When I returned from Vietnam in 1970, I came back to a place where things had changed. I went away a married man, but came back to divorce; I went away from a dress code of tie and jacket and came back to tie-dye and long hair; I went away from disagreement and returned to outright protest and hostility. In thirteen-and-half months the country, and my place in it, had changed dramatically and I did not do very well adapting to it.
When I became a Christian in 1999, things changed for me, as well and while the changes were not immediate, over the ensuing years I can see how different my life has become and how different I am from what I was before.
I can honestly say that in less than a week back in Colorado after an absence of seventeen months........things have changed. Fort Collins has pushed its City Plan for "controlling" growth by not annexing outlying land, but rather infilling vacant land by building more residential property, thus putting more people in a limited area. The population and the traffic have exploded; The Mall, once nearly deserted and unused except for senior citizen walking is now a construction zone for a new high-end shopping....and residential ....facility; where once there were four-way and traffic-light intersections there are roundabouts, tons and tons of roundabouts some even a block from the one before, there must be at least 50 roundabouts in Larimer County where there once were only a few. even the access roads to MCR Hospital has multiple roundabouts. Pity the ambulance driver and more so the patient in need of quick medical care.
Houses in the area, once almost impossible to sell, are now scarfed up in an average of three days....and over asking price; there is a boom in oil and natural gas drilling, feed lots (and the attendant aroma) seem to be everywhere and the potholes are deeper and the condition of the states roads are as bad as we have seen anywhere in our travels.
Medical marijuana has expanded into legalized marijuana use and there are laws to prevent discrimination against every conceivable life style or type of behavior. Yes things have changed in Colorado and I can only imagine what our next few weeks here will uncover as we continue with our medical appointments, downsize our personal belongings and visit with friends and family. I better cease and desist before I really get PC'ed.
But there is one thing which has not changed......Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Of that we can be sure, and on that we can rely to endure the changes in Colorado and wherever we may go. Forty-five years after Vietnam and as a Christian for sixteen, I'm doing a better job of adapting. Thank You, Jesus.
Sent from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment