The day after Christmas, LeAnn and I decided to check out the new paved Loop Trail under construction at Garland’s Central Park. We wanted to see what the future holds for us.
It’s just two blocks away and we walk from our house and around the perimeter of the park regularly, logging roughly 1.3 miles. The new Loop Trail will provide for longer walks with new segments through some heavily wooded areas on Duck Creek that haven’t been accessible. It also will add pavement and safety where we’ve had to jump over mud or walk on the busy street after it rains. Eventually, the Loop Trail will connect to another trail that could give us a 10-mile walk or bike ride if we’re in the mood.
That’s all in the future. The new Loop Trail is still under construction, which was evident as we walked on white concrete poured just last week that was still framed by wood. Some segments were framed but not poured, which had us walking on dirt between the framing. There were short sections totally missing, apparently awaiting some drainage work, and there were some connectors with dead ends but with stakes topped with pink flags marking the route of the next phase.
With the work crews off for Christmas, we got a good look at what is to come. It’s going to be great, but we’ll have to be patient because there’s still weeks if not months of work to be done. And some of what we’ve seen on maps is part of that next phase yet to be scheduled.
The new year is looking much the same to me. I can see pieces of it and have a general idea of some of what is coming, but there are a lot of incomplete parts and unknowns that require patience. That’s true communally and globally in terms of politics, the economy and such. It’s also true personally, with some writing projects on the horizon, home and garden improvements we’ve been talking about, trips we’d like to take, and visits with doctors months away but already on the calendar. How it all unfolds and what it all reveals is unknown.
We’re living in the present and can’t walk into the future until the future becomes the present. We can think ahead and plan some contingencies and choices, but then we must wait. And that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve said it before, but I think there’s some danger in knowing too much about the future. Life is now and should be lived now.
There’s a phrase I’ve heard often in recent years in interviews with athletes and coaches: “Be where your feet are.” Applied to a sport like football, it means don’t obsess about the last play or possession that didn’t work out right, and don’t think ahead to the next possession. Focus on the down you are in right now. For you and me, it simply means don’t live in the past or the future; be in the present.
As we explored the new Loop Trail last week, it was 81 degrees. That evening we ate dinner on the back porch. It felt like an evening from summer 2025 or even one to come in summer 2026, but it was neither; it was December 26, 2025. Summer will come, but first we must experience winter and spring – seasons I like for their unique qualities but are also fraught with potential storms. We’ll plan for that when it comes, and we’ll look forward to walking the finished Loop Trail when it’s ready.
And while we’re at it, we’ll trust the future to God’s guidance. By coincidence or perhaps not, we read a daily devotional in this last week of the year with this quote from Proverbs 16: “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” Those are good words to keep in mind as we turn the page on the calendar.
Praying for all a happy and blessed New Year – walked and lived one day at a time.