Memories.

Psalm 139:13-14
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous---how well I know it

It's early....
Been up since 2:27 a.m.....
Checked on my mother-in-law to make sure she was o.k.
I love this time of the morning. Sounds strange I know, but in the quiet of the house, my mind clear from the rest I've gotten, my thoughts seem to be more organized. The day has not rushed at me yet like a runaway train. Problems and situations have not lined up to lay claim to a piece of my day. Here at this time it's just me, my thoughts, and a cup of coffee.

I love the verses from Psalm 139 about how complex we humans are. No evolution here....
No random bumping of gases and molecules to form a baby.
No cosmic-crap-shoot to start ol' humanity on the road to becoming the dominate species here on this mud-ball that is spinning around in space.
We are the living, breathing evidence of a Creator who has wonderfully crafted each of us.

I think the one thing that has impressed me to no end about God's ability to create is the simple fact that He has given each of us the ability to create and store memories. At this point in time, these little mental/visual files that are stored in my brain have become more and more important in my life.

The ability to snatch out of nowhere a mental thought that creates an emotion and a feeling. Sometimes the memories are painful. Wrong words that were spoken in the heat of an argument years ago can cause the most painful of emotions to surface in the twinkling of an eye. Yet, at the same time, that same ability can bring to mind the most wonderful of times. 

Memories such as the first time you met your spouse. The first date. Your first kiss. Trips you took together. The day you got married. The birth of your children. And the list goes on and on. Each day is an opportunity to place more of these memories in storage.

My mother-in-law suffers from dementia....
It has robbed her of short term memory.
When I take her a meal, she always asks me to bless her food. So we hold hands, and I say a prayer over her and her meal. She will start to take the first bite, stop and ask, "Have we said the blessing yet?" Something simple as that is lost...but, here is the beauty of what our Heavenly Father has done. My mom can pull up memories of her childhood. Her marriage to Eldred, her husband. She can remember that in the 8th grade at her school in Altoona, she had a new teacher from down in South Alabama. The one thing that mom remembers about this lady is the way she pronounced the word "Girls". Mom said that it came out "Gulls". Why does mom remember this, and yet can't retain what day it is? I don't know. I do know that these long-ago memories bring her comfort and peace.

I love the picture I chose for today's posting.
A bench sitting alone....
Is it sunrise?
Or was the picture taken at sunset?
I like to think it's sunset. I see it as where all of us are headed unless the Lord returns.
To me the picture is a wonderful place where a man could recount the memories of his life.
As I've grown older, things don't matter as much to me as they once did. It's the memories that we are making, not only for ourselves, but also for our children and our grandchildren. 

Usually when clan Bynum gathers for a meal, and the whole family has their feet under our table, the conversation turns to favorite memories. Trips to Florida....
Scavenger hunts on Christmas day....
Riding the train up at Nocalula Falls one winter's night when it was so cold that you could not feel your face.
On and one, the memories roll, the laughter comes, and for the briefest of moments we are all transported back to a shared time.
I'm not sure why or how God thought up this whole memory thing....
But I'm sure am grateful that He did.
"Thanks God!"

God on you...
mbb