Have a poster of the Beatles on my office wall at ATB, and when looking at it I am reminded how Paul McCartney stole my girlfriend away from me at 16. Not literally obviously, but he stole her heart as that group literally took over the hearts of many young American girls. 

That was of course Yesterday,  so I found myself singing that song and in fact am going to sing it in a group this week talking about this same subject (always looking to expand my comfort zone). However, there is another song titled Yesterday's Gone by Chad & Jeremy reminding us of a simple fact, we can't face today if we are living in yesterday.

Ask Lot, he lost his wife who lost her life by looking back when she was told to look forward. How many of us have lost friends or family members who could not let go of the past and fell because of it? Jesus gave us a preview of what harm it could be to us: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62

Paraphrasing in todays jargon, when you look back all the time, you can't see what is in front of you. You can never realistically face today's challenges fighting yesterday's battles. And, you can't focus on recovery if you are always thinking about what used to be.

The used to be's prevent us from becoming what we can be. Memories of good things are to be cherished, lessons from mistakes are to be taken, but longing for getting yesterday back and not living and loving the presence of today prevents real growth and satisfaction. I wish I had my deceased son back but it can't happen in this world, so I press on hoping I will see him one day in heaven.

In the meanwhile, I will live every day looking forward, not regretting the past, but looking to live every day in front of me to make the absolute most of it, following the God who healed my past mistakes. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they are here to stay. Beatles

They were, but God changed all that, now Yesterday's Gone!

As we approach another historic political election, this word is being used in many speeches. It is a compelling word that if put into action would certainly make this world a better place to live. The Apostle Paul spoke about it in 1 Corinthians 1:

I appeal to you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Paul, of course was speaking about their faith beliefs so that there would be no division in the church. This included accepting that others may have different opinions but uniting on the basic message of the cross, redemption and salvation. The commentary in the Life Recovery Bible I use had a great take on this: 

To "agree with one another" does not mean that we should all have the same opinions and views on everything. Rather it means that we should be unified in our basic beliefs and tolerant of our differences when it comes to peripheral issues. In other words "don't sweat the small stuff".

Realizing that to some, the small stuff may be quite larger issues, we still need to remember that we are all Americans in a country that fought literally for its freedom and independence, that was divided once in a costly Civil War, but has survived to be the envy of most every nation for its ability to come together when it is all on the line.

All God asks us to do is love each other, respect each other and serve each other when it sometimes is the farthest thing from our mind. But unity, it not only can be traced back to the Bible, but it can be seen prevalent in the title of our nation.

The United States of America. Try loving your neighbor a little more today despite your differences, that might help!

The true test of any organization is the impact it has on the people it serves. In the case of ATB most know that our main purpose is to help those in need of addiction recovery, homelessness relief and veteran assistance. So we asked a few of those folks to tell us how they feel about us.

If you go to our website at acrossthebridgeinc.com you can see the heading Real Life Impact Real Life Stories then you will see the box where it says Impact and while it will slide show every 3 seconds, click on it to see the controls where you can stop to read each one. Though their stories are edited to fit these five individuals are a core part of our efforts and we thought it would have impact on those visiting our website.

Of course the true impact in our lives comes from what we believe in. For awhile it was my talented High School Football team, then it was the Washington Redskins followed by the Marine Corps, women and any drug or drink that made me feel good. Not that some of those are bad, it's the pedestal I put them upon. They became my god.

Now, older, wiser and free from mind altering substances I have found the source of all impact, a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not gonna quote scripture here, just share this from my heart which propels everything we do at ATB. My life was a complete train wreck until I met him got to know him and got to know what he wanted me to do. Then my life began to impact others: my family. my friends and those we could help.

Read the stories, come hear them for yourself at one of our meetings, hear mine and the millions that have been impacted by that man who died on a cross for us all. Read his in his book.

Then feel the Impact, ​it's eternal!