remember

Jul 9

REMEMBER//- (verb) the act of bringing to one’s mind an awareness of(someone or something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past)

It’s funny how two people, at the same place and time, can recall a moment totally different. How we perceive things can sound like two totally different experiences despite both sharing the same place in time. What they remember doesn’t sound remotely the same.

We went and lived in a treehouse last summer for a week. The location was beautiful-Swiss Family Robinson-ish with the conveniences of air conditioning, running water, and a cute grocery store less than 30 minutes away-let’s be honest, I’m not Girl Scout material.

Each member of our family remembers the vacation so differently that you’d wonder if we actually were all at the same place.

One child remembers the heat. Alabama in July can be buggy humid. One child remembers lounging in a hammock each evening while crickets sang. Another remembers the stomach bug that swept through us and the orange vitamin water we slowly sipped while watching a movie marathon. Still another remembers learning about arthropods under trees with strung lights illuminating the night.

But me? I remember this cross. Whatever window I looked out, whatever adventure I would trek on this acreage, this cross was always in sight. I’d been feeling like God was leading me to share words and experiences, but hesitancy is a gentle word word for the resistance I felt.

In a fleece-like ultimatum, I had told God the week before that I needed an unmistakable sign that it was time to start sharing writing-despite my unqualified feelings. I’ll admit it wasn’t very spiritual to ask for another sign again. God, though, knows I feel this trepidation.

God is gracious despite my feelings and He gave me a cross. No matter where I was that week, there was a cross-even when I was lounging in an air conditioned tree. Despite heat and bugs and a stomach virus, the cross stood firm. When I barked at Him with fear, He still heard me, He was still there, He didn’t forget me, He didn’t leave me.