My Best Days Are Behind Me and Ahead of Me.

Recently I went to my friend’s ranch in Riverton, Wyoming to spend some time reflecting, praying, and writing alone. Our family has been vacationing at the ranch for years so I have collected many wonderful memories with my family there. It is a very special place to me. While driving to the ranch I passed through all the familiar cities. As I passed through Rapid City, South Dakota, I reflected on the sweet memories we made there with our dear friends camping at the KOA in a borrowed camper trailer. Our kids were so young and playful back then. When I came to the city of Hot Spring, South Dakota I drove past the grocery store that I bought Katie a special treat in and where we took the kids swimming in a mountain stream. Driving through the mountains I laughed reflecting on the trip that I did the “Clark Griswald” by launching the minivan off the road at a construction site in the middle of the night. By the grace of God, we all lived sustaining only minor damage to the van, but now I drive a little slower in that particular area. The ranch was dead quiet without my family, but my mind was reliving each and every special moment through tears of joy as if they just happened. Our small children that used to swim and play at the ranch have grown up now. Josh is a senior in high school, Sara is a sophomore, and Katie is an eighth grader. They will never swim and play at the ranch like they used to because life goes on and we are all getting older. As a matter of fact, some of my friends have already passed away. We all share the same plot in life and in the quietness of the empty ranch, I realized that my best years are behind me.  
 
But here’s the thing, even though my best years are behind me, I still have my best years in front of me. That’s right, the best is yet to come. You see, when we look back on our life, we see what was because it already happened. We have the pictures and memories to prove it. The good days, bad days, happy and sad days are all exposed because we have already been there and done that. Since you can’t relive them, they were your best days, even if you wish they were different. So your best days are behind you and your best days are still to come. David writes: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). God was with you in the past, is with you in the present, and will be with you in the future. Your best days are yet to come, they just haven’t happened yet. It takes faith to believe this and to tackle each day with a new sense of hope.  
 
So even though the memories of our family at the ranch brought tears to my eyes, I know that there are more memories to be made tomorrow. And yes, I will cry over them too. I guess that is part of being human. Ten years from now I hope that I cry new tears of joy celebrating what will then be the past. And ten years from then I hope my heart still echoes David’s words when he wrote: “I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:6). Ultimately, I want to encourage you to live each day to the fullest by giving your best so you can honestly say your best days are behind you and your best days are yet to come. ​