Condo on Memory Lane

Greetings from Orange Beach, Alabama! We planned to spend the week in Perdido Key, Florida but a few fortuitous events landed us just inside the Alabama line. God’s country. That’s neither here nor there except for the fact that our current place is next door to a place that floods my mind with fond memories. Bethnay and I spent a week in the small, dated, condos next door in 2010. That old condo is a timestamp compared to the fancy high-rises surrounding it, but for Bethany and me, it brings us back to a distinct chapter. From the balcony next door it’s like I can reach back and touch that time.

The spring of 2010 was a season of change. We were young and processing through the big questions of life as we eagerly anticipated parenthood. We decided to make a trip to the gulf in the offseason since there were no school schedules to navigate and we could save a few bucks.

Elliott was just a few months away from entering the world and one of the few places Bethany could get comfortable was laid out on the sand. I’d dig a hole for her stomach, and she could finally get some sleep with Elliott nestled comfortably in the sand. Similar memories flood my mind as I reminisce.  

If we had known then what we know now I would have bottled some of that time up. 14 years have gone by fast but looking out on the blue roof next door, and the beautiful sugar beach, gets me back as close as possible to those days. And those were some good days. Some days are hard, but most are really good. I’m reminded of that as I consider the unchanged condos next door. 14 years has resulted in a sea of transformation except for the condos next door. I can’t help but correlate it to the faithfulness of God.

It was a miracle that Bethany and I made it to that beach in 2010. I wasn’t committed to Jesus in the first 3 years of our marriage, and I made a lot of dumb choices as a result. Our marriage almost didn’t make it out of 2009. Suffice to say, God put the Holy Spirit on me like a heat sinking missile. God won and I surrendered my life to Jesus in November of 2009.

After years of wanting a child, Bethany and I received the news we’d longed for later that same month. This wasn’t coincidence; it was God’s providence. 2009 was a pivotal year which spilled over into a pivotal 2010. We’d finally connected with a church at the end of 2009 and we quickly jumped into serving to start the new year. We loved those days of doing life with college students and ministry for the pure sake of loving people. I don’t remember the details of our conversations on that 2010 beach trip, but I’m sure most of it revolved around the future and an undeniable pull toward a life of ministry. A pull that I had spent many years resisting even before I committed to Christ.

Life would undergo some major changes later that year. Elliott would enter the world on July 29, 2010, and as a young dad I would resign from managing a furniture store and step into ministry fulltime. Bethany was right there, all in. We had no idea how that “yes” would fundamentally change the course of our lives.

Here I am in 2024 looking out over a small expanse of space covering the large expanse of 14 years. Following Jesus is one adventurous life. Some days are hard but most of them are ridiculously good! Those unchanged Sugar Beach Condominiums are a timeless reminder of the goodness of God. Sometimes the perspective of our lives can get cloudy in all the change and the new.

We serve a humble God who has a way of drawing our hearts in ways different to the world’s approach. All the glam and glitter of these “new” condos distract from the view on the unassuming condos next door that remain unchanged from the past or present. It’s a view of the faithfulness of God. There’s not a day He isn’t faithful.

Looking back over a season gives us a needed perspective. 14 years later, I’ve had highs and lows, good days and hard days, successes and failures. I’ve done my best to hold true to the commitment I made in 2009 to follow Jesus. But the real story that I see so clearly today is God’s commitment to me. An unchanging commitment that makes me grateful.