The recent Colorado fires have caused me once again to
reevaluate what’s important in my life. I don’t mean relationships (that’s a
given), but rather “stuff”. What “stuff” do I have in my home that I feel like
I can’t live without?
Over and over, those who were evacuated from their homes
said, when told they had little time to evacuate, they grabbed their photographs
first. I think that’s what I would take, too.
Before you give me too much credit,
understand that I love my stuff as much as the next person. But, photos are a
visual reminder of memories; a visual reminder of happy birthdays, joyful
weddings, fun school days, special events. Now that we can even take pictures
on our cell phones we have instant “memories” that we can share with others. My
cell phone is filled with pictures of my grandchildren, and I can instantly scroll
through to ooh and ah, and relive the occasions on which the photos were
taken. Basically, photos are a visual reminder of relationships, aren’t they?
All this contemplation made me think about the visual
reminders that are all around me of my relationship with God – my family,
friends, nature, and more. What about you? What are your visual reminders of
God’s love and His relationship with you?
Please share and leave a comment. I'd like to hear what you think.
3 comments:
Hey Mary! I was thinking about your reevaluation. In case of fire, I would save my wife, Juanita(a relationship), and my Bible with decades of notes(another relationship). Then, my 3 pets(horizontal relationship), and my computer(with countless pics & devotional thoughts) or at least a flash drive storage. Of course all our stuff will go up in smoke after we're gone, during the Tribulation. So, I think we need to send our "treasures" on ahead, "do our giving while we're living, so we'll be knowing where it's going" Thanks! Bob & Juanita
I love your comments, Bob, thank you. I think some people would have a hard time understanding how a Bible that one has had for a long time can be termed "a relationship", yet that is exactly what it is. Scripture is how we know more about our Savior (a relationship). Sometimes the notes in our Bibles represent relationships we've had in the past with teachers, preachers, and mentors. Jesus was such a great example of relationships, wasn't He?
Well Mary, since we actually had to do this, (our house was in a wildfire in 1999 and we had 20 seconds to evacuate), we left with my purse which had my ID, backup tapes for my computer, Marshall's wallet, the clothes on our backs, our car and our lives. We prayed for a hedge of protection around our house before we left, and God spared our house, and the hedges around our house, although other houses near us were burned to the foundation. At 1500 degrees with a 45 mile an hour fire wind, concrete, block and steel can melt, which 45 houses in the neighborhood did. Fortunately, no one was killed. As we were leaving, I thought of Job and said the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the Name of the Lord. Our hearts go out to all those affected by wildfires and other natural disasters. Lives and souls are so much more important than material possessions and fortunately, that experience was the closest thing to truly knowing what HELL is like and praise God that we accepted HIM and we won't EVER be there!
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