me (and/or my Jeep) as well. We were married and soon welcomed our first precious little girl, Libbie. Life was amazing. Not too long later thereafter little girl number two came along and Lucy changed our lives again.

As I look back at what God has brought me through I see his handiwork. At the time, though, it was not always so apparent. I lost a dear friend and mentor along the way. He walks streets of gold these days but I miss more than I care to admit. My extended family has experienced much turmoil and trial. I trust God is at work there as well. The church that I grew up in has also endured great transition and tribulation. For those who were lost and hurt in the process, I pray God will care for you and bring swift justice.

But time marches on.

Prestonwood no longer remembers me. Baptist Temple doesn’t care what I think. And I am looking forward, not back! That’s the way it should be. The scars I wear are a simply a reminder of the battles fought…. the pain is gone.

I don’t know how much longer I have on this spinning globe. It could be decades, it could be days. We are promised nothing. I feel in my spirit that God is bringing changes. Perhaps he always is and I am only now sensitive to it. I do not know what the horizon line holds, and frankly I don’t wish to know. God knows I work better by only knowing the next step or two rather than the next five or ten. I don’t want to leave this life and have not used and abused the talents God has given me to their full extent. I strongly feel that he requires us to make use of what he’s given us. The parable of the ‘talents’ is not just a parable. To whom much is given, much is required…

Here’s to another five years of great living with my family.

I’m just along for the ride…