The Past Is Your Friend...

...as long as you remember its place.

That is all I have been thinking the past 10 minutes I have been awake. The message was so strong, I had to get up and write about it. You see, it was sometime yesterday I remember thinking about "the good 'ol days" when I was in college, and for the first time, I thought about those days in light of "I'll never see those days again" instead of "I am thankful for the great times I had." I wasn't really melencholy, but I wondered if that meant life was going to have more of those moments as I got older.

So I think that was what was on my mind when I was dreaming right before my alarm went off this morning. In my dream, I was back at a college campus. It was not exactly like my Alma Mater ONU (Olivet Nazarene University), but I knew that's where I was. First I tried to go to dinner. I was late arriving and had forgotten my student ID. I went back to my dorm to get my ID, but I got confused and went to a girls' dorm instead. And then once I got to my dorm, I couldn't find my room. And as I was trying to get to my dorm, I remembered the band concert I was supposed to be playing in (which is odd because I was never in band in college). But I knew I was late and was not going to make the concert. And then, when I got to my dorm, I was disappointed because it was supposed to be all festive and decorated for Christmas, but it just felt empty because everybody was gone (presumably to the band concert I was missing). I was very lonely and I had no friends. Most everything was pretty much the opposite of how I remember my college experience. I woke up feeling sad and lonely.

When the alarm went off, Brooke didn't move, but our doggies did. Sully came over and nudged me wanting to be loved. Boo came over to remind me it was breakfast time. As I woke up, I was still trying to shake off the sad and lonley feeling. It is not often I have a dream that really affects me emotionally after I wake up, but this one did. I could not figure out why I hadn't experienced any of my happy college memories (I had lots of them) in my dream.

As Sully nudged me again, and as I rolled over and looked at Brooke, I said to myself, "Well, if I lived back then again, I wouldn't have the family I have now" and it made me thankful for my family. And then I got up to let the dogs out, and I walked by Amanda's room and closed her door. If I lived back then, I wouldn't be Amanda's Daddy right now. And I was thankful for my life once again.

So I began to reflect on what the dream meant, which again is odd because I never think about my dreams having a meaning. But the thought that kept coming to me was, "The past is your friend as long as you remember its place." So I took just a moment and remembered my college days the way they really were. There were lots of good times, and there were times I just thank the Lord for his forgiveness.

But the past has its place. I am thankful for the good times and the good friends. I am also thankful that the sins of my past are past. There have been a few times where the devil has reminded me of some stupid decisions I made back then trying to affect my walk today. And I guess I tried to re-live the past as I thought about the good times yesterday.

But as I woke up this morning and asked the Lord about my sad and lonely dream, I think he taught me an important lesson. I cannot live in the good times of the past because they are gone and things will never be the same. Besides, look at all the good things I have now that I would miss out on. And there are bad things from the past, but they are in the past. They don't have to affect my life any longer. I really don't have to deal with many negative things in my past affecting me today very often, but I felt the Lord say this was also part of the message. I just got out of bed and I feel like God has already spoken to me today...and that's pretty cool!

The past is your friend as long as you remember its place.