Rearview Mirror
Sometimes life’s heaviness has us looking into the rearview mirror, searching the memories of yesterday for sweeter times...the ones that still make us smile.
A treasured moment with a dear friend.
The pride of watching your child succeed at something they worked hard to achieve.
A career celebration for your significant other, when you stood beside them and quietly thought, Look how far they’ve come.
Or perhaps nothing monumental at all.
Just your face turned toward the sunshine, soaking in a rare moment of peace, with a favorite pet settled beside you, somehow adding even more warmth to the day.
We collect these moments without realizing how precious they may become.
Perhaps looking backward comes a little easier for me. As a historical fiction writer, I spend a good deal of my time in reverse—peering into the past, searching for the moments, people and stories that still have something to tell us. I've learned that looking back isn't necessarily about longing for what was. Sometimes it's about finding perspective for where we are.
Then life changes.
Not every season is going to be bright and shining. There will be days when the road ahead feels uncertain and the view through the windshield isn't particularly inviting. On those days, perhaps there is nothing wrong with glancing into the rearview mirror.
Not to go backward.
Simply to remember.
To remember that we have laughed before. Loved deeply. Celebrated victories. Walked through difficulties we once thought might overwhelm us. And experienced ordinary moments that, in hindsight, turned out to be extraordinary.
Sometimes those memories are little shimmers of light reminding us that darkness has never had the final word.
And sometimes, rather than searching desperately for the next turn in the road, it is enough simply to be still.
To sit in His peace.
His timing.
His will.
The rearview mirror was never meant to guide the entire journey. Our eyes eventually have to return to the road ahead.
But every now and then, when life feels particularly heavy, a glance backward can remind us of all the goodness that has already carried us this far.
And perhaps that's where we find our shimmer of hope;
trusting there is still goodness waiting somewhere down the road.
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