Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“If we discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all we wanted to say, every telephone would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that ‘they loved them.’”
Christopher Morley
This morning’s coffee was special for a number of reasons. First, it was a gift from my Bride—Wintry Blend—which she happened to find in a new store in town. Secondly, it was good, and reminded me once again of the season of Christmas we have been in the midst of, one more time. I probably wouldn’t have selected it myself—usually leaning toward choosing one of those with which I am more familiar—but Lynda is always looking for something out of the ordinary she hopes will be a blessing for me.
The coffee blend she took with us to Highlands last week was one that was a gift to us from some dear friends—Pumpkin Spice. It helped to make the week in North Carolina even more special than it usually is, and this week was especially beyond compare.
For it was during this past week that we also took our two granddaughters with us to the mountains of North Carolina; a week encompassing our New Year’s celebration and their Mimi’s birthday. And like the coffees provided me of late, nothing was ordinary about this past week and the blessing of spending it with our granddaughters in the mountains. It will be a trip and a time with our two precious girls, forever etched in the most sacred of our memories.
Memories of a lifetime, made in the simplest of moments with loved ones, never to be enjoyed just that way again. I don’t mean to sound melodramatic in making that comment, but the truth of the matter is—as we move out of yet another year and into a brand new year—that we don’t know how many more of the moments set before us each day we will have.
It’s one of the reasons we all watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” last night—in the original classic black and white version. The movie that helps us all realize anew that the life we have been given by the God who created it all will make a difference that no one else can in the lives of all those around us. Each of our lives is a sacred gift that is intended to make an eternal difference in the lives of those around us while we are here and for all eternity.
We could tell that the movie had an impact on the girls, as we expected it would, helping them to realize the moments of impact each life has in this world in the short time-frame in which we have all been given. We could tell and they could tell.
The moments we share are once-in-a-lifetime. And the memories made in those moments will remain woven in our hearts forever. Memories made during sacred times with those we love, that will fill page-after-page of the journal of our lives. Memories made that make an eternal difference in our lives, the lives of those close to us, and the lives of those others with whom God causes us to come into contact each day. What will those memories be?
Today is the first Monday of a brand new year—2013. I wonder what we will choose to do this year to fill the pages of each of its days. I wonder how many pictures we will record of times spent with those we love—while we still have the time to record them.
I wonder if the pages of this year will reflect the eternal significance of the times spent with those we love, or the temporal successes of a society bent on achievement and the accumulation of things at the expense of those we love.
The choice for either outcome is ours.
The choices we make this next year in how we spend our time, and with whom we will spend it, will determine the memories we will make and what the pages of the journey of our 2013 will look like.
Perhaps they will be memories both ordinary and out of the ordinary, sacred memories with loved ones to be forever etched in our hearts. I suspect that is the way God intended it to be.
Just something for each of us to think about today, tomorrow and everyday as we fill the pages of this brand new year.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2013. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
