62 - Memories

'I thank my God in all my remembrance of you...' (Philippians 1:3)

I watched a film called The Vow a while ago, and it made me realise how important memories are to us and how thankful we should be for them. Because memories play a role in shaping who we are as a person. 

For example, if I lost all my memories, I would not remember my family, the home we used to live in, the church and friends we had there. I would not remember making a new life where we live now, the wonderful church and friends we have here. I would not remember the good and bad times of life that have helped me grow and made me what I am today.

And would I even remember the God who died for me and how much I love Him? 

I don't know. It's a chilling thought.

And it makes me value the mind I have that can still retain and value those memories. Thank you God for EVERY one of them! 

61 - Photos

“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” 
― Eudora Welty

How many memories would be lost to us if we had no photos? How many faces of people gone would we forget? How many holidays would we cease to remember so fondly?

Yeah, there are those photo albums, that picture of you as a baby you would love to forget. But what if there was no way to remember you as a child? No picture to compare to your own children, say?

Thank you God for the invention of the camera, for skilled photographers, who manage to capture time in their snapshots.

Lake Annecy, France. I'd forgotten how blue the sky was that day...

60 - Home

'For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' (2 Corinthians 5:1)

 Our homes aren't the buildings we live in. They're the memories we build around those places. 
'Do you remember...?'
'Here's where...'
'What about that time...?'

Memories that can make you cry, painful connections to something lost. But good memories as well - ones that make you smile, ones that will always be precious. 

Homes are also the people we live with, feel safe and comfortable with. Family. Friends. Maybe pets for some?

If we move house, as long as these people are with us, home won't be lost. New memories will be built. 

God will never leave us. no matter where we live. 

Finally, this world is not our permanent home. The New Earth is coming - where we will live forever with our Lord. That's our true and eternal home!

Thank you God for our homes, both temporary and eternal. 

59 - Bike Rides

'The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in...' (Psalm 121:8)

Mum and I went for a bike ride this morning. Once you get past the very cold air, a bike ride on an early and sunny autumn morning is one of the most beautiful things ever. 

The sky is a deep blue. The sun is out and falls through the trees in slanting rays, lighting up the normally shady cycle path. And we come out the trees into bright, bright sunshine and we can see our breath condensing in the air.

And as we whizz down paths, under bridges, the air cold on our cheeks, I look around and think,

'How on earth can people think that such beauty happened by accident?' 

Thank you God for bike rides, and the scenery that points to you! 

58 - Appearance

'Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.' (1 Samuel 16:7)

You're in the bathroom. You look in the mirror. And what do you feel about the reflection that looks back? 

Sadly, I bet most of us find some imperfection that has to be corrected. 'My hair's frizzy.' 'I have spots.' 'I'm too fat.' 'My eyes look bloodshot.' 'I have wrinkles.' 'I should have gone to the gym more.' 

While it is true that some things are a result of a lifestyle, the point remains that we are all made in the image of God. He saw you before the foundation of the earth. He lovingly knit you together in the womb, deciding on your hair and eye colour, your height, your temperament, your character. His Son died for You. And He never judges us by the outward appearance. 

So what makes us think we have the right?

Instead, we should look in the mirror and think 'I may not be a model. But God doesn't care. He decided the way I look. He loves me the way I am so much, that His Holy Spirit actually lives within me! So who care if I have flaws? Because God will one day give me a new and perfect body, and until then, I'm content!' 

Okay, you might not think all that, especially first thing in the morning!

But the least we can manage is a simple

'Thank you God for the way I am.' 

57 - Fires in the Grate on a Cold Night

'...a charcoal fire...' (John 21:4)

(It was hard finding a Bible verse that went with this, okay? Some of the fires in the Bible aren't the warm and comforting things I'm going to write about...;)

(Disclaimer - not taken tonight. Belongs to my sister)

On a cold winter night like tonight, we are all thrilled when Dad consents to build a fire. I sit and enjoy the warmth, the sight of the flames dancing on the log, and the quiet crackles and noises it makes as I write this post. 

I'm very thankful we actually have a fireplace where we can have real fires. I've been  in houses with electric fireplaces, which work just as well, but don't create quite the same atmosphere ;)

I'm also thankful God provided the trees that give us firewood, the ground that yields its coal for our use. 

And finally, I'm thankful that we do have these cold autumn and winter nights when we can truly appreciate and be thankful for a fire. I doubt we'd appreciate them so much if it was summer all the time!

Thank you God for the simple pleasure of a warm fire!