Memories

I went paddling the other day at Wyandotte County Lake on the west end of Kansas City, Kansas. I was born and grew up in KCK, and pulling into the park and lake brought back a flood of memories. The first memory was of a swimming pool near the lake. I believe the name was Lakeside Swim. It was where I learned to swim at about 5 years of age in 1958! I have loved the water ever since. There is a smaller lake before you come to the park lake and I remember my real dad taking me fishing in a little john-boat once or twice. I don't remember whether we caught any fish, or any other details, just that my dad spent some time with me. (There might be a lesson there for us dads.) I recalled family picnics at the lake, swimming at the beach and getting a case of swimmers ear. (I had constant swimmers ear throughout my teen years.) I remember our old pontoon boat. It seems that every time we took it out on the lake we spent half our time working on the engine! I also remember some picnics there with my wife Deb when we were dating. Great times. It is good to go back and mull over memories because we are all the sum total of the events in the past that have shaped us. It is good, also, to realize that those days are gone forever and to look forward to the future. The future is a blank page, and with God's help, we can write on it His best goals and purposes. We can't do anything about yesterday, but we can certainly do something about tomorrow!