E-Every Mile Mattered-Nichole Nordeman

E-Every Mile Mattered- Nichole Nordeman

This song came out during the time I was sending letters to Jennifer during her time of home assignment here in the States. I used lyrics from this particular song to be a blessing and encouragement to her.

The message of the song is embracing the history of our lives-the good and the bad-as bringing us to the place we are now. We cannot rewrite our history and we must not allow ourselves to be trapped by it. The miles have made us who are.

There are chapters in my life, when I was writing them, I regretted even when I was writing them. There were girls in college I thought about dating before I met Jennifer, but never had the courage to do so. There have been sins/ thought patterns in my life that occurred that I wonder why I was tempted to do or even think about doing them.

Yet if I had known the message of this second chorus echoed in my heart and mine, I could of lived a freer and fuller life:

“But it's history It don't define you You're free to leave It all behind you Every tear brought you here Every sorrow gathered It's history And every mile mattered! Every mile mattered!”

I can embrace my history, because it has brought me to the places it has brought me to where I am today. I don’t have to regret not dating those girls, because it brought me to the most beautiful girl in the world. In worrying about the girls I didn’t date, I forgot about the success of taking a girl to prom. The friendship that developed with this girl gave me confidence as I pursued Jennifer.

Those sins/thought patterns have a way of creeping in now and again . For so long, I have allowed the history of them being in my life to define me-making me at times feel I wasn’t worthy of love. I am free to leave it behind me, embracing their history, as the repentance of these things has brought me closer to God.

What parts of your history do you need to embrace as your own? What parts do you need to leave behind- not letting it define you?

Embrace your history, don’t let it define you. Embrace every ‘mile’ of your life and see how they have brought you to the place you are now.

A place of embracing your history and seeing it has brought you to the blessings you have in your life: love, friendship, but ultimately, God. Let the author of your story use your story for good and point someone else to God.

Share your life with someone today-let people see through you that their history can be redeemed by the author who has been writing their story since the beginning of time. May they see that ‘every mile of their lives mattered.