A Decade of Memories | Write Them and Remember Them
Yesterday morning I was pondering all that this last decade blessed us with:
Helping those in sex trafficking (2010)
Dreaming big for a storefront photography studio (2012)
The story of our current home (2012)
Transitioning to homeschooling (2014)
Purchasing a space for my photography studio (2015)
Choosing to adopt (2015)
Bringing Tristan home (2017)
Jerry is blessed with a new and amazing job
Career Transition (2018)
Speaking (2019)
Writing path (2019)
And there are sooooooooooooooooo many more things within those dots that if I had time to write about them all, it would take another decade to do so.
But as I sat down for my quiet time yesterday, a little melancholied at the thought of getting back into the grind of our daily “to do’s,” I began to write down some of these things. Remembering, writing, and thanking God for every single one of these above dots. Because in true reality, when I look back, these things that took place were NOT my doing at all, but God’s prompting and our listening and following His guidance.
It is so easy to look at blessings and think they are by your own doing. Or to say, “Wow! Look at all that I have created…” That is exactly what the devil would like you to believe. That YOU created YOUR path. That YOU are in charge of YOUR future. But if we profess to be Christians. If we choose to bare that title, it is God who directs our paths, guides our feet, and is the captain of our lives. And it is us who choose to follow.
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. - Proverbs 16:9
Writing down and remembering the blessings God has bestowed on our lives also helps us to remember His goodness in our lives. It is easy to forget and easy to think that blessings are because of our own doing. We see this over, and over, and over again by the Israelites. They forgot and they didn’t remember what God had done.
Heading into a New Year and especially a new decade, people often want to forget what the previous year or decade had brought. They want to move on. And while there are things we definitely need to let go of and move on from, it is also critical for us to remember the blessings that took place as well, even if it was through tragedy. God is not absent even in the midst of pain. He is ever present.
So as we close out this decade, take some time to look back and thank God for ALL that HE has done in these past 10 years. Find a quiet spot and write down the blessings, open doors, God-divined moments that cannot be explained by human hands or your own doing. Write them down and remember them. Not just for your sake, but to show your children and remember all that God has done in your life.
Happy New Year!
