Travel to my hometown is time travel. When I pass through the parts of the world where I lived out my younger years, memories vividly visit me. Today I traversed several such memory laden miles. I found my mind skipping like a smooth stone over the waters of time, across stories of discovery, to symbols of shame, to tough times, to occasions of joy.

As I ponder how the paths of the past paved the way to the present, I am thankful.

As Henri Nouwen wrote,

“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections – that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment.”

Rather than remain in resentment, today I thank God for the shame and the pain. In this moment, I am grateful for the madness and the miracles, the confusion and the comfort, the overwhelm and the opportunities. Father, thank you for your faithful fingerprints across the span of the seasons of this life.

I have regretted so much but today I am grateful.