Happy New Year

Greetings in this new year,

2010!  What a great sounding number.  Each New Year's day Christine and I rejoice!  Not so much for the fact that we can experience the newness of a new year, rather for the fact that we get to spend a new year together.  Everyone, well maybe not everyone but most people,  who has gone through a traumatic event in their life find a sense of accomplishment, a blessing, for a new year that has been given.  Having been on and off the operating table with three brain surgeries I am mindful of the blessing of life.  Each day is kept as a treasure.

Speaking of keeping treasures let's get back to David Ponder and his amazing journey through time.  Just as an aside I am now following Andy Andrews, the author of our book, on Twitter.  The great things is that he is following me.  I am now 1 in 10,744 people that he is following.  It may sound small but I am excited nevertheless.  Okay, back to David!

It is during his meeting with Joshua Chamberlain, who we spoke of yesterday, that he is given an old tobacco pouch.  It is in this pouch that he keeps the statements for success that he is given.  A normal, old, beat up tobacco pouch, yet, a very important reminder of what has happened to him.  The pouch becomes very symbolic and powerful at the end of the story but...well, let's just wait for that!

I have a question to ask you.  Where do you keep your memories?  What did he just ask?  That's right, I asked you where you keep your memories.  Some keep their memories in pictures that hang on the wall and remind us of the days of hair that would not sit down, glasses that would not stay staright on your face, or clothes that you wished were outlawed (matter of fact they probably are today).  Some keep their memories in the form of physical reminders.  You know, the rose from prom that has been crushed in the Bible for 45 years.  There is also the class ring, which was so cool your senior year, yet now rests at the bottom of a giant tupperware conatiner that can be found, third box from the left, in the cold dark attic!

Don't get me wrong, all of us have these type of memory reminders.  But do they do that?  What I mean is if the pictures are found in the basement and the ring is in the attic how many times do we really rember those times, places, or events.  This doesn't mean that we have do start that Spring cleaning early so that we can grab the boxes from the basement and trip on the stairs taking them upstairs.  Nor does it mean that we have to charge up to the attic and grab the boxes only to expedite the delivery to the living room by taking the shortcut that has been made from the hole in the ceiling you just created by missing the studs and stepping onto the unprotected sheetrock floor/ceiling!  What it does mean is that we might want to take a moment and realize where our true memories lie...within us!  You see, we are the old tobacco pouch!

After my second brain surgery I had a terrible bout with loss of memory.  No, I didn't forget who I was, although there were times that I wished I had.  I had trouble with names, faces, and yes, events.  I forgot the births of my children even though I knew that my children were mine.  I forgot my wedding even though I knew I was married (Christine told me I was her husband and I believed her)!  I forgot names of relatives, congregational members and friends.  I still have trouble with my memory today.  I wish I had a nickel for everytime I wrote something down only to forget where I had placed the paper I wrote it on.  There are times when I have discussions on the phone and then hang up only to have forgotten I ever had the converstaion.  So, how was I to deal with the fact that my memories, those things that reminded me of a life lived, had been stripped from me?  The answer became quite clear to me.. I try to make memories each day.  Granted we all do that in way or another but I don't have the luxury of relying on memory to recal the memories of days gone by.  In other words I try to live in the moment.

I am going to try and appreciate the memories of today.  Another day that God has given me, my loving family, and good friends in whom I can share my life, that's what I am after.  As I have said before, everyone has bad days, weeks, or months.  Actually, I know people who have had bad years...poor Tiger Woods (remember, we are responsible for our past and our future!).  However, even in the midst of the crappy times we can take a moment to recall that which we are blessed with.  It doesn't make the bad go away but it does help us to remember that there are positive attributes of our lives.  Truthfully, I am excited when God gives me the opportunity to wake up and put my feet on the floor.  If He has taken the time to bless me in such a way then I should probably do my best to recognize the blessings that He has also provided.

So, I challenge you on your journey home to make a memory today.  It doesn't have to be a trip to Disney World.  Nor does it have to be a great gathering of family around a stuffed turkey to be followed by a night of Pictionary.  All we have to do to make memories is to realize that we are in the middle of a day that has unlimited potential for memories.  I have found that memory is a tricky thing.  It can be taken and never given back.  Memory is also a thing that can be controlled...one minute at a time.  So, be thankful for the memory of now, live for today because tomorrow isn't promised.  Address the important, the needed, and the vitals of today but never forget that one true statement for success is that we have a God who loves us and will be there with us.

I pray that this new year will be a year of change for you.  I pray that, on this first day of 2010, you will begin a journey towards a greater faith, greater wisdom, and a collection of greater memories.  If you are like me and you have a little trouble in the memory department, it's OK.  I have an old tobacco pouch that will do the trick for you!  Welcome to 2010 and the beginning of a brand new life!

Blessings,

Derek