Blessings of Memories

 Looking back is an interesting experience. It stirs upon deep feelings of sometimes nostalgia and memories of God's hand and grace at work. Looking at 'old' photos wasn't so much old but feeling that much time has passed even if just 3 years' worth. 

The simple things come to me as special, the routine, even sometimes the rut in what I was going through, the hard and raw parts, the stirrings on my heart, my program and all the work involved, the students I was helping at my job, and time with my dear sisters and driving to Fairfield to visit, to babysit, sleep overs, and for quality time. 

I would often look to the future or at least think about it and often wonder what it would look like, how would things unfold? I was wrapped up in others' lives sometimes, but also my own and the present moment and making the best of it even when I didn't love everything about it. 

I recently reread an email my sister wrote August 2018and sent to me 3 years after she wrote it to the exact day. It was everything I needed to hear as I was going through the same thing she was at that time and her words were so comforting. I read it while I was making my lunch the evening before the first day of the school year. It would be another year at my same job, and feeling like I was walking on parched ground. My younger brother had just gotten engaged, and I was trying to embrace this new season and feeling like everything was staying the same yet also a new level of hard. I was growing a lot amidst the ordinary and it was very humbling. 

That time is seen as more sweet than bitter now looking back. It taught me a lot. There were simple and ordinary days mostly even if things were starting to change post Covid closures. There was a sense of peace I was on the right page despite the unknown. God had it all under control. It was a grace filled and beautiful time. 

Nov. 2021 With my Uncle and Mom; Uncle and nephew's birthday party