Memories

Packing up and moving everything except basically my clothes to the new house I will share with my soon to be new husband has definitely brought a whirlwind of memories as I go through everything. I’m going through goodbye cards from when I left ABQ 4 ½ years ago, birthday cards, “just saying hi” cards, pictures, and journal entries. It’s just amazing all that has gone on in life in just a few years. Honestly, it feels like I’ve grown up in that time.

I came out here a brand-new college graduate who really hadn’t seen much of the world nor realized just what a big world outside of my little sphere was out there. I came out having to learn the hard way (and honestly still kind of am continuing to learn) the universe doesn’t revolve around me. I used to think I had my stuff pretty well together for a girl in her early twenties, but then as I look back on all the dross that came up through the trials I went through, I realize I definitely was a far cry from having it all together.

I read about past crushes and hopes and dreams and reading about my laments as I approached my 25th birthday thinking I may never find “Mr. Right”. Now I look at the man God has given me and I can’t help but echo Garth Brook’s song “Unanswered Prayers”. We go through life, especially early adulthood thinking that we know what we want and when it all should happen. We pray and hope with all our hearts that God’s will is our will. I can tell you that what I’m reading in my journals is a far cry from anything that I ever thought would be a part of my life, but I can see how God has used those things, sometimes painful, and sometimes even embarrassing, to humble me and shape me into the woman that I’m becoming.

I think of how the pastor and author Warren Weirsbe compared life to a tapestry where on one side you see all the messy knots of thread but on the other side it makes an amazing picture. I praise God for these memories, and I look forward to the new ones yet to come. I also am so thankful for everyone out there who made up those memories, those whose cards I’m reading and some I’m still keeping in a little wooden box my cousin made for me. People, friends, family, and sometimes even foes make us who we are. Thank you all for being a part of my past and I look forward to seeing what God has got in store for the future.