Recently, as I ran to catch up with Tom walking with Evelyn Jane and Isaac in the park, this scene stopped me. I was suspended ‘somewhere in time’. Memories flashed  around me. Pictures from the rear-view are a favorite of mine and always allow a vision of those who have gone before… lining the path ahead.

The words to “Find us Faithful” exploded over me. I remember Tom sang this song during our commissioning service when we left for Europe in 2000. “May those who come behind us find us faithful….”

What did these words  mean then when we left our children, family and friends twenty years ago?  What were we leaving behind?  And what would they remember during our ten years away?

What do they mean now for our grandchildren and our five greats– Evelyn Jane, Isaac, Eli, Natalie and Malachi—will they find us faithful—–to what and to whom?

The path looked a bit mysterious; Evelyn Jane and Isaac weren’t quite sure they wanted to keep going. “But it’s dark on this road,” Evelyn whispered as I caught up. As long as we were holding hands, they kept walking.

“May those who come behind us find us faithful”

I can admit I, too, am a bit afraid of the dark ahead.   Even David said, in Psalm 142, “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who know my way. In the path where I walk, men have hidden a snare for me.” v3.”  He was in a cave, hiding, and he was afraid.  I can’t always see what’s behind the trees or around the curves, but I am trying to stand faithfully.

“… continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7,8

We’re pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who’ve gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace

I see Tom’s mother waving excitedly as we approach, Mary Jane Lee from Kingsport, Tennessee, smiles her sweet smile, Dr. W.F. Hall– our Bible teacher at Chilhowee gives us a thumbs up as we pass. Oh, there’s Debbie Klementz from Vienna, Austria—many others who have finished the journey–and NOW encouraging us all to stand faithfully.

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind

May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

This week we have cleaned out the garage, reorganizing things and stuff…. and memories.  What will these containers reveal one day when we are gone? When the girls open a box of mementos, what will they remember about their parents? I opened a box of rocks… yes, rocks picked up along  the beaches of the countries we visited.  The kids will have no idea how we laughed over finding them. Hopefully, they will remember our lives stood firm on the ROCK…  the only Rock that matters.  Will our books, journals, pictures “lead them to the road that we each must find?

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

walking… one day at a time… trusting.