As I stand rolling Christmas cookies in powdered sugar, I lift my eyes and catch a glimpse of my digital picture frame on the far wall. A picture of my children appears on the screen… and then another. I watch the scenes change as my hands mindlessly pick up another cookie, roll it in sugar and place it in my grandmother’s cookie jar.
I think back to the days when my children were small . . . And when I was small, and it was my grandmother who rolled these same cookies, to fill the same blue jar. Who knew, some 40 years later, her efforts would be a cherished memory and an ongoing tradition? (He did, of course!)
I flip through the seasons of my life, the pictures clear in my head: The joys and the sorrows, the moments I’d love to relive and those for which I am grateful have passed. These varied experiences have shaped me into the woman I am today.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord….”, I think to the plaque of Jeremiah 29:11, which hangs on the wall behind me. He has known each moment: each smile and each tear. He knows when I am walking closely beside Him, and when I am running ahead or falling behind. Yet, every moment, each experience, He links perfectly to the next.
I am reminded of how He continually surrounds me with the people I need in my life – men and women who support me when I am struggling, and who challenge me to grow, and deepen my relationship with Him. I recall the women who walked beside me during my divorce, and how He has used me to walk with other women in their times of need.
I glance back to the picture frame. I see my infant daughter and my dear friend, Karen, who died several years ago. I am reminded of His presence during that time – sweet and comforting. I also remember how He taught me to better understand “Love never ends” when my father died a few months later.
He is continually teaching, and continually calling me into a better life.
Every day I live, there are new experiences; opportunities to “be still and know . . .”; opportunities to get to know Christ more and more intimately; and opportunities to live out what I have been shown.
I get to listen to His call and His instruction: “walk” or “stand”, “rest” or “do”.
I get to choose whether I will accept these opportunities . . . to be grateful . . to serve . . . to glorify Him.
For even before I knew Him, He was there . . . weaving the moments of my life into a story.
My Story.
My story of His redeeming love.
May I live it well.
“Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forward.”
~Soren Kierkegaard