REMEMBER THE GOOD
I had a really awesome time
this past Sunday, just sitting and reflecting on some of the great times I had
at my grandma and grandpa’s house. It was such a delight and did good for my
heart. Those wonderful times we all remember, were a blessing from the Lord,
and recalling them brings 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 wonderful loving people, through animals, through
sunrises and sunsets, through many aspects of the natural world He created.
When we
open our eyes and our hearts to Him, there’s many amazing and wonderful works He’s
already done for us, things that we can get pleasure from if we will remember.
Psalm
77:11 says, “I will remember the
works of the Lord: surely I will
remember thy wonders of old.”
So I was sitting quietly
on Sunday and began to reflect and write this memory: “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 cool cellar below ground and
the small round trailer 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 the apricot, fig and orange trees. 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
You CAN . . . See + READ .
. . some CHAPTERS == IN my NEW book *
*** * WINGS: Journey with Jesus.
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