MEMORIES.....

 

When I was out in Arizona this year I finally got a picture of this motel sign.  It's important to me because it is a part of my past.  When I was 3 or 4 years old we traveled out to California.  My mom and dad, my brother, my sister and I went on a month log journey.  This is the same motel we stayed at all those many years ago.  It's still there with the same sign.  It was a blast from the past when I saw this sign.  I remember my mom telling me that a few years ago the motel took the sign down, maybe they were trying to find a new logo, I'm not sure the reasons.  Anyway residents through a fit because this sign with the diving girls, is iconic and a link to the past that needs to be cherished.

I know sometimes I talk about the past as being something to deal with and move on, but then there are times when the past is filled with great memories and cherished times.  This is one of them for me.  This memory is cherished because this is the area where my dad and mom chose to retire and eventually buy a retirement home there.  It's an important memory for me because I was with my family.  I was able to see parts of this beautiful country that I have never seen again.  I was able to touch the red wood trees, see the Grand Canon, go to Crater Lake and visit Yellowstone Park.  For a month I got travel America.  

While I do have some past memories that are painful and hard to think about, I have learned to put those ones away and cherish the good ones.  The past can be very tricky to deal with.  The good, the bad and the ugly all reside in the past.  It can sometimes be hard to let go of the bad and the ugly because it has shaped us into who we are, but in order to move forward with God's plans for our life we have to learn from our past mistakes and hurts and move on.  To dwell is a painful past continues to push us into a victim mentality that does no one any good.  It actually causes more harm than good.  It actually can cripple us mentally and physically.  It can cause undo stress in our lives that no medicine can heal.

Only the healing power of Jesus Christ can heal our past pain and allow us to learn from it and move on.  I couldn't have healed my painful past without Jesus.  I couldn't have learned the lessons I learned without Jesus.  And I couldn't have moved on without Him.  Because of Jesus Christ I can now cherish the good memories from my past.  I can look at this motel sign and remember this vacation with a big smile on my face and a gladdened heart.  So today lets try to connect to Jesus and allow Him to work with you through the memories of the past and learn from the painful ones and cherish the good ones.