It seems this past year has been spent cleaning out closets and relocating for so many people. Ande, the kids and I spent a lot of time cleaning out the farm house and found an abundance of treasures... the china plates that Ande's grandfather gave his mother when she got married, lots of Ande's high school momentos. My mother in law is a keeper of all things (okay, she is a professed hoarder, but we love her).
We spent time going through our own things. "Downsizing", maybe not the extent that I would be comfortable moving with the military but we did get rid of a lot of things that we didn't love.
Then since I have been here in Florida my grandmother relocated from a condo that she has lived in for over 15 years to an assisted living facility to help her deal day to day with her Alzheimer's.
I have looked through closets, found photos in the strangest of places and have come to realize what the true treasures are to me. I have forewarned my parents that they need to start going through their stuff to save me from having to do it. Start putting stickers on the bottom of things so that when it comes time I know who to give them to. Or if I can just sell them to the higher bidder. I am not a collector, I am a thrower awayer. However, there have been a few things that I have found that I will treasure forever.
1. The cake topper that sat atop my grandparents cake the day they got married in 1970.
2. The China platters that my mother in law's father gave her when she got married more than 50 years ago.
3. My grandmothers numerous bibles with her own handwriting making note of the revelations that she herself received.
I am a firm believer in writing in my bibles. I have begun to write the year in the front of the bible, I tend to get a new one every year or two and I love to scribble in the margins, revelations, thoughts, quick find tabs. I want my kids, my grandkids to have the greatest treasure that I can give them. The conversations that I had with my God. The one I have used since being here in Florida has a lot of great notes in it in just a short period of time. I list prayer requests in the blank pages in the back. My kids and I have spent this time reading one book of the bible at a time... We have had some great thoughts that I have scribbled in there.
It is my hope that these are my legacy. That when I have gone on to worship Jesus that my kids can look at my handwriting and feel my heart, and my love for them. That they will be encouraged to run a good race, that they will know that they are loved and that they are blessed.
From my Grandmother's "The Power of a Praying Woman" Prayer Journal...
Lord, I know your thoughts toward me are of peace, to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). I know that You have saved me and called me with a holy calling, not according to my works, but according to Your own purpose and grace (2 Timothy 1:9). I humble myself under Your might hand, O God, knowing that you will life me up in due time. I cast all my care upon You, knowing that You care for me and will not let me fall (1 Peter 5:6-7) I want to walk with You today into the future You have for me.
She has that entire passage in brackets and underlined the key words to her. On the opposing page she writes: "And a voice SAID: Do not concern yourself Micki, God will take care of you! The voice called me Micki, by name, So God not only knows me by my given name Hilda, but He also knows me as Micki."
The greatest gift I can ever give my kids isn't a closet full of shoes, or a stack of books that I have read. The greatest gift I can give them, is the words of my God, in my own words - my own handwriting.
Makes you want to get your pen doesn't it?
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