Thursday, August 30, 2012

THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX

Floyd Finding Floyd Inspirational Christian writing 19 Comments

repost from June 2011

I didn’t hang on too much in the way of keepsakes from my youth. I think that kinda happens naturally when a person is living “in the moment.” I don’t have any old yearbooks with all the writings from classmates. It didn’t mean that much to me just a

few years out of school, wish I had them now…

I didn’t keep track of pictures of old friends too well either, no way to ever get them back now. I didn’t even have the presence of mind to hang onto my first baseball mitt I wrote about a few weeks ago.

When a person is living life at warp speed and busy burning their candle at both ends, they can’t be slowed down by trivial things like the history of their life.

It’s a bit like that old Merle Haggard song, “- Rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell.” (He actually said hail) — (I’m pretty sure he meant hell).

I read a post by Kathy over at http://katdish.net/ last week that got me thinking about things like this. If you want to be engaged mentally and read some great material I would highly recommend you check out http://katdish.net/.

Kat’s post was about a decision she and her husband made regarding their daughter and some toys she decided to give away and after having done so had second thoughts. Good for her.

It made me stop and consider our girls who appear to have the wisdom and intelligence of their mom, thank God. Of course women, in general, are better at this kind of stuff than men are anyway.

After thinking about the keepsakes from childhood that our daughters are protecting for the future, I thought about what I’ve protected in order to pass on to them someday… There isn’t much.

I do have one thing… I can’t take too much credit for it, I actually believe God had way more to do with it than me. It was a gift I got when I was eight years old. To be honest, I didn’t even think much of it after the initial “new” wore off of it.

Even when I was living life-like the devil’s right hand, I had it secure in my “light” travels. Call it reverence, fear, or just plain ole’ dumb luck, but I hung onto it when I didn’t anything else.

That gift was my first Bible…

I had no idea at the age of eight years old that it would be one of the best gifts I’d ever receive in this life. When I was tossing everything away including my life itself, I couldn’t toss or give away what I knew inherently could save it.

I’m sure most of us live with some regret to one degree or another. I regret not being a little more patient and diligent regarding old keepsakes.

In the midst of reflecting some of what I regret, I’m thankful that the one thing that could save my life and anyone else who might seek it; God’s Word, I saved across my lifetime.

Of all the things we cherish in this life and hang onto as memorials of our lives or the lives of loved ones, is there any more important than the word of God?

I mentioned on Katdish’s site that I was proud of our little one for hanging onto the stuffed animals she’s cherished since infancy, she’s more like my mom, which makes her a natural to hang onto things.

I can almost picture our little one opening up an old dusty box as her daughter leans against her arm, wide-eyed in anticipation.

As they open the old dusty box they marvel at the old treasures from her life; Bunny Bun, Grey Kitty, but most important is what the old stuffed animals cover. What’s at the bottom of the box…

As she lifts up the old ragged stuffed animals she reveals to her little one her most precious of keepsakes, her first leather Bible, the lavender with the purple cross is old and faded.

Under that is her dad’s.