Last month, our dear friends invited us to join them during their vacation at a house they rented on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
It was awesome. The weather was mixed, but the company was amazing. I had vacationed there as a kid and young adult for countless years. I also invested considerably in real estate up and down the OBX in the mid-to-late ’80s. It was a crazy time in real estate, but it was capped off by a recession brought on by a savings and loan crisis like I hadn’t seen before, and not again until 2008 when things got bad.
At that time, we built a house on the oceanfront in Corolla Light as a supposed long-term 2nd home that we would enjoy for the rest of our lives.
God had other plans. Back then, I was running my life, not Him, and He wasn’t going to let me get away with that.
As my business and all other assets were liquidated from a severe downturn and compromising decisions in business, I learned quickly that the world can be alluring but also chaotic and unforgiving, especially when I was in charge of it.
The best part of this recent visit was being able to reclaim what was lost but from a Kingdom perspective.
I stood on the porch of that oceanfront property to acknowledge the true owner of all things and the rescue he provided through some of the worst days of my life.
Reflect on what he’s done for you through the storms. Some you may have brought on yourself, or perhaps as a result of other people’s actions and the sinful nature of the world around you.
But in the end, God wins when we obey.
My life wouldn’t be the same if I hadn’t done that.
I don’t need an oceanfront property to enjoy the gifts given in this life. Time to invest in eternity.
And that’s the mid-week memo.
Steve
