He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

This is a post that may or may not interest anyone other than me! But I’m sharing because it grabbed at my heart a little bit.

So I was doing some research for my new book and needed to take a look at the house where Rebekah and I lived when she served as pastor in Brandon, Florida. These photos are from 2009 when we were doing a complete remodel on the kitchen.

The project popped up in the memoir because it represents a particular time in our lives when everything was coming together and humming at capacity. Digging up a handful of photographs helped me to visualize, and I thought it would be fun to share today.

The kitchen, believe it or not, took just a month from the beginning of demolition through completion, largely because our project managers did 80% of the work themselves and they were committed to finishing before starting their next job.

Among the other photos I found were two elevations of our home, one of Rebekah’s giant labradoodle (Scout thought if she lay still we wouldn’t notice she had snuck up onto the couch!) and one of the traditional worship service at our church.

Seasons of our lives:

What caught my imagination about these photographs was exactly what I wanted to communicate in my book about this season in our lives. It was a time when everything was growing and brand new and full-on, when it felt like anything was possible – because it was, when every new idea took root and bloomed. And when a huge, galumphing three-year-old labradoodle played the part of comic relief!

In just that year the house was remodeled, Upper Room Books released my third title in as many years, I flew coast to coast a number of times to speak, Rebekah and I travelled to Italy to see Andrew and New England for Naomi, and the Brandon church continued to explode with vibrant life.

It is the kind of momentum that is exhilarating at the time but kind of incomprehensible now that we are retired! This is why there are seasons to life, and – today – this measured pace here in the much quieter town of Tarboro feels exactly right.

All of it, though, has this throughline of grace: Grace Upon Grace, as the title of my memoir declares.

The way time works:

This is an interesting project inasmuch as it involves writing about the past rather than my usual approach of journaling today. What I am noticing, however, is that time as we tend to measure it – chronos – is not exactly how time as God appoints it – kairos – plays out in practical terms.

There is a lot of hope in understanding – or at least interfacing with – God’s time. This Grace Upon Grace journey is also facilitating a deeper understanding of providence.

So here’s my question: what is the throughline of your life journey, your ongoing story? How would you frame your experience?

Peace and love – always – DEREK