When I was the young mother of two boys, ages one and four, we rented a house that threatened to tumble down if one of us sneezed extra hard!  But it boasted the redeeming feature of a lovely old weeping willow out back.  While (sometimes that word became "if") my little ones napped, I parted the supple branches of that tree and poured out an overflowing heart to my God.  I was so new to motherhood and felt so inadequate, but this hiding place allowed me to be completely transparent and honest before the Lord.

"For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in  

the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall  

set me high upon a rock."  Psalm 27:5 NKJV

 Sometimes you and I plod through weeks and months when we feel pulled through the proverbial knothole.  And because that knothole usually is too small or too irregular in shape, it hurts!  We can have hope in our God, however, because we know He is faithful in His promises to us.  It is easier to hold onto genuine hope when I realize that God has never failed, and therefore will not fail me now.

It seems to me that quite a difference exists between being hopeful - hoping for a sunny day this weekend or hoping that your tax man will return your telephone call soon - and a life that is filled with hope.  Scripture gives us further insights in Hebrews 6:19:  "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Thumbing through a magazine at my dentist's office, I found a thought-provoking analogy.  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suggested that people are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

I want very much to put myself where God can shine through, so I can be a lighted window for those around me, and a tangible source of hope.

 What do we really know about zeal?  The dictionary definitions include many "feeling and doing" kinds of words such as "impassioned eagerness," and "passion".  Zeal is no shrinking violet!

Lord, the Scripture says there is a time for silence and a time for speech...teach me the silence of humility, the silence of wisdom, the silence of love, the silence of perfection, the silence that speaks without words, the silence of faith.

Lord, teach me to silence my own heart that I may listen to the gentle movements of the Holy Spirit within me and sense the depths which are of God.

 In the hectic pace of the world you and I live in today, milestones and memories must be noted and remembered.  We have no guarantees of tomorrow, but we do have this moment.

With my three children and ten grandchildren grown (and the 8th great-grandchild born a few weeks ago), one phrase heard frequently at our family get-togethers begins like this: "Remember when..." "Remember when Uncle Walt and Grandpa got chased by a mama bear when they were fishing at that mountain lake?"...."Remember when Cousin Carolyn accidentally used cornstarch instead of powdered sugar in her frosting for the birthday cake?" "Remember..."

God values remembering. Beginning in Genesis, He instructed Noah, Moses, Gideon, and David to build altars.  Jacob and Samuel and Joshua also piled up stones as tangible reminders (an Old Testament visual aid!) of those times God especially blessed the Israelites.  Joshua realized his children's great-grandchildren could easily forget God's powerful love and miraculous interventions.

Those memorial rock piles served much the same purpose as today's video cameras and digital pictures.  I believe God also wants present-day Christians to build memorials and memories for the sake of our future generations.  Here are just a few ideas:   

1. Blank-but-inviting books can help us recall God's promises and specific kindnesses.  At year's end friends of mine hire a baby-sitter for a few hours.  In a quiet restaurant they relax while sharing their journals and marveling at the instances of God's incredible love in their lives.
           
2. Kids need to actively participate in memorial-making.  Long ago Joshua wisely directed the Israelites to pile up stones on Canaan's choice riverfront property (Joshua 4:21-24).  Personal involvement, rather than spectator status, ensures a more lasting reminder.  A collage of cut-out words and pictures might include baptismal certificates, mementos of camp and family missionary friends, becoming an effective and interesting family project.  The collage can grow with time, on a family room wall or below-ceiling border around a child's room.
            
3. Needlework can display on fabric God's miracle - perhaps a birth or first home.  A counted cross-stitch sampler, a needlepoint bell-pull or hanging, a bright banner made with cut-out felt pieces - any of these projects would be cherished by future "children's children."
          
4. Projects as diverse as china painting, scrapbooking, photography, or writing a storybook that sounds like fiction, but actually tells a family member's true story, are additional ways to build bridges from the past to the future.

"The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance."  Psalm 16:6 

 Many years ago I was a regular volunteer in our church nursery. Although I'm tempted to use names, I will follow the privacy guidelines used by my bank and other business concerns! Like many others at Burlingame Church I burped and diapered and rocked little ones who are now leaders of our church family. And I remember working one Sunday with Norma, who had just celebrated her eightieth birthday and was relating to me the highlights of that special day. She also confided that when she was young the days seemed plentiful and cheap. Like penny candy, she seemed to always have a pocketful, which she used casually.  "Now," she observed, "my supply of time has diminished, and the value of each day has soared like the national debt. Suddenly I find myself cherishing, even hoarding, the hours."

For those of us who can relate to those thoughts, God has some incredible promises. One of my favorite is: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree...They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; He is my Rock' (psalm 92:12, 14-15).

We hear lots about growing old gracefully, but I believe that our heavenly Father wants all of his children also to grow old

gratefully.  God wants me to live as though He were listenting and talking to me in each day's circumstances. That way I'm enabled to praise Him for the small things I might otherwise overlook, as well as for major matters - such as eternal life in Christ. With this perspective, my reserves of available time seem to stretch to meet the day's demands.

You don't have to be a senior citizen to join me in pursuing a grateful-to-God mindset, so that we truly age gracefully

and gratefully. So that our hours and months and years as a child of God will be refreshed by Him.