I didn’t sleep much last night.  I blame the Lovely Lady who lives with me.

No, she didn’t snore all night—didn’t even toss and turn, stealing the sheet from my side of the bed.  So far as I can tell, she slept like a baby; eight hours or more.

Still, it’s her doing.  She checked the book out of the library for me to read. 

It’s not what you think.  It wasn’t a horror story or a murder mystery, not even a science-fiction thriller.  She checked out a children’s book.  One I mentioned I would like to read one day.

It wasn’t even the contents of the entire book that had my mind roiling and twisting down unexplored pathways.  It was only two lines.  A conversation between a boy and a horse.

The boy and his friend, the mole, are riding on the wise old horse’s back—out in the wild—heading for home.

“‘We have such a long way to go,’ sighed the boy.
‘Yes, but look how far we’ve come,’ said the horse.” *

That’s it.  Two lines.  No great conflict.  No astonishing victory.

Just a reminder.

He didn’t bring us this far to only bring us this far.

But the thoughts of what lies ahead (and behind) embody so much of what is real.  I mean, really real; for all of us.

And those real things can bring on sleepless nights, sometimes.

I lay there beside the sleeping lady, and my mind refused to stop its gyrations.  The future has become compacted in some mysterious way (old age creeps up, you see), but there are so many miles of the journey yet to be traversed.

There are things I wanted to do, but haven’t started.  Things I’ve started, but have interrupted for other, more important things.  Events which keep poking their noses in—where they’re definitely not wanted—and won’t be ignored.

There IS so far still to go.

I think it was no coincidence that this morning was Youth Sunday at the fellowship we attend. The youngsters led nearly the entire service, with the youth pastor bringing the message, but they were included in his part, too.

I needed exactly that today.

Worship happened.  The music wasn’t all familiar to this old geezer, but it was done so well, with a young leader who has many years ahead of him in that field if he’s led that way. The room was full, not only of music, but also of the turning of hearts to the One we worship.

But throughout, this old (sleep-deprived) mind was full of memories of beginnings for me at similar ages to the teens on the stage.

I couldn’t stop my mind from running through the intervening years.  All along, I’ve never known a time when I wasn’t aware of God’s hand on my life, and on the lives of my family.

I know I’m not the only one.

So far we’ve come.  

And the road winds into the future, almost it seems, without end.

It will, one day.  End, that is. 

Sooner for some than for others.

But He promises to stay beside us.

“He who began a good work in you will complete it…”

“…Lo, I am with you always.”

“I will never leave you nor forsake you…”

I’m going to sleep soon.  I’m sure I will.  He gives rest when we need it.

But tomorrow morning, I’ll step out on the road again.  With Him beside me, I’ll step out.

There’s still so far to go.

There’s room for more to walk there.

Are you coming with?

 

 

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8, NIV)

 

© Paul Phillips. He’s Taken Leave. 2026. All Rights Reserved.

* (from The Boy, the mole, the fox, and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy, HarperOne Books)