The Blessings of Memories

   Wednesday, March 4th was rough this week. It wasn’t rough because we had a birthday snack that we gave to fourteen 4-5 year olds (yeah, lots of clean up and children with crazy energy after that). It wasn’t rough because I was beginning to plan for soccer next week. It was rough because a ghost haunted me. Correction, a memory haunted me. Some memories are really great: winning a game, a promotion, or getting something you worked really hard for. Others are not so great. This past Wednesday marked 1 year since my dog died.

   You know, you try to do many things to put a balm over the scars of some memories. You may try to bury it deep so you won’t remember. You may try to think of the good times you had with that thing or person. Or, you may try to move on and do good things in memory of that thing or person. I’ve tried all of these things when it comes to the memory of my dog.

   There’s a problem with trying to do all these things: they normally don’t work. I can still remember the look on his face as I called him to come to me but he couldn’t. I can remember giving him CPR to try to keep him alive. I can remember when he breathed his last breath. It still hurts. I still miss him. And, it will probably always hurt. I will probably always miss him.

   This week I was reminded about something else too. I was reminded that yes, that day I lost my dog hurt; but, I was also reminded that I had a lot of good times with my dog too. See, this week at school we were celebrating Dr. Seuss. We did a lot of fun activities like painting Lorax trees, reading Dr. Seuss books, and making Oobleck. I also look for a motivational quote for the teachers each week. This week’s quote was by Dr. Seuss. Seuss says: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”

   I mulled that quote around a lot in my mind this week. Each day I make a lot of memories. Some are more memorable than others, but I still have many memories. I have a lot of memories with my dog. Some, many people would consider good. Others, many people would consider bad. However, if this experience has taught me one thing it is that, sometimes, memories are neither good nor bad. We like to label things a lot: I had a really good day, that was a really bad burger, and so on. Maybe, instead of labeling things so much, we should just be thankful for the days we are given. Maybe we should be thankful for the memories we have. If you can remember things, it means you still have the capacity to remember things. If you cannot remember things but you are still here, it means that God has given you the gift of another day.

   We are given so many gifts. God gives us so many blessings. I think, at times, we focus too much on the negative and not the positive. We focus on the things we label bad and not the good things going on around us.

   Today, I encourage you to focus on the blessings God has given you. If you cannot do that, or if you have too many bad things happen, I want you to think about how God can use those things for good. If you are hurting over the loss of something or someone, I encourage you to remember all the memories. Remember the good and bad times. Be thankful for the blessed time you were given with that thing or person.

   Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 41:10, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18

   Image from here.