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Yellow Slides: Promise Fulfilled - Final in series by Lindsay Kyle Though it seems unlikely in the midst of it, college will not last forever. The day will come when the graduation caps are thrown, and your closest friends will scatter like the leaves from trees above you. You might be one of those leaves, burnt yellow and ready to fall, but still you find yourself clinging to your branch, unable to let go. Another yellow slide behind you. You may even feel alone. So you move forward into the world, clinging to unfailing promises of Jesus: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Life is the promise He gives us. Don’t get me wrong, you can make different choices and still live a sort of happy life. But that’s not the same thing as abundant life. To just be happy is to simply settle. C.S. Lewis wrote about this life of settling in his book, The Weight of Glory. He writes, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." As we have seen, making the choice to leave the muddy slums of our lives isn’t always easy. But the moment you taste the salty air of the sea, you can never go back. The place of counterfeit pirates, yellow slides, and other’s expectations are a fuzzy memory...flashes of color and nothing more. Living in the brilliant light of Christ’s promises doesn’t let you forget entirely, though. Remembering who you were when you were sliding into the pool on a hot summer day is important. We must occasionally venture back to those long lost days to help in the rescue of others who are living contently amongst their mud pies. And in having our own children, we have the chance to forge a new generation of acceptance. We have our own moment to say that yes, we are willing to release our children into the loving hands of God, who may very well take them to the ends of the earth. We will have our chance to claim that abundant life for others, creating a new legacy, fashioning a new memory.