Kienow Family History and Heritage

Last summer, we decided we had outgrown our house, so we began preparations to find a new house. We completely underestimated the ordeal we would go through as we undertook this move!

We started by painting every room in the house - including the ceilings. Along the way, we also put up new siding, had new carpeting put in, went through all the 'stuff' we accumulated over the last 12 years in this house (4 teenagers later), and moved what we didn't need immediately into storage. Now, 5 months later, our house is on the market, we are averaging 2 showings a day, and I'm considering booking a showing for ourselves so we can have some time at home.

If this is what we go through just to move 2 miles away, I cannot imagine what our ancestors endured as they prepared to leave, not just their home, but their country.

Today in church, Pastor's sermon focused on the text in 1 Corinthians 8. As humans, we tend to get caught up in the little things, to 'major in minors', as he put it. Looking at the people around me in my life, I again realized that I still have times where I focus inward more than I focus outward.

I also realize that as we mature, our self-awareness grows and we can move from self-centeredness to placing others before ourselves. A newborn baby is completely selfish - only knowing what it needs and that others must provide them with their basic needs for survival. As the child grows, it learns its identity, and that others, too, have needs that must be met. Later on, the child grows into an adult, and learns that others may depend on them for survival. Those are big things, important things to learn.

Another thought occurred to me as I was thinking about New Year's. One of the most-missed themes of New Year's is "It's Time to Move On." Really. How often do we drag things along with us that hold us back? I know I still harbor some memories of things I did that I wish would go away, but they won't. They happened. And I replay them over and over and over again. I can't go back and change them, though. I wonder - how many good things were missed because I was so absorbed with the past?

Today is just like any other day - really. It just happens to be the first day of the year (on our calendar). There are a lot of other calendars in use around the world, and they all are just as arbitrary. When is the 'first day' of anything?