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He leaned in and whispered shyly,

“I ALMOST CRIED WHEN IT WAS OVER.”

He’d be the first to admit that the tears may have been unmerited, after all, it was just a movie. Avengers: Endgame was over.

My college-age son continued, “It wasn’t the movie Mom. It was the fact that it’s the end of an era. I was 10 years old when I watched the first movie. So much in my life has changed since then.”

LIFE IS FULL OF MARKERS, ISN’T IT?

If it isn’t the end of a movie franchise, its life events like weddings, a job change, or graduation. Deep down we know that life is moving at break-neck speed, but sometimes it takes markers for that truth to sink in.

Recently, my other son and I mutually confessed that the movie Mary Poppins brought a tear to our eye. Each parallel between the new film and the original classic unearthed treasured memories like flying kites, feeding birds and adding supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to a third-grade spelling list. Each recollection was another marker of treasured experiences that were gone.

These moments, markers or sign-posts (whatever we want to call them) can teach us three things:

01

Touchstones are important.

Pausing to remembering our history helps us make sense of things. The recollection of events and stories from our past shapes how we see our lives. Those memories are an integral part of how we define ourselves.

02

There’s fun to be done.

Dr. Seuss coined this phrase in his book, Oh the Places You’ll Go. His book didn’t sugarcoat life. He hinted at the ups and downs and ‘The Great Balancing Act’ that life requires, but through it all, He reminded readers that life is a journey meant to be enjoyed in the moment. When sign-posts pop up hopefully, they will spur us to seize the day and create more markers to be remembered down the road.

03

We need to turn the page.

Relishing the past and living in the moment are two sides to a triangle but completing the shape requires one more side— an anticipation of the future. God wants us to look forward to our future. If we doubt that we simply need to read the last chapter of Revelation. God smiles as He thinks about you and me thinking about what’s to come!

I’m sure there’s more to learn from markers than what this tiny blurb has touched on. I only know that I was surprised at the conversation sparked in our home because of Mary Poppins and the Marvel Universe. As for where the conversation ended?

It went something like this—

“Don’t get stuck son. I know that sometimes the past can be so good we hesitate to leave it. Other times it can be so painful we doubt the promise of something better. But never forget, every chapter is one that we can celebrate because God wants nothing more than to watch us turn each page full of hope, trust and a belief in the perfect ending.”

Savoring the journey with you,

Cindy

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