BUILDING MEMORIES

By

Wendy Caulley

 

 

 

Easter Sunday, I was contemplating and praying about what to write this week. It had been a week of a lot of different emotions and I was soaking them all in and trying to sort them out.  I received a phone call on the Thursday before Easter saying my daughter in law in Colorado was starting labor and it was three weeks before the baby was due.  The first report was they were at the hospital and mother and baby were on oxygen and doing well.  Another report a little later said the baby was in stress and breech and they were going to do a C section.  By that afternoon Evelynn Joyce had entered the world weighing in at 5 lbs. 8 oz., and 17 ½ inches long and healthy. 

 

As I was waiting for the information I thought about the births of my other grandchildren and each one had been unique and different.  But we have 8 healthy grandchildren from the ages of newborn to 12 years old.  And no matter how many grandchildren I have they are all special in their own way. And each birth is a miracle.  It was the Thursday before Easter and we now have a new granddaughter and another son, daughter in law and two grandsons from Florida are on the way to spend Easter with us in Thomasville.  We were truly blessed.  There was the yearning to get on a plane and fly to Denver to see the new granddaughter and on the other hand enjoy the grandsons and family who would spend Easter with us.

 

The miracles of God are plentiful.  It is hard to believe that what started as a husband and wife has grown to be a family of 16.  But, as I reflect, I think about my quality time with my children and grandchildren.  It seems that life has passed by quickly.  I can remember being a mother with three children under the age of 6 years old, thinking I would always be in that situation and I turned around and they have grown up.  And then my sons got married and had children.  And the size of the family kept increasing.  And the question is did I take time to enjoy it all?  Sometimes I am so busy living life I forget to enjoy the process.  When that happens, it is time to reflect where we started and where we are and where we are going.  Life waits for no person and if I wait until later to appreciate and enjoy my blessings, I will lose the enjoyment of the blessings I have now.  And Evelynn Joyce will only be a baby once.  I need to slow down and enjoy watching her and my other grandchildren grow up.

 

I am the Martha in the Bible that is always working and planning.  I am always busy getting things organized.  But am I busy with good things or God things?  I have missed many special times with my children and grandchildren that I can’t get back.  The scripture says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord”, (Psalms 127:3a) and “Happy is the man that has his quiver full”, (Psalms 127:5a) and I need to enjoy that heritage while they are still small and I am still able.  I was in the generation where I could have been a career woman but a long time ago someone gave me a plaque for my kitchen, which said: “If I can not to great things, I can do small things in a great way.”  It helped me to revaluate what I was spending my time and energy on.  Was my energy spent on doing what God called me to do or what I thought I needed (wanted) to do?  I guess history will answer that for me.

 

So, as I reflect, have I been building memories?  Have I taken those really special times, like the birth of a granddaughter, or an Easter egg hunt with my grandsons and enjoyed them?  Am I embracing those times and treasuring them?  These are events I can never experience again.  While at the soccer park on Saturday with my two grandsons, we were walk to the marble signs on the soccer fields and my grandsons could see a soccer plaque with their granddaddy’s name on it.  My five year old grandson spelled his last name (the same one that was on the sign).  Then the boys had their picture taken with the plaque.  I would call that building memories and I don’t want to miss them.  I think I wrote this article as much for me as anyone.  We only live this life once, so enjoy it, and take time to smell the roses, enjoy your blessings and make memories that will last a life time.

 

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