Precious Memories

Precious memories, how they linger. Old Gospel Song

Mom reading Bible stories to us kids... Dad pitching the ball to me... sledding down the hill in our back yard... sitting in Santa's lap... Tonka trucks... tinker toys... my dog Snuffy... bright yellow raincoats and shiny black galoshes... my Lost in Space lunchbox... boxing gloves for Christmas and my older brother using them on me... my little sister with her orange tiger cup dipping a drink out of the commode... Saturday night baths... Sunday suits... Granny's slider swing... coke with pure cane sugar...

Playing catch with my son... reading books to my girls... holding hands with my sweetheart... kissing my sweetheart in her new wedding dress in front of a church house filled with family and complete strangers... teaching my kids wicked post moves and mad crossover dribbles... being at worship every time the church house doors were open... singing "Precious Memories" with my friends - many of whom have passed on...

We all have precious memories that take us back to simpler times. We get so busy, so distracted with the everyday occurrences that we sometimes forget what we are here for. So, what are we here for? Is it just to have a few scattered moments of peace and joy that we can look back on so that our lives don't feel so empty? Is it to accumulate money for retirement? Is it to win the rat race?

No...

It's to serve God and Christ. This sounds too simple, I know, but that's the big picture and we would do well to keep it in view. There is a type of tyranny of the inconsequential that dominates our lives. It says we must be here, we must do this or that, we must acquire these things, we must be at this function or that event - and we fritter our lives away!

It is when we give our lives over to God's purpose that we really begin to live. It's not that all of life's little demands will go away the moment that we truly decide to serve God - it's just that they will shrink back to their normal size: Little. When we regain a proper perspective on life, we free ourselves from the unimportant. Then, we can take a break from our hectic lives, from time to time, and revel in our precious memories... like slurping on a homemade popsickle... strolling into a candy store with money in our pockets... walking by the lake with granddad... 

 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus, as recorded in John 10:10, NKJV