I know when you look at me you see a short, wrinkled, white haired lady, but I am far more than flesh and bones. I am a composite of hundreds of stories and so are you. Life is an accumulation of stories, some sad but many of them with contented moments.
One advantage of being “long in the tooth”…where did that expression come from?…is that the list of stories goes way, way back. Take a moment and think of your first memory, then move up through the years. It is a fascinating adventure, seeing what has truly impacted on your life…and it usually isn’t the big events. Oh yes, a wedding, the birth of your babies and your new house…the list goes on, are all wonderful but the little things often light up your life.
It still astounds me that at the age of seven I realized that words make stories. I can still see the desk I was sitting in…my feet not nearly touching the floor, the book in front of me and the room with Aa Bb Cc Dd etc. printed in block letters at the top of the blackboard. That moment is still so precious to me…words, words, like the pallet in a artist’ box, words that could be painted across the page, telling a story. WOW! who was to know that it would be almost 80 years later that I would be sitting in front of a computer screen reading my e-mails and writing this to you.
To those who are waiting for their dreams to come true, take heart!
An example is that nasty kid in Grade 9, who teased me and told me my new dress looked like curtain material. Who would have known we would marry seven years later and have fifty-four wonderful years together. Doesn’t God’s plans just blow your mind?
And who could have known when I sang that first solo in church,”Can a little child like me” that it would mark the beginning of decades of singing in churches.
Because of our Travel agency I was able to see so much of the world and yet it is not those fascinating sights that invade my memory now, rather it is the smaller things…bending over my tiny daughter, whispering good night and her little hand reaching up to touch the glittering sparkles I had put in my hair.(We were going to a fancy-dress event).
Or, watching my youngest do the broad-jump at a high school tract meet, reminding me of all the cheer-leading I had done years before. There was so much joy in flying through the air. It was a moment I could relate to very well.
Yes, so many moments, but one stands out very strong…it was the moment I sat Bible in hand and felt God’s presence in my bedroom. We had always been in touch in a less personal way but that moment I will never forget…it has guided every step I have taken since…and I was only twelve years old.