Remember

Recently I have found myself in a season of remembering- meandering down what people used to refer to as Memory Lane. Do we still use that term? Regardless, that’s where I’ve been.

It’s been a time of remembering things like what my elementary school smelled like, and my grandmother’s kitchen. Remembering the feel of that old bumpy bedspread I had in my college dorm room. Remembering the flavors of a cherry Icee and a bag of barbecue potato chips at the neighborhood pool.

I’ve also remembered words I’ve said that I wish I hadn’t, and words I never said that I wish I had.

Seven years ago, I had no choice but to slow my life down considerably. And in the past few months, I have deliberately done this. I’ve simplified my days. I’ve removed distractions that have kept me from understanding that living life to the fullest doesn’t mean cramming my moments with activity and experiences, but experiencing fully the moments that I have been given to live.

I’m thankful for these memories. And I’m thankful for all that these memories represent. Yes, today I can say that over the past seven years I have become increasingly more grateful for every moment, every memory I’m given.

The fourth commandment begins with the word, “remember.” I think that’s very significant, since the thing that commandment instructs us to remember is the very thing that we are tempted to justify forgetting. The Sabbath.

That day we are to stop. To rest. But our busy-ness addicted culture asks, “How?”

God tells us. Jesus tells us- “Learn from me… and you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s a discipline, this kind of rest is. It’s a matter of choosing to turn off the television, the computer, the phone. Choosing to sit with Him, listening carefully for Him as you pour out your thoughts to Him. And oh, yes- the soul does rest, and there is glorious peace in those moments.

Today marks seven years since I experienced an awful car accident that I shouldn’t have survived. Today, I am thankful that during these seven years my Father has shown me how precious the Sabbath He gave us is, and how precious the memories are that are stored not in my phone in pixels, but are stored in my heart.

So today, and again tomorrow, I will remember.