I Am Surprised

I Am Surprised

By John W. Vander Velden

When I stand where I stand and look about my world, surveying my place in it all, I am left wondering.  If I take the time to consider all my successes and failures, I find myself surprised at the place I find myself...today.

I understand that step by step, forward and backward as well, my journey has shaped me into who I have become.  Along the way I have always felt it my obligation to take my advances with humility while accepting responsibility for my failings, for I understand that I am but human.  Acknowledging that if I have any talents at all, they are the results of gifts given for my use by a power far beyond me.  While honestly recognizing my weakness helps me to accept mistakes made by others.  And so I tend to judge those around me less harshly than I judge myself. 

Yet when I survey where I stand...today...I am surprised.

Though I often dwell on all the unfulfilled aspirations, the years spent with only modest progress, I need to stop and look at the whole of it.   For if I consider the things I have done, the places I have seen, the work I have accomplished, the people I have met...I am astonished.

So I look forward and cannot know what lies ahead, but if what lies behind is any indication, when I scan the place I will stand one day in the future...I will be surprised...

For my GOD has brought me this far, and HE will carry me through all my tomorrows...that that won’t surprise me a bit.

9-22-2018 (269 Words)  

November's Window

 

November’s Window

By John W. Vander Velden

I stand at November’s window, the waning memories of summer’s warmth yet remain as I look toward the coming winter. The gay colors of fall’s decorations, the grand golds, oranges and reds, have faded, for the leaves have left their high perches as they sail, carried on the autumn breeze, for their moment of freedom.  Soon cold winds will send them dancing, swirling, tumbling, joining brothers and sisters that have flown the days before, as together they gather for their final rest.  The time change cannot hide the day’s shortening, the sun visits for fewer hours and often hides behind thick gray skies.  It is November.

I take a minute…just a minute…for my life rushes on.  But the time is needed to look forward, and backward, to appreciate…everything.  To consider the good things that have come, and to understand also that disappointments and pain are needed.  Growth comes with its price, and overcoming the hard times perhaps the greatest reward.  Time to take a breath and know just how fortunate I am. 

Where life leads we cannot know.  But it is the journey that matters, those we meet along the road, those we share the walk, those that help us back on our feet when we stumble, those who need our outstretched hand when facing their own difficulties.  Each shape our path…but they do not change our destination. 

So I move forward grateful for today and all the yesterdays.  Grateful for family, for friends, and even for those that will never understand me.  For each has taught me, and learning aids to prepare me for whatever lies ahead.  I will be grateful for the tomorrows, and the unknown I face, the challenges, successes and failures that will arise.  As I stand at November’s window, I understand that I have received a gift of infinite worth…my life!

(311 Words)  11-12-2015