"Remembering frames up gratitude"

Wondering why quotation marks frame the name of this post?

The words are not mine.  They are Ann Voscamp's.  However, they are some of those 'jump right off the page' words for me.  In the same chapter of Voscamp's, One Thousand Gifts Devotional, I read "Gratitude is not only the memories of our heart, gratitude is a memory of God's heart.”

I am plagued with memory.  Good and bad.  My mind goes back to something that happened - and I am either sad or glad.

Many years ago, I learned that it is important to give thanks in everything - to be grateful.

This is not always easy.  There have been difficult times. In 1977 a little boy was born and the circumstances around his birth and the first year of his life make me cringe all these years later.  And who could have imagined that I would be divorced before I was 36 - not to mention becoming a widow when I was 52.  Oh, and then, there's that granddaughter with a life altering illness, some career changes that were difficult.

I guess if I chose to I could find lots of situations that gave me cause for pause.

Other times have been absolutely delightful.  That little boy is all grown up, successful as a man, husband, and father.  His older sisters and he serve God in various ways.  I have six other grandchildren who I am crazy about and scores of friends.  And I have two earning opportunities that I enjoy.

All of this - good and bad - are a part of God's plan for me.  It is my firm belief that nothing happened to me except by design - God's design.

Do I seem like a Pollyanna?  That’s okay because I am a Pollyanna. I always believe it's going to work - that is after I fret and stew about it for a few hours, days, weeks and yes, sometimes months.

Some years ago, I began the practice of thanking God for little things - finding a parking place, my keys or cell phone, my way home on a dark and rainy night.  Hum, that might be a big thing.

I do not always enjoy memory.  Somehow it makes me appear to be living in the past when I say, "I remember when. . .".  However, I just read a G. K. Chesterton quote that encourages me:

"The greatest of poems is an inventory".  Voscamp calls that making a ledger of God’s love for her.

Life is "the good, the bad, the ugly".  The good memories, the bad memories and yes even those that make me think "how could I have ever done that?” all merge together – my past, my present, and yes, even my future.

So rather than say I am plagued with memory - I think my words should be I am blessed with memory.  I hope I never lose that!

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows