Signs of the times

Years ago I found myself driving by a sign off the side of the road which caught my attention on my daily commute home. I thought to myself I should bring my DSLR camera with me to work the following day and grab a shot of it - but that was before the convenience of camera phones so it never happened. It was a gigantic white sign with blue letters that spelled out for passersby, "Progress is coming!" It caught my eye because it was posted in front of an abandoned, dilapidated home that I'm sure has many stories from years past lying within. Soon to be bulldozed over for city improvements I was guessing – what other progress could it be referring to?

Whatever your measure of progress is it's generally measured by forward movement of some kind, a refreshing stance. Wikipedia shares that progress is the idea that the world can become increasingly better in terms of science, technology, modernization, liberty, democracy, quality of life, etc. Our family has been blessed and challenged in many ways for the last 11 weeks since we've welcomed in our foster son to our family.

And we are seeing progress:
Progress in learning how to parent two children;
Progress in our foster son's behavioral response when something doesn't go quite his way;
Progress in him opening up in therapy;
Progress in the incredible ways God has bonded us as a family which is so precious to watch; Progress in getting him registered for school and after care for the new school year approaching; and Progress in him learning more about his history and reality of his future so he can begin dealing with that.

Sigh. Progress - it's good!
Romans 12:12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

One other sign that caught my eye several years ago was at the intersection of some busy roads in the city where there was a new IKEA built. Atlanta is known for their hectic directing of traffic and this sign was so evident of our need for better road mapping. And I did grab a shot of this – if I find it I'll post it just in case you're a graphics nerd like me and find signs humorous. One arrow directed traffic to get on the ramp for I-85; the other arrow literally said, "All Other Roads This Way." Seriously? At that intersection there are people who need to get to side roads, I-75, and directions to move around the many one-way streets, and that's the clarity in guidance drivers are given? I'm thankful that in faith we can lean on the Lord though we can't see the route and destination and He will clearly direct.