KEEPING MEMORIES ALIVE

It's always hard when we lose a love one.  I remember when I lost my mother.  We lived in Ignacio, Colorado.  I had two small babies.  Lisa was six months old and Joshua was a little more than two.  It was my concern that my children would never really know who and what their grandmother was like.  It broke my heart that they would never be able to go to her house for the weekend and spend time with her.  Even though she was gone, she was still a very huge part of me.  I would always remember her, but I also wanted her to be a huge part of them.

We lived twelve hours from both our parents, brothers and sisters.  We wanted our children to know our families even though they were not with them; so I began a ritual.  Each day after breakfast was done we would read books together.  Josh was not quite one when we began to do this.  Each day after reading a book together we would get the picture album and I would flip the pages and tell him who all the people were.  He soon learned to talk and as I flipped the pages he would tell me who they were. 

Josh always loved it when he came to Aunt Kathy's picture.  He really didn't know that much about her but there was something about her picture that he liked.  I would tell him things about the people in the picture.  I would tell him what kind of dogs they had, if they had taken a trip, what their kid's names were and anything I could think of to tell him.

When we made the trip to Andrews and Seagraves, Texas where our families lived, I was pleasantly surprised.  When we walked into the house Joshua instantly knew the people in the room.  When we got to Andrews he found Kathy and told her what her name was.  He conversed with her as if he had known her forever.  I soon realized that those pictures and stories were the very thing that kept the memory of my family and Steve's family alive in my children's heart even though they lived twelve hours away. 

My children and grand babies are all in the Dallas area and I am blessed to have a daughter-in-law that keeps the memory of her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins alive in her children's lives.  She will Skype or Facetime with us anytime we ask.  They have always made sure to keep the memories alive. 

The Lord knew what we needed to keep him alive in our hearts.  I have never seen God, never touched him, nor have I ever heard his audible voice; yet I know who God is.

How do I know who God is?  When I was just a small child, my mother and father would sit me in their lap and tell me about God.  When I visited my granny and pops, my grandmother sang songs about him and spoke of him as if he lived next door.  They would tell me all the wonderful things he has done for us.  As I grew older they continued to tell me about my creator and his love for his creation.  It is very easy for me to know who God is by the things I was taught.  Keeping the memory of the Lord alive for future generations is important.  This will help others know him even though they can't see or touch him.  They will still know that he is God.  He is our Father.

DEUTERONOMY 6: 5-13

 

And thou shalt love the LORD

thy God with all thine heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day,

shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,

 and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,

 and when thou walkest by the way,

and when thou liest down,

and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,

and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,

and on thy gates.
And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall

have brought thee into the land which he sware

unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,

to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
And houses full of all good things,

which thou filledst not, and wells digged,

which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees,

which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out

of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him,

and shalt swear by his name.