Memories

“To everything there is a season…”  Ecclesiastes 3:1

            I’ve been cleaning and sorting the bins in my basement. My girls are coming home this weekend for my husband’s retirement dinner and I decided it was a good time to determine what they want of theirs that I have been saving and storing. One daughter moved away twelve years ago, the other seven years ago, and the third just last year. I still have half a basement filled with their stuff.  We decided that they would look through the bins and boxes that I have organized for each of them and determine if they really want things or not. The clutter has to go!

            Opening my bins, I found some mildewed items, baby clothes, books and toys. I came across a high school graduation gown, T-shirts representing high school activities, trophies earned at events, and lots of outdated Christmas items. I have enough fabric and craft supplies to open a store, baskets for every occasion, college textbooks, half finished projects, and things to be scrapbooked. (Okay, some of it is mine.)

            Sorting has been therapeutic.  It’s not the first time I’ve done it. In our thirty eight years of marriage, we have moved several times.  With each move, we have eliminated some of our stuff.  There are a couple of boxes though, that remain taped from three moves ago! Somehow, I “needed” to hold on to the contents of the boxes. I didn’t open them, just moved them from place to place. They took up space and contributed to the clutter.  Now, I decided to open the boxes and see what has been stored and so important for me to hang on to.

            Sorting has also triggered memories—some pleasant and some not so pleasant. I found a teacup given to me by a neighbor several years ago. It represents a friendship that went sour and never rekindled, despite my attempts to reconcile.  At one time, that would have brought me to tears and even resentment—now I have moved on from that stuff and can remind myself not to repeat the behaviors and attitudes that contributed to the friendship’s demise. The lessons learned are worth hanging on to; the resentment discarded.

            I am planning a garage sale and I started to put a price tag on a wooden Christmas angel, but stopped as I recalled when and where I bought it. We had moved to Pennsylvania and I was lonely. My husband took me to a Christmas tour of homes that year and I purchased the angel. House tours aren’t usually on a man’s agenda of favorite events, but he knew I needed something to lift my spirits. It reminds me of my husband’s kindness during a rough time in my life. I’m keeping the angel.

            The children’s games and clothes remind me of their formative years and that in the blink of an eye, they have each become beautiful young women, two of them Moms. I remember the laughter during board games and the occasions when they wore certain clothes.

            I came across a few sewing patterns. I had discarded most of them several years ago, but kept a few representative ones.  The prices reveal how old they are and the changing styles remind me of the changing patterns and seasons in our lives. With retirement, we are moving into a new season and new opportunities. People ask what we are planning. We answer that the world is at our doorstep—no agenda, we are waiting on God to show us the next step. He has only told us to step away from this one.

            Sometimes we take stuff with us as we move to another life season—like my taped boxes-- until we feel ready to release what has been stored inside. Sometimes it is painful to open the boxes.  Unless we willingly change the negative aspects of our lives, realistically face the pain and work through the associated grief, we will carry stuff with us from place to place. But it is not all bad! Some of the stuff stays with us and that is a good thing! We can keep it—like lessons learned, a tangible object, or in our memories. Yes, we move stuff with us as reminders of seasons in our lives. With each box we open, we know that we have grown and because we have grown, we have changed and God has walked with us on our path. © Marilyn Nutter 2008 All rights reserved

Reflection: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purposes that prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21)    What does this verse mean to you as you reflect on your life seasons or a particular experience in your life? How have you seen God’s faithful presence on your path?