Dear Reader:
Yesterday I got bogged down with memories as I was separating old photos and placing them in different zip-lock bags with each child’s name on it. I knew I would….that part of the de-cluttering takes the longest because it means the most.
Some pictures made me stop and wonder about the last time when…I think maybe God protects us by a temporary loss of memory when it comes to the moments in the past with loved ones that ceased without fanfare. They just stopped one day and we simply didn’t realize that would be the last time when.
When was the last night that I read a bedtime story to my children, as a group, or the last one at home? What day was the last day that I got all the children ready for the first day of school…nervous and excited? When was the last day we all lived under the same roof sharing life experiences together?
These precious moments passed and faded far away back into the recesses of our memories to make room for new memories. The first lesson we learn in de-cluttering is to never add anything without taking something else away.
I think this theory applies to our own personal memories and God’s tactics for helping us move on in life and not get bogged down as each new stage of life develops during each day of our journey. God wants us to learn from the past, but not to get stuck in it.
We must always remind ourselves that some event or incident, no matter how precious, is never the end…it just ceases in order to give us room for new possibilities to explore and fulfill our lives.
I hope you love this poem as much as I did when I found it yesterday. It is a keeper…one I will add to my (always keep) zip-lock bag of memoirs. Pictures that remind me of “The Last Time When”…
So until tomorrow…Fill in the names of your loved ones whose voices you would love to hear again…my list is long.
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
Our wonderful Jo Dufford added her wit to the “imaginary conversation in heaven between God and St. Francis”…adorable..like Jo.
Thanks for bringing a chuckle from deep inside and putting a smile on my face today. God knows everything, and I shouldn’t presume to know how God feels. But when I see the many things, humorous and otherwise, we do that make no sense, I can just picture Him shaking His head and saying, “I really thought ‘free will’ was a great gift.”
My response to Jo!
YOU are too funny! “Free Will” is a slippery slope….we know how God must feel when we sigh at our children and impatiently say, “Just forget it…I’ll do it myself!”
* I don’t think I will ever fly again and look down at the green rectangles of land below without remembering this funny “conversation.”
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
Good morning, Becky!
Loved the blog today! The poem was “spot-on.” There are so many times when it was “the last time” that we never ever realized, and the poem brought tears to my eyes.
Your task of separating photos to put into different baggies for each child is a “chore” I know I need to do as well, but I just don’t want to do it, and I know that’s selfish of me to feel that way. I will be encouraging you from the sidelines to continue this task. It IS a great feeling of accomplishment when you clear clutter and “stuff” from your life – both physically and mentally!
Have a great weekend!
Much love,
Sis
Believe me I didn’t want to do it either…but I couldn’t bring myself to just toss those visual memories…and I sure couldn’t go back and do and re-do old scrapbooks….no way Hose…so this was the only way I felt I could get a handle on the old photos dilemma.I will end up having several zip lock bags for each “child.”
Such a heart touching poem, Becky… The last times, are indeed difficult to let go but we need to move on with new memories… I still can’t stop crying… Thanks for sharing…
We have to keep telling ourselves that every ending is just a new beginning.
There have been so many times in my life when I wondered that…when. my Mother grew older and I would go to visit and I would kiss her and tell her bye. ..then when the time came and I was with her for a week but I had to leave to go get Fred and my sister called me to tell me she was in Glory I just fell apart. I had not she’d one tear as I sat my her bed that week but when I heard she passed an out 10 minutes after we left I just wailed …not because she wasn’t ready or me either…but simply because I knew it was the last time I woukd go to check on my Mother.
Oh Gin-g that brings tears to my eyes…that is why I have had such a tough time returning to the Presbyterian Village because when mother got pneumonia and died suddenly…I knew I would never run over there again or push the wheel chair around the pond for her to see the ducks…the memories…even after all these years still overwhelm me.