People

What do we remember about growing up? I recall very little as far as details of my childhood, but do remember feelings. Only a few short years ago I was in my 20's and starting out on the "big adventure." The later 20's and early 30's were the beginning of raising a family, buying a home, having fun and fighting hard with my husband. I went to church but what do I remember of those years from the perspective of church? The music. The Peanuts jokes the pastor loved to share. The ladies who were so involved in what seemed like fun stuff - salad luncheons, decorating, - turns out it was fundraising for missions but I didn't realize it at the time. And then the terrible next ten years - years from hell. And now I'm an entirely different person it sometimes seems to me.



I start this rambling because I wonder what it is about church, about God, that I have retained over all the years, years before I became this person I am now. And while some of it is the classes I have taken over the years, it has certainly been more the people. I had great parenting, my parents were definitely not perfect, but I had a great upbringing. I have a sister who is my best friend. There have been people who have been part of my life who have been great examples - loving, compassionate, hardworking. When those hell years came, people helped me through it.



Do I feel the age I am now? Hardly. Do I have sadness in my life? Most definitely. Do I wish that I had done some things differently? For sure. I have years that I have lost, years that I just existed, survived. And I wish I had been stronger and better able to cope, to raise my children well, to be the kind of mother my mother had been to me. Do I have regrets? I'd like to say no, but in all reality, there are things I do regret.



I am just so thankful to people who God placed into my life who took care of me, who took care of my children, who loved and supported and encouraged and walked beside me.



So as I think hard on this question of what it is about church and God that I have retained through all the years, the answer is those people God put into my life.



What does that mean as I think about church now? I have been eager for people to know who God is, to read God's Word, to live with others in this faith community and learn and love in the way that those who follow Christ do. It is important to remember and realize that actions do speak louder than words, that what is remembered is the feelings that come with relationships.



This morning my brother in law sent me the Charles Schultz philosophy. What an affirmation of what God and I were talking about last night!