Just A Simple Question

    

It was just a simple question on a questionnaire for "secret sisters."  We were all having fun answering questions about ourselves.  There were favorite songs, favorite foods, special interests, movies, TV programs and on and on...

Then came the question.  Watching each face as we reached that question was so interesting.  For some you could see it was just a pleasant journey with the only difficulty being which memory could be reduced to just a few lines on the page and still do it justice.

There was laughter for those times that were so funny and even a few tears for the bittersweet trips down memory lane that were so precious.  For just a little while we could get a glimpse into the childhood of women who ranged in age from young mothers to great grandmothers.

There was another response in the room that day.  It was very subtle and probably missed by many amid the laughter and the tears.  You have to look closely or you will miss it.  We have become very good at covering up and burying those places in our memories that are too painful to recall.

I watched as ladies moved on to the next question or quietly folded their paper and put it away promising to complete it and turn it in at a later time.

My own thoughts were a mixture of sadness and loss.  I am sure for every detail I could share, there are countless stories of painful and lost childhoods no matter what the circumstances.  I wanted to just make something up and move on to the next question.  I mean, who would know?  Only the little girl inside of me with a desperate need for the love and favor of a mother and father and yet with parents who did not know how to give either.

If that were the end of the story, it would be very sad indeed.  But it is not and so I am able to write with joy and gladness and to look back with no anger or regret.

From the time that I was conceived and all through my childhood, I was under the watchful eye of One Who one day I would know as my Abba, my Father.  He has redeemed not only my present and my future, but my past as well.  My Heavenly Father is "head over heals" in love with me and always has been.  I am ever His joy and delight.

He has given me the privilege of being the Mom of three wonderful children, a son and two daughters and I know because of His love how to love and cherish them.  I have six wonderful grandchildren who call me "Nana."  I have had the opportunity of making memories with my children and am even now making new memories with my grandchildren.

My greatest delight is knowing that one day if they are ever handed a questionnaire and see the statement "favorite childhood memory," they will be able to recall with fondness and joy these day we spend together

MAKING MEMORIES!