Don’t forget.

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Margaret

A while ago Louisa and Birgitta were in reminiscing mode, harkening back to childhood and a certain Disney video they both remembered well. Since it had to do with Christmas, they decided to hunt for it in the basement, hoping to watch it.

They found it among the old VHS tapes: “A Walt Disney Christmas,” 6 classic cartoons from the 1930’s and 1940’s. I watched the girls as they watched the tape, enjoying their expressions and comments:

“Oh, I remember that skating couple when the ice cracked! Remember the poor children at the orphanage? And the stocking with the hole in it?”

As their favorite scenes appeared, they tried to recall how old they were when they’d memorized the details: the color of the ice, the lace on the pantaloons, the glow of a Christmas tree. All of it occurred for them more than half a lifetime ago.

Looking back at happy times is fun. It can also be instructive, and God wants us to make a practice of it. In the Old Testament he says, “Remember what the Lord did to Pharaoh and to Egypt. Remember how the Lord led you in the wilderness. Remember that the Lord redeemed you. Remember the days of old. Remember all the wonders he has done. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome. Remember the Lord’s great mercy and love.”

On and on his training-in-remembering goes as he coaxes us to look back. If he did great things for us “then,” he can do the great things “now.” His desire is for us to focus on his past capabilities rather than our circumstantial difficulties. When things aren’t going well, we tend to quickly slip into despair rather than count on him to come through, and reminding us of past victories is his way of lifting our sagging spirits.

Even better than our look back, though, is his: he never needs remembrance-prompting because he never forgets. When he makes a promise, he follows through. What he says he’ll do, he always does, without exception. God has never been into making excuses. Scripture says he “remembers his covenant, remembers us and blesses us, remembers us in our low estate” and many, many more. On and on his mindfulness goes, mindfulness of us.

If we were as mindful of him, our lives would be far less stressful and less cluttered with worry. Trusting God would be easier, and our faith in him would grow by leaps and bounds.

It’s enjoyable to remember a special Disney cartoon, but it’s even more meaningful to remember the real reason for all things Christmas: that Jesus was born as a human among us, because he remembered our need for a Savior.

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 46:9)

Love Without End

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Margaret

Nate once gave me a Rolex watch worth $5000. When I later lost it, I felt awful. It used to be the only people who were given gold watches had earned them by working forty years at the same institution. Retirement and the watch came together, but I hadn’t done a thing to deserve such a fine gift. As always, Nate had been generous to his wife but not to himself, buying the watch he wished he had, for me. His own watch came from Walmart.

When I tried to think of some way to show my remorse over losing the watch, my only idea was to buy a Rolex for him. But I didn’t work outside our home and had no paycheck. The weekly allowance he gave me worked well to manage our household, but the dollars were mostly spoken-for. The only answer was to save a little bit here and there until I finally had enough.

It took me several years.

But the day finally came when I counted $2500 in my plump envelope of bills. I drove to Peacocks Jewelry Store feeling like a Depression-era child about to buy her dream bicycle.

As the salesman spread out the few Rolex designs my money would buy, I chose the one that most resembled the watch he’d chosen for himself years before, for which he’d paid about $25. Before I left the store, I asked if Peacock’s would engrave something on the back:

“I’ll love you till the end of time. Your Meg, Christmas, 1985.”

I couldn’t wait for Christmas morning. When it finally arrived, my gift was the hit I’d hoped it would be. Nate was dumbfounded, and he loved my engraved declaration of love on the back.

God also testifies of his deep love for us with an engraving. He says he’s carved us on his palms. In an effort to impress us with the depth of his commitment, he compares a nursing mother and her baby to his relationship with us and asks, “Can a mom forget her nursing child?”

I nursed all my babies. When I’d go out for an evening, leaving the baby at home, my body would always tell me it was time to head home and coax him or her to have an unscheduled meal, just to relieve the pressure. No nursing mother can forget her baby.

God says that in the unlikely case a nursing mother should forget, he never will. To prove it, he engraved us on his palms. Nate’s watch has been set aside now, and eventually it will stop running. But the good news about God’s love is that it’ll never stop.

Not ever.

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:15-16)