Over the last couple of years, I've had the opportunity to travel throughout PA and learn of its history. Many of those trips involved visiting memorials. Memorials recount a person or an event that had significant meaning. Without them, much would be lost. Included in some of the museums that we visited, there were also memoirs, written by observers or that were actual autobiographical accounts.
As a child, I loved family reunions. One of the highlights was when activities were dying down, everyone would gather and share their own oral memoirs-i.e. stories of family history and events. Hearing them gave me pride, (most of the time LOL), and a sense of where I had come from-a foundation of sorts. How I wish that I had written them down because the tellers are mostly dead and many accounts have been lost.
God saw the importance of memorials and memoirs in scripture. Many times altars or memorials were built in places where sacred events took place. The Bible is a book of historical events that have brought us to where we are. Its pages give us a sense of where we come from. It is a foundation for where we are and a roadmap for where we are going. In the times in which we live, it couldn't be more valuable to me as I navigate my ever changing life.
For years I have journaled, catching my thoughts, reactions and milestones on paper. It's not the most exciting reading but perhaps someday it will give my children and their children some understanding into where they have come from and what their heritage is.
Perhaps the most telling memoir can be found in my Bible. Beside certain scriptures there are dates and a recollection of what that verse meant at the time. They are the reach-out-and-slap-you-in-the-face ones that God used to really get a message to me that I desperately needed at the time. I love that every answer I need can be found in scripture. There's nothing like God talking to you through His Word. It just grabs you on the inside and you feel your spirit gaining ground.
Those are the things we should never forget. They are the things that we go back and re-read when life is hard and we once again need a definite answer from God. They build faith and confidence to ask and receive in prayer.
Just a few I have marked are:
~the first time God spoke to me directly through his Word as a young Christian
~the day God promised this barren woman that I would become a Mamma
~the day that God told me I was getting a job that the interviewer said I wasn't getting
~several verses regarding childbirth with each child I carried including one that promised me a baby that the doctor said I lost. She goes to church with me every Sunday.
There are many, many more and each time I come upon them in my reading, I re-live the faithfulness, power, and promises of God to in my life personally. They are like candles that shone in a dark place that led me along the path of life. His Word is truly a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I love His Word. I love His voice. I love that He gives me stories to remember and pass on to the next generation.
Today I am thankful for memorials and memoirs.
As a child, I loved family reunions. One of the highlights was when activities were dying down, everyone would gather and share their own oral memoirs-i.e. stories of family history and events. Hearing them gave me pride, (most of the time LOL), and a sense of where I had come from-a foundation of sorts. How I wish that I had written them down because the tellers are mostly dead and many accounts have been lost.
God saw the importance of memorials and memoirs in scripture. Many times altars or memorials were built in places where sacred events took place. The Bible is a book of historical events that have brought us to where we are. Its pages give us a sense of where we come from. It is a foundation for where we are and a roadmap for where we are going. In the times in which we live, it couldn't be more valuable to me as I navigate my ever changing life.
For years I have journaled, catching my thoughts, reactions and milestones on paper. It's not the most exciting reading but perhaps someday it will give my children and their children some understanding into where they have come from and what their heritage is.
Perhaps the most telling memoir can be found in my Bible. Beside certain scriptures there are dates and a recollection of what that verse meant at the time. They are the reach-out-and-slap-you-in-the-face ones that God used to really get a message to me that I desperately needed at the time. I love that every answer I need can be found in scripture. There's nothing like God talking to you through His Word. It just grabs you on the inside and you feel your spirit gaining ground.
Those are the things we should never forget. They are the things that we go back and re-read when life is hard and we once again need a definite answer from God. They build faith and confidence to ask and receive in prayer.
Just a few I have marked are:
~the first time God spoke to me directly through his Word as a young Christian
~the day God promised this barren woman that I would become a Mamma
~the day that God told me I was getting a job that the interviewer said I wasn't getting
~several verses regarding childbirth with each child I carried including one that promised me a baby that the doctor said I lost. She goes to church with me every Sunday.
There are many, many more and each time I come upon them in my reading, I re-live the faithfulness, power, and promises of God to in my life personally. They are like candles that shone in a dark place that led me along the path of life. His Word is truly a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I love His Word. I love His voice. I love that He gives me stories to remember and pass on to the next generation.
Today I am thankful for memorials and memoirs.
RSS Feed
