Memories. They often begin by looking through life’s lenses.
My mind drifts back to my childhood, growing up on a farm. Cool spring days, heading out with my daddy to check on the tobacco fields, and early mornings with delicious smells wafting through the house as Mama prepared the daily meals.
Many of my memories have been a joyful place, like looking in a scrapbook and finding those smiles staring back from a scene that makes me happy. Most of us have those memories locked safely away. Every time we recall one, we feel as if we have looked through a camera’s lens—focusing on people, places, and things that take us to a happy time and place.
But what do we do when our happy memories become fewer than the sad ones that take over and cloud our happy? These new memories that hurt so much, yet ones we must remember because we cannot bear life without some memory of that time, place, or person.
How can I be thankful for sad times? I wonder. How can I be grateful for the day I knew I would never see my husband again on this side of heaven? With so much pain in my heart and grief such as I had never known, I cried to God and begged Him to hold me and help me find the memories I needed to make it from day to day.
Sometimes, we lose that person who completes us—a best friend, a child, or someone or something that has been a part of our life so long we can’t fathom what a memory looks like without them.
These terribly sad seasons of life are real and life-changing. They are a part of our lives we will never forget. I am learning through this season that God is the only one who can help me see my memories in a new way through my life’s lens. I ask Him to give me the ability to be thankful for every moment lived, every moment shared, and every moment celebrated.
Remembering is a part of our life’s journey. Thank God for every memory and a new way of seeing through your life’s lens.
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
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Vickie Ward is a writer.