BEHOLDING ROOTS THAT HOLD YOU
On Return to My Childhood Homeland | Oshkosh, Wisconsin
OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN looms in my imagination as something almost mythical. Where I lived for 16 years of my life, our family moved to Ohio after I graduated from Lourdes Academy. It's where I learned some of the most fundamental lessons. Made some of the most amazing mistakes. Navigated through all the awkwardness. And exhilaration. So many adventures. Forts. Woods. Fires. Eggs. Music. Sports. Drama. Lake Winnebago. Packers. Brewers.
THE GLUE HOLDING IT ALL together were all the amazing people. Some I knew better, some less. I have such a warm regard for all of them. All played a significant role in who I am. And for that reason, I cherish them beyond words. Regardless of where they're at in their lives. Where they've been. What they're about. Politics. Beliefs.
THROUGHOUT THE YEARS I've been visited by many of these in my memory. I wonder where they've been. What challenges they've faced. What's brought them to where they're at now. I can't help but think of them. Lift them up. Pray for them.
THIS IS THE MEANING OF EMMANUEL. With each passing year, the more we realize we're on the back nine of life, the more I recognize all this. How important it all is. EMMANUEL. God with us. His mysterious presence abiding with us through all of our life circumstances. The ordinary stuff. Whether we recognize it or not. Particularly in the mess. Which we all have. In fact, precisely the occasion of our becoming aware of not simply who we are, but Whose we are. Uniting us all the more.
THROUGHOUT THE YEARS I've never had the occasion to make it back. With our youngest now out of the home, having had a very rich Christmas week with blessings of them all under our roof, I'm so blessed to make the trek back to my homeland. Tom Branigan, one of my lifelong best friends forged in our both being in a city performance of "Oliver" in grade school... a best friend through High School... then years later reconnected through children at Hillsdale College... his amazing "The Who" cover band is playing a big venue at the Oshkosh Grand (a formidable side hobby when not running his communications company in Milwaukee). Which seems to be an occasion to draw many of our classmates and friends back together.
ALL THAT TO SAY, I'm so deeply grateful for the gift of life and those whom God has given to journey in it. I am beyond grateful to be with all of you on this road. And encourage you... with every opportunity you get to reconnect, to rediscover your roots, to celebrate the journey, seize it!