Things that are important.

A recent view from my home.

Things that happen in life, make us take time to reflect, to look with awe on the life we've already lived, the memories we have already stored up for the future. Today, I went to a memorial for a friend. We all have people in our lives, who leave our lives. We will eventually leave the lives we love, those we love. And it is today that makes what tomorrow will become.

We laugh, we love, we remember those things that we cherished, even those things that hurt us, that stretched us beyond what we think we can endure. But in the end, if we don't waste what we are given, we will have it in the future. We will have that memory that was for a time buried, but in the right moment, returns to us.
In the day I spent, I saw friends I haven't seen for 30 years. We laughed and talked about things that I was surprised to remember, after those same people reminded me. I've thought about that all day, that it takes people in our lives, it takes lives spent, it takes vulnerability to be ourselves, to be real, to be able to come back and re-experience things that we are actually surprised to find are still hidden away in our memories. I've come to the conclusion, that we are truly blessed, to live our lives. To spend them, to even waste them at times. I laughed with friends, telling them, that OK, let's forget that little space of time when I lived that way. Can we just jump ahead to a time when I learned from that mistake? And laugh I did. No, we don't all have the very same lives. I laughed to myself, that some of my friends probably drove a car to the memorial, that was something I would have loved to drive. But that's OK, it really isn't important. It isn't important how much we aquire, what is important, that we are loved. That we love. I came home to a husband working in the yard with the kids. I came home to a husband that was explaining to our 10 year old twin boys, that yes, they have to work hard today, but that they aren't always asked to work that hard. He went on to tell them that hard work is a very good thing for them. That he actually hadn't ever had to advertise that he is a carpenter, that he can build a good house. That people see if we are good workers, that we do a good job, and that our integrity will be our advertising. He went on to tell them that we do what we can to please our Lord, He will provide everything we need. We may be tested, but He will bring us through. And so I thought, no, I don't drive the nicest car, I don't have all the nicest things money can buy, but I have love, and I have the privilege to live a life, to even make mistakes along the way, but in the end, to come out thankful that we had the chance to make those memories, to experience that love that came our way.