I don’t know what your view looks like. This fire is mine. In case you’re curious, I made it. That may not make a difference to you, but it’s been a goal of mine for a few years. What’s even better is that I can look up to a sea of stars that the city hides all too well. To say I’m loving this moment is an understatement.

This is the campsite where the fire is sitting. Putting that tent up was quite the experience, but you can’t tell it from the picture. It was raining, and it ended up dark by the time I was done. The tent has an extra tarp inside to keep the water that ended up inside the tent away from all of our belongings. There’s something significant here though. I’ve not only set up this environment for my kids and I, but I’ve done it at the right time for us.

In life, we have a variety of stages. Some leave us feeling accomplished, others behind, and yet others confused, frustrated, or even elated beyond belief. And in each of those stages, we learn, and specifically we learn something we didn’t know before or maybe couldn’t know before.

I’m in a stage of life where I’ve been given the opportunity to learn things I didn’t know before, experience life in ways I hadn’t before, and interact with people how I didn’t realize was possible before. And I’m loving it… although I apologize it’s kept me away for some time.

While there are components to my life now that I wanted in my life a long time ago, I choose just to be thankful that I do have them now. It’s not worth resenting not having them sooner. That will only detract from the ways I could appreciate and enjoy them during my ‘today’. Instead, the trick is to make sure that I cherish them.

Cherish the lessons.

Cherish the moments.

Cherish the memories.

And above all, cherish the people.

Don’t allow the joy of growth to be squandered by the complaint that it should have happened sooner. No. It happened when it needed to.

I was just talking about this with someone I care about this week. I wasn’t ready for something before. I had to become complete in who I was first. And maybe that’s the same lesson you need to learn. Or maybe it’s not, and you just need to learn to adapt. Or maybe yet, you need to develop a certain characteristic or surrender a weakness.

Whatever the case is, don’t let yourself become so distracted by the way life changes as we grow that you can’t see the actual growth behind it.

God is great, and God is wise. Trust Him.

He’s worth it, and so are you!