Here’s the truth.

I don’t know that I’ve met a more nostalgic person on the planet than yours truly. Bittersweet feels bubble up whenever I think about old sports teams, family vacations, childhood summers at the lake, graduation, moving houses or apartments—really anything that comes to an end. Which is literally everything. 🙂

I have such a deep well of gratitude in my heart for countless seasons that have made long-lasting impacts on my life. Holding space for dear memories is a blessing. How sweet is it that we got to experience something so wonderful that we can’t help but look back and remember it? And when it comes to the past, I’m a Grade A Remember-er. If Remembering & Reminiscing were an Olympic event, I’d be USA’s most decorated gold medalist.

I tend to remember the little, marvelous details of the past that aren’t actually so little after all—the cool Arizona breeze running over my skin, the laughter on the drive to family dinner, the way the light spreads across the living room on that one Saturday morning. The details are sacred. Beautiful. Diving. They paint the story of our lives, and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that God is the most brilliant storyteller of all.

Not too long ago, I was in a familiar-but-still-feels-like–vacation kind of place (Arizona) with people I love (my family) and had spent countless trips there with before (hello nostalgia). On that trip, I heard the Holy Spirit say something that made me take two and pause in a different, truly-tuned-in sort of way. It made me think long and hard when I heard it, and I’m still pondering it now. 

Stop living in the past.

Hmm.

That was it. 

Stop living in the past.

Okay…

I tried to brush past this idea, but really, I couldn’t. This was not up for discussion.

Gently (that’s how I’ve found His voice usually sounds— not harsh or rude or condemning), He opened my eyes, and I haven’t been able to close them since.

While the past can be beautiful (and praise God when it is), sometimes we get so honed in on it that we miss what’s actually in front of us—what God is trying to do in and through our lives today. And to me, that’s the biggest danger of living in the past. If all of us were paralyzed in the present moment and only thinking about “the good old days” or what once was, so many other people wouldn’t get to experience our God-given gifts or how He wants to use us. 

Personally, I can get so focused on chasing or recreating “how things used to be” that I stop chasing God and creating what He’s called me to create in the here and now. And that’s not the kind of person I want to be or the kind of life I want to live. I want to be fully tuned in and obedient to the calling He’s put on my life. 

It would be easy for us to relive memories all day long if we really wanted to, but we can only live in the present moment once. That’s it. 

Living an abundant life requires us to set the past down and courageously step into all He has for us today. Write the book, start the podcast, invite the people over for dinner, join or initiate the Bible study, publish the post. Whatever it is, we can’t unlock our potential from days past. We must tap into the gifts of today to create a more beautiful future for ourselves, our world, and God’s Kingdom.

So how do we do it? How do we stop living in the past and live wholeheartedly in the present season of life?

I have a hunch that wholehearted living starts with thanking God for our dearest, most favorite memories. Gratitude is never a bad place to start. It seems like fixing our eyes on Him—not a spell of nostalgia—and stepping out in faith with the gifts He’s given us is a good next step. I have to believe the season He’s leading us to will be so beautiful that we’ll have a collection of new favorite memories in no time. Our best days are ahead. For all of us—no matter how old, young, or behind any of us may feel.  

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the ways of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

He is doing a new thing, and if we’re not awake—if we’re dwelling on the past, wishing things were how they used to be—we’ll miss it.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be someone who lives, not spends their life trying to relive. Here’s your friendly reminder that He came so we may not just have life—but abundant life (John 10:10). That means you, that means me, and that means it’s available to us in the present moment. Let’s go!