Wednesday, February 8, 2012

What Cleaning Out Old Files Can Do To You!

Who would have thought  buying a Scansnap SN1100 could create such revolution? We are going paperless. What does that mean? Drawers of paper, files, and photos have all gone up to the"Cloud" with our nifty little Scansnap. The paper shredder needs frequent oiling, and we will have enough packing material to last us a lifetime. I have come to love the Spartan look of empty drawers.

As I was going through files to scan or toss, it was like taking a walk down memory lane. I came across some old entries from a long since deleted blog I started in 2005 and thought it would be fun to share some of "My Musing," from a Proverbs 31 Mom. This excerpt was from a September 2005 entry entitled, "Reflections on a Sunday Afternoon."

I have been listening to my favorite Bill Staines music, and as I listen to "An Afternoon At Cohan's" I am reminded  of sweet memories from childhood. Who would have thought that getting up early in the morning, walking to the garden with my family, bushel baskets in hand, to glean from our garden's rich bounty of vegetables that my dad faithfully and carefully tended, would hold so much weight in my memory? Each week there was something new to be picked and preserved. My summer memory of Dad was his hoe in hand and for Mom standing at the stove canning anything and everything edible. They provided well in their simplicity!

I remember bushel baskets full of peas, and the early evenings sitting under the shade of the maple tree with Mom's metal mixing bowl between my legs shelling peas endlessly. It was a neighborly event that seemed to take place most often in our yard or the next door neighbor's. When the kids got tired of shelling, we would run off to play whistle or holler, kick the can, hide and go seek, or who can catch the most lightning bugs while the adults finished the job.

Those days are gone, but they linger long, now, in my memory,  and at times are comforting thoughts when the burdens of the day weigh down. I am thankful for those gentle and loving memories. Not all people have them or see that they do. It challenges me to ask myself what kind of family memories am I leaving with my children. In a day when the whole concept of family has been so distorted by the world we live in, it is a good question to be asking, "What impressions am I leaving on my children, and how will it impact them?"

For Byron and me, our greatest desire has been to help our children understand the love of God expressed through Jesus Christ. To know Him is our greatest gain, and to faithfully live that out is the greatest legacy we can leave them. We do believe the statement, "What we do, they will do in excess," to be a true statement. We have asked ourselves over the years, " What do we want them to do in excess? " Answer: To know and love God and to faithfully serve Him from a heart that is anchored in Christ. Jesus said, " The thief comes only to steal and destroy, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 (ESV). Just as our garden's harvest provided abundantly for my family when I was a child, so the Word of God, in the context of a relationship with Christ, provides spiritual sustenance abundantly to our souls.

Nearly seven years have passed since I wrote this piece. My hopes and desires have not changed. I have had time and opportunity to see how God has worked in each of my children's lives. God has been faithful to us. He has grown us in so many unexpected ways. Times have not always been easy, but we do see His gentle hand guiding us and His Word sustaining us as we journey through the joys and sorrows of this life. Stay tuned for more musings from a Proverbs 31 mom.

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