REMEMBER THE GOOD
I was thinking about the great times I had at my grandma and
grandpa’s house. It was such a delight and was good for my heart. Those
wonderful times we remember are a blessing from the Lord, and recalling them can
bring a sweetness to our souls.
Psalm 11:4 says: “He hath made his wonderful works to
be remembered: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” God’s
love and compassion is shown to us by a variety of His works: through sunrises
and sunsets, through many aspects of the natural world, through good times with
friends or family, through quiet times alone, and in so many other ways.
When we open our eyes and our hearts to Him, there are many
amazing and wonderful works He’s already done for us, things that we can get
pleasure from by just remembering them.
Psalm 77:11 says: “I will remember the works of the
Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”
In bringing to mind some of the good times with my grandparents, I
decided to write them down in some detail, and in doing so, it made me smile
even more: “Some of my best memories are of gramma and grandpa’s house in
Bakersfield, California. Many summer nights were spent sitting restfully under
the grapefruit tree, while the blue neon-winged junebugs buzzed as they hit and
clung to the screen door on the porch. That grapefruit tree was huge and
widespread, giving shade to all of us, (sometimes seven, sometimes 16), seated
comfortably on bouncing green metal chairs. It was delightful, about 70 degrees
I imagine, just perfect.
The fence around the property was thin twisted metal wire, somewhat
protective, decorative and a nice complement to the freshly cut green grass. I
loved that house. Everything was intriguing to me at eight years old, including
the small round RV parked under the wooden shelter. My sister and I would make
mud pies and entertain ourselves at the tiny kitchen table in the trailer.
There was a drinking fountain outside the trailer that shot way over the basin
and onto the brick patio. Half the fun was trying to control the water and retrieve
it to use for our mud pies.
The grapevine trellis: No one ate the grapes as far as I remember,
but it provided a wonderfully cool resting spot for Midnight, the cat, when he
wanted to watch me and grandma hanging laundry out on the line. Midnight and I
had a special connection of a love, unspoken. I also loved climbing in the
apricot and orange trees. In the fall, we would pile up the leaves under the
trees and run and jump into them. My grandma had an orange juice squeezer made
of porcelain, just big enough to put half an orange on and twist until the
small gutter was full of fresh orange juice. I don’t know if I’ve tasted juice
that good in over 50 years, but I’d know it’s distinctive bite if I did, for
sure.
The fern on the front porch was spectacular: delicate and
dangerous! Who could fathom such a conundrum? A soft feathery fern, with very
sharp thorns on the long stems. But it was grandma and grandpa’s house after
all: mysteries at every corner. I loved it, always an adventure. We’d take
trips to the desert to dig up shark’s teeth from long ago, and my grandma would
pick up interesting rocks and sticks that looked like birds or animals or other
familiar things she thought they looked like.
We had all kinds of adventures but one of my favorite’s was Sunday
school. I loved the stories of Jesus and I especially like the crafts we did to
re-emphasize the story and make them stick in my eight-year-old mind. My
grandma was the teacher and I remember the small wooden chairs with metal arms
as we sat around a big rectangular maple-colored table, me being enthralled by
the Bible stories. Then when I got to sit next to my grandma at the adult
church, I sang very quietly so I could listen to her. She had the most
beautiful voice. I thought she must sound like an angel.”
Those of you who have children or grandkids, I urge you to make
your experience and influence on them as memorable as mine was. These wonderful
acts don’t go unnoticed, believe me. They are such a wonderful secret gift,
never even forgotten by God Himself!
Love, Carolyn
I put out two blogs a week, one on Wednesday
and one on Sunday. And If you like books, I have several available on Amazon
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