Looking Back at theTimeline

'Some of us spend so much time wishing that things were different,

 

and thinking up alibis for why things aren't different,

 

that we overlook all of the advantages and the opportunities open to us right where we are.'

 1993 timeline snippet, author unknown

 

 

 

 

I came across this timeline yesterday as I precariously perched on a little wooden chair, pulling decades' worth of dusty old board games down from a closet shelf.  I vaguely remember creating this little collage for some coursework along the way ... I see the year 2000 scrawled toward the end. 

 

And as I sat amidst the piles of disintegrating cardboard boxes thirteen years later and looked at my simple creation, I recall how working on this composition turned out to be a bit an empowerment tool, a huge assist in pulling those random threads of my life together during a time of transition and anticipation.  God was moving in big ways, and this visual proof was an important message to me - in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 

 

It was one of those line-in-the-sand kind of moments ... then and now.

 

A timeline's a great little tool that can pack a pretty big punch when you stand back and see your significant life events - defeats as well as victories, in living color.  So if you're feeling kinda stuck right about now and want to make sense of where you've been and where you might like to head to next, this is a great project.  Gather your photos, little momentos, old magazines, scissors, craft supplies and do your thing.  Simple or complex, it doesn't matter.  This is your baby.  Make it work for you.

 

I think I'm going to head upstairs right now to tuck it away, once again, for safekeeping.  Because this little life map, this brief snapshot in time, is yet another not-so-random piece of the legacy I leave.