Remembering (12/09/2024)

This morning as I whisked from my porch to my desk, I passed by the snowman and smiled. I remembered its maker, Karla Fowler. I remembered the year she gave it to me for my home decorations during Christmas. I remembered our friendship and all that it meant to me then and now. I remembered how the LORD graced us through that relationship. Remembering is one of the great gifts of life.

Do you have reminders in your life like this snowman? Are there reminders surrounding you of the gift of relationship? Advent is a time of preparation, and memories of loved ones and loving relationships prime our hearts, massage our memories, and open us up to the wonders of this world in our LORD. Our lives have never been about what surrounds us but rather who surrounds us and key among them is our LORD “in whom we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

Advent is about preparing for the coming of our Redeemer, celebrating His coming over two millenniums ago and anticipating His coming again. It’s a time marked by our working on our relationship with our LORD, Jesus Christ, and we recognize Him in our loving relationships with others. Advent highlights the role of love in our lives, our world. There would be no Christmas without love. There would be no Easter without love. There would be no me without love. There would be no you. We and our world were created from love, through love, and in love for love. We were created in relationship and our lives are about coming to appreciate and working to perfect those relationships: We shall love our LORD with our whole being and we shall love our neighbor as ourselves.

And remembering helps us: remembering those who love us, remembering those whom we have loved, remembering our LORD who loves us always and everywhere.

Today as we go about our day, let us stop and remember when we spot a reminder of a relationship, a gift from another, a memento from a moment with another. Let us give thanks for the loving relationships we have had with others and above all with our LORD. It’s all about relationships.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.