Pioneers

Pioneers 

 By  John W. Vander Velden 

It seems to me that my parents were very much like pioneers.  They crossed the sea…though never had they been more than a short distance from the place of their birth.  They came to a strange place…a land where they knew few people…a land where people were very different…spoke strangely.  They went boldly filled with dreams and ambitions.  They made a new life.  They did not turn back.

Each of us is a pioneer.  And we, each of us, are bound for a new country.  A place we have never been.  A place we may not be prepared to face.   Yet we are going, perhaps vigorously onward or pushed forward.  The mists hide what lies ahead.  There are those things we can expect, but there are also so many things before us in the unknown.  And so as pioneers we tread onward…onward to a new country…a country filled with challenges, rewards, and disappointments as well. 

What lies ahead of you?  What lies ahead of me?  Only by going onward will that be revealed.  For we tread on a road not taken before…leading at last to an end we know, but the travel…the between the where we are and where we are certain we will reach…that is the unknown land.  Pray for patience, we all shall need it; for a sense of humor, it can only help; for love, it is the only mortar that holds lives together; for boldness, it keeps us upright on our journey.  But most of all pray for courage…for the way is not easy.

So go boldly fellow pioneers…go with dreams and ambitions…face your fears…they, in the end, will not overcome you.  For we each travel to a place we have not been…a place we are unable to see clearly…a place that awaits us.  Pioneers, we travel to tomorrow and the days that follow…to our own personal future…whatever that may be.  Do not be hustled along by that herdsman called time.  Stand tall…face each day…know you do not walk alone…laugh…make music…joyful music…cry when you must…smile when you can…laugh loudly and often… and love…love those that love you…and love those that do not.  And each day when you reach that new place stand firm to what is true, yet learn all it has to teach.  Each day is about growth…growth in ways obvious… and in so many ways that are not.

So pioneers do not fear this new land…have courage…walk boldly into the future!