The Discipline of Remembering

Last week my husband and I took a ride down memory lane.  After an extra long work week, over 10 days to be exact, we took a couple of days off while we made our way home from South Texas back to the Panhandle. We traveled familiar scenic routes through the Hill Country, while over-nighting in Kerrville, where we started our honeymoon 35 years ago.

 The roads we now traveled revealed the reality of severe drought in Texas . . . 

obvious almost everywhere . . . like sin in our midst. 

 Huge cypress trees growing along barely flowing rivers have turned brown . . . will they survive?  Pastures that in past years were filled with cattle are now empty,  the grass brown and sparse.  My husband says there was little spring green-up or growth this year, so what little grass we see is last year's dead winter grass, void of it's nutrition, the reason we see so few cattle . . . costs of feeding them is just too high in this economy.  In the evening we saw lots of small deer on the roadsides, looking for food where run-off from the little rain that has fallen yields some patches of nutrition. Lawns around houses are brown, tree leaves are wilted, and it's very hot...the day we left for home it reached 109. 

Yet, evidence of the faithfulness of God is still to be found . . . just like our memories . . . as we visited our old stomping grounds . . . with our eyes wide open to what will be when the rain finally comes.

In Genesis 9, God set the rainbow in the sky as an everlasting sign of God's covenant between Him and every living creature that there will never again be a flood to destroy all flesh. He said in 9:16, "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant . . . "

Even the Lord remembers.

We lived in the Hill Country of Texas from 1980 to 1994.  During that fourteen years we went from a family of 3 to a family of 5, from parents of a daughter, to parents of a daughter and 2 sons. We matured as adults, we grew in our walk with the Lord, we started homeschooling, we worked as a family ranching, we made life-long friends, and we knew the faithfulness of God through all kinds of circumstances, spiritual, emotional, and physical. We experienced life, in it's triumphs and losses.

As we weaved our way through the hills and valleys, we remembered the markers of our lives lived  in those places, among people who made a difference in our lives. We don't often mark our memories with altars like our Old Testament counterparts, yet many verses of Scripture encourage us to remember and to pass on to generations what our Lord has done not only in our lives, but down through the ages of time.

". . . in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you."

Exodus 20:24

"In every place . . ." it says. Remember what the Lord has done, and you will be blessed.  Remember His Word, His promises, His deliverance, His answers to prayer, His miracles, His presence, His still small voice spoken to your heart . . .Remember what He has done. 

As we drove the roads we thought of people and experiences that we hadn't thought about in years. We remembered how blessed we are, how those times prepared us for our future, shaped our character, and give us strength, even now, to continue on this journey called life.

Near Medina, the road followed a creek running through a ranch.  The creek looked dry, maybe flowing underground only.  But in the middle of this drought, the owners were looking forward.  They were preparing for the rain that will some day come.  They were trusting that the rain would come and fill the creek again--they were digging out their lake, maybe repairing their dam, taking advantage of the dry conditions.  

We don't know the ranch owners, but we think we know their character.  They have found some good in dire circumstances.  Rather than "woe is me" bitterness and hopelessness, they are optimistic . . . their hope "springs eternal." Whether they are believers or not, we think they remember that good will come eventually, and their hope is keeping them steadfast and busy with preparations for better times.

And in the midst of dry riverbeds, and pastures barely covered in last year's grass, we passed through Hunt, TX, where the river runs peacefully, wide and deep, the huge stately oak trees spread their canopies and shade lush green lawns, and all seems perfect and peaceful.

And the reality of "treasures in the darkness," "streams in the desert," and "abiding in the shelter of the Almighty," is not just heavenly, but a tangible place of rest. God's Word is true, He is faithful, and hope does spring eternal when we are walking with the Lord.

Thank you, Father, for new memories mixed with old ones, for reminders to remember how . . .

"all things work together for good, for those who love the Lord, and are called according to His purposes."  Romans 8:28

This photo of Hunt is courtesy of TripAdvisor