Right now I’m hurtling down train tracks slicing their way through the middle of New Mexico. The land is covered mostly with grass, and what trees there are sit a fair distance away. The rocky landscape punches through the thin soil from time to time exposing what’s below. On one side of the train the clouds are building and on the other there’s blue sky.

What I’m liking about my window view is the sky. Where I’m from in the Midwest, the long view is often obstructed by buildings and trees. But here I can see a long ways. I really have a pretty good view of what’s ahead.

I’m on my way to Rehoboth Christian School in Gallup, NM for a week of volunteering. Several months ago I signed on to this little adventure not really knowing what I was getting into. I know a little more today than I did then, but I don’t quite have a handle on the big picture yet. That’s a bit disconcerting for me not to know precisely what’s ahead, but I can do this. Just take it a day at a time.

As I write this the view out the window has changed. The clouds are moving in. The tops of the mountains in the distance are becoming obscured. Maybe there’s rain coming, or snow or just clouds. I don’t know. The view has changed. It’s become more difficult to see what’s ahead.

That’s how it goes, isn’t it? Sometimes we have a pretty good idea what’s coming in our family, work, retirement, kids, school. However, sometimes our vision gets dimmed by circumstances over which we have no control. We can’t see past the next doctor’s appointment, school exam, job crisis or life tragedy. That makes it hard. It’s hard to take things a day at a time. Hard to trust.

Whatever the view, whether I’m confident of knowing what’s ahead only for the next hour, or week or year, I need to remember that “… I belong body and soul to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ…” That’s the long view I need to have. That’s today’s reminder, and every day’s gift.