The Taste Of My Childhood

This past weekend, while on a short vacation, my wife and I were in a small Dutch deli.   While there we purchased some gouda and I realized as I was eating a slice of it that this is what my childhood tasted like.  By that I mean that growing up with two Dutch parents, I ate a lot of gouda growing up, and it is one of the flavours that I most closely associate with my childhood.   It is a flavour that reminds me of a time when my life was less complicated than it is now.   It reminds me of a happy time of innocence that I have long since lost. 

I think that everyone has a taste of their childhood, a taste that reminds them of where they came from.  Perhaps for you it is not a taste, but a smell or sound (like a song) or some other form of stimuli that.  brings back a flood of memories or sensations.  It is important to have something that reminds us of who we used to be.   I think that when we remember our past, where we came from and who we were, it tells us a lot about where we are going and who we can be.  

Where we come from helps to define who and what we are.  The influence of our past has a very direct impact on where we are going.  I grew up in a home with significant Dutch influence, both of my parents are Dutch and moved to Canada when they were young (both shortly after WWII).  This shaped my life significantly.  I enjoy Dutch food, because I grew up eating it.  I enjoy stories of Dutch history, because this is my heritage.  I enjoy learning about WWII and Holland's role in, as this was a significant factor in why my parent's moved to this land.

Several years ago I received a book chronicling my ancestry on my Father's side back 300 years, and I love to sit and read through and see what my relatives did.  How they earned their living, who they married, these sorts of things.  Why?  Because, again, this is my story, it is where I come from, it defines who and what I am. 

It is like this with God as well.  This is why we should love to get to know him, why we should love to read the Bible.  Love to spend time with our Heavenly Father.  This is how we learn where we come from.  It is how we get a grasp on our rich history as children of God.  It is how we get to know who and where we came from. 

We come from a line of rich and wonderful men and women of faith.  And not just in the bible, but even in books of church history.  These people define who and what we are.  This is the lineage we, as Christians, have been adopted into. 

This does not mean that we have no say in who we become as people.  While I am influenced by my heritage and shaped by my childhood, there is much that is up to me.  What influences I choose to surround myself with now, what people I associate with, the books I read, the music I listen to, the movies I watch, the activities I do... All of these things shape who and what I am.  It is all of these things, my heritage, my childhood and my present that define me as a person, as a man, as a husband, as a father, as a son and the list goes on. 

It is the same with us as Christians.  We are defined by all of the things that have brought us to where we are, but what we do now, what influences we allow into our lives now will complete us.  

My challenge is this;  Remember the taste of your childhood, ponder the influences of your present and examine the person that you are.  Are the influences in your life complimenting where God has brought you from and shaping you into the person that He wants you to be?  If so than continue to pursue them with all you have in you, but if not remember this.  We can not change the flavour of our childhood, so if we need to alter who we are now, we must alter what we allow to influence us.  Make sure that our influences are in line with where we need to go.  And remember, this is an adjustment that we must make continually, not just once.