"The Here and Now, and My Memories"

     MEMORIES (good ones) are treasures!  Like the stanzas in the song 'The Way We Were' say, "MEMORIES - LIGHT the corners of my mind, Misty water-colored memories...of the way we were!" I thank God for the memories that I have (good and bad)!  There are people who, for a number of reasons, have lost, many and/or all, of their memories, and this reality serves as a reminder for me to be, grateful and thankful to God, that I still have mine, and, to choose to never take for granted that I do.  I believe that my favorite "HAPPY" memories are the births of both of my children (physically), and, whenever I got "SAVED" by Jesus (spiritually)!  I really hope that whenever I get to Heaven, I'll still have the memories (at least the "good" ones) from my days on which I've lived here on earth!  I have never done a study on this subject, nor, have I ever heard a, sermon or lesson, concerning it, however, writing this post is giving me a desire to do a little Biblical, research and studying, about it!  The enjoyment that I receive from reminiscing upon the "blessed" memories of the times of my life, encourage me to trust that God is going to give me back my, desire and motivation, to try and thoroughly enjoy life, for HIS honor and glory, once again!  The only thing that any of us really "possess" in life, is this very second, and then, whatever we choose to do with it, becomes part of our future memories!  Therefore, knowing this, "should" motivate me to live "happily" in this present moment!  But, all too often, I LET the "little foxes of life," "spoil the vine (The Song of Solomon 2:15)!"  I wish that I would develop the habit from this day forward of not letting myself do that, but rather, that I would, "go with the flow," as I did when I was younger, and unmarried!  Hehehe!!  A cherished loved one, who has some memory loss, called me this afternoon, and, as we talked, her inability to recollect memories of important historical happenings of her life, and, her repetitive stories from her life (the ones she still remembers), saddened me greatly, as they always do, these days, now that she's heading toward ninety years young, and, has Dementia.  She obsesses about the fairly recent loss of her husband (gone for approximately fourteen months) of sixty two years of marriage, and seems to still have lots of memories of their times spent together, thankfully!  However, it is obvious to me that it bothers her whenever she can't remember the things that she realizes she should.  She tries to act like it doesn't bother her, nevertheless, because I know her, I can detect that it does, and it breaks my heart!  Her remaining memories are presently priceless to her, as are the sweet memories I have of spending times with her, before the Dementia began the deterioration in her brain!  I understand that essentially, there'll probably come a time whenever all that I'll have left of "us" (her and me), will be the memories of those times that I spent with the "real her" (before and/or after she passes away)!  In actuality, I could go "home" before she does!  We all have an appointment with "Mr. Death" (Hebrews 9:27-28)!  Therefore, this is yet another reminder for me to value my present life, ALL of which it consists, and ALL of the memories that I am blessed to still possess, at this very second!  There's another song (from the 80's) with a couple of stanzas that say, "who knows what tomorrow brings, in a world few hearts survive...," and, this is true...we don't know what our tomorrow may bring, so, it makes sense to me that we should value "today!"  Like I wrote earlier in this post...basically the only things that we presently have are, number one, our memories, and number two being, this very moment in which we are living.  What I am doing right here and now, may one futuristic day be the only memory I have left, so, it makes sense to me, that it is very WISE for me to understand that, what I am doing at this present moment, is in God's will, and that, I am enjoying doing it!  My "grand angel," Chloe, arrived here about an hour ago, to spend the day with me, and, as I babysit her today, I am determined to ENJOY each and every second of our celebration of life, as we simultaneously make more beautiful memories for future enjoyment, together!  I'd watch her every day that her parents work, if, I didn't deal with chronic back pain. She's pure "JOY!!"  It is in the late afternoon now, and, her father with her little brother, Damond, just picked her up.  Before they left, my son-on-law, Terrill, and I, were talking about how difficult it is to believe that, my two oldest "grand angels" are seventeen (18 in one month) and eighteen, years old, ALREADY!  The thought of both of them being eighteen "hit me like a brick wall of surrealism," and, in my mind, reinforced everything that I have already written in this post, because, it seriously seems like Darius and Breydan were four and five years old, like maybe a year or so ago!  There's another song that says, "there's no time to waste between the cradle and the grave," and, HOW profound that truth is!  It is almost time for our annual, Summer, family vacation, where we shall make more precious memories, as we enjoy the people God has given us, and, later have those memories about which to reminisce (prayerfully)!  I cannot express how very, happy and thankful, I am that, my mother is still living, and able to go with us, again, this year (we could have lost her several times due to heart problems - this past year)!!  Let's all determine to keep on, LIVING and LOVING life, while we are making new memories to have in our "golden years!" After all, GOD gave us LIFE (even the memories of it) to honor HIM, and ENJOY, because, HE loves us (Romans 5:8)!!  Until next time...