Memory Keeper, Memory Maker or both?

This past weekend I did a little "time traveling" and didn't even have to leave home.   Even though  it was "rushing the season" a little, we decided to travel up to the attic and unpack Christmas.  I try to set aside a block of a couple of days to get everything displayed to my liking.  This year, it didn't seem possible to get that much time in one block so I hurriedly set out on my "tasks".  I started out by unpacking the Christmas tree ornaments.  As I unpacked the first few ornaments, they were trendy and new,  and my chore went by pretty mindlessly.  Then, the family tree.  As I unpacked each ornament, it was like traveling back to places on the timeline of our lives cherishing and savoring each one.  I remembered how the big bulky lights of my childhood shone on a couple of ornaments that are over the half century mark. I then realized just what a wonderful gift my husband gave to me by preserving these treasures in the face of a flood.  He is a true "memory keeper".  I looked at the ornaments that we purchased for our first tree, the ornaments we purchased each year of our children's lives, and now, ornaments that denote our grandchildren's lives. For the myriad of ornaments given by children and families I was blessed to serve over the years, those given by the friends and families we have been blessed to minister to and live life with. Gifts from special friends and special locations. I remembered making a lot of memories along the way, days and weeks of Christmas through eyes other than mine, I remember life being so busy that the end of the day in front of the tree was a priceless treasure. There were broken ornaments along the way (I broke two this year), but just thinking about the memories and moments held in the little pieces of resin, cloth and glass that remain make me proud to be "memory keeper"
Maybe I did things backwards this year, but maybe not.  Putting up my tree before Thanksgiving gave a new perspective to the things I am most Thankful for:  for the glimpses of Christmases past, for the reminders of friendship and God's hand in our lives, and for memories yet to be made.  These ornaments are a sign or a monument to the goodness of a God who has intricately woven reminders of His gifts of love in our lives into one place (a tree), to point us to His greater gift, His Son who was all to familiar with a very different kind of tree. 

Christmas before Thanksgiving?  Maybe so. Thankful for memories kept and made and for the One who gives all good and perfect gifts.


                                                                                                                                                     

..Another year

I tend to measure the years of my life not by birthdays, but by anniversaries.  This week marked 29 years of marriage to my husband.  I have been married over half my life and there are days that I can hardly remember life "B.U. (before us)". This has been a unique year for us personally, with lots of challenges and joys and bumps and tears and smiles...and another year together.

Our years together have been anything but boring,  but as we have traveled this life together there are so many things I have learned:

Trust-That life is so much sweeter when there is one person who always has your back, that you can trust completely and in turn you learn to be that Safe Haven for your mate as well.

Faith- You may think that its "you and me against the world".  Most couples start out that way, us included.  But it didn't take very long to realize that "you and me" can't do a darn thing by ourselves.  If God isn't in the mix, it either won't last for long, or it's much harder that God intended for it to be.

Hope- The days when you can't see hope are the hardest of all. Be an encourager to your mate.  Very rare are the times when you are both discouraged, so do your best to show hope to your mate and let him or her do the same for you.  When you are both without hope, remember there is Faith. Where there is Faith there is hope and where there is hope, there should be Faith.

Nothing, no nothing is ever as bad as it seems.  There are days that are horrible, and black and bleak and dark, you think that you will never laugh or smile again, but you will! And you have really found the secret if you can laugh through your pain.  Not to minimize the hurts in anyway.  There are some things that happen to us in life that are complete "game changers" like loss of health, loss of a job or a career, loss of a loved one, a move, family discord.  It is hard to find joy when these are the things we struggle through, but Jesus told us in this life we will have struggles. How we handle them together are Historic markers along the highway we travel together.

Family comes first.  We were given each other, we are blessed beyond measure with a family.  Never forget that they come first. Jobs are important, ministry is important, people are important, but family is forever.  The way we love our families says a lot about who we are.  There is always room for improvement, forgiveness, love and grace. Teach your children to love and to give love

Joy.  Look for joy in everything. Seek laughter and peace. Living in strife and conflict is hard and thoroughly exhausting.  Laughter with loved ones is the closest to heaven we will get on this earth. Joy is not circumstantial, it is a state of being.  I have lived in both, I choose Joy!


Okay, so I have stepped into my husband's territory, I have skipped blogging and begun preaching.  But, as I mark another year of marriage, going farther away from "BU", I desire more and more time with my love. When we married, I gave him not only my hand but my heart, after all these years, I am so grateful that I did because I know that both are safe with him...

Traveling on.....