THE UNMARKED BOX

The final purge..the storage room. For those of you who have moved, at some point you just find yourself throwing the last of the boxes you won’t be needing into a cabinet and it is forever gone…until yesterday. There were two boxes, not marked. As I opened them a flood of memories came to my mind. It was as if I had temporarily died and my life flashed before me. The newspaper on the day 911 happened. My awards from Toastmasters. A framed picture of those of us who started Crosstalk. A baseball cap I wore at my wedding rehearsal. A letter of birthday wishes from the guys who met at Coco’s every week for years. Pictures of those of us from College Ave. Baptist Church Singles Group at our various parties, Palm Springs trips every Labor Day, my 30th surprise birthday party…and then the envelope. Pictures of all sizes came tumbling out. It was those friends from Jr. High, and Patrick Henry High School. And then my year books from high school and college at UC Santa Barbara. I just sat there….for a long time. Sometimes you forget the journey you have been on to get you where you are now. In a metaphoric way, all of us have this kind of box…one that shaped us to who we are now…both good and sometimes not so good. At 68, there isn’t much more that will be added to this memory box but it has been a reminder what God has done and what He continues to do for His glory. What would YOUR memory box be filled with? Who has been your biggest influencer? What event made the biggest effect on you? What picture would you want that would encapsulate your life? It would be difficult to find that one picture because it isn’t one time in history but rather a culmination of many events that bring you to this moment. As each of us have been given a certain amount of days to live on this earth, we will all, one day, meet God and account for those days…either for His glory or ourselves. As it is written in 1 Cor. 3:13-15 “ But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss.”: As I put everything back into one box, I thank God for the most amazing friends, experiences of love, but most of all, for the time I said yes to Jesus….I pray your memory box will include Him too and that your life will have great rewards at the end.