Friends
After more than a year of sorrow, frustration and hardship, it feels so good to find things to celebrate, doesn’t it? Whether it’s a wedding, a new baby, or just a family vacation, it is such a gift to gather and celebrate life once again. Thanks be to God for the blessing of precious moments and the gift of each new day.
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It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:7-8a – NIV
Precious moments, how sweet they are: the radiant smile of a beautiful bride as she walks down the aisle; the gleam in the groom’s eye; the happy tears in the eyes of her father; the bright smiles of the wedding party. Promises made. Love declared. Yes, precious moments indeed.
Last weekend, on a rooftop overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains, my niece and her beloved spoke their wedding vows. At the pronouncement of husband and wife, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd of ecstatic family and friends. Seated up front in the family row, my smile was a mile wide, my heart overflowing with joy. My heart was hers after all. She had stolen it when she was just two years old.
Still just a toddler, she had come to stay with me for the weekend while her parents attended an out of town wedding. My four year old son and I had entertained her RoyalY for the afternoon and evening, but as bedtime rolled around, I got a little nervous. Would she go to sleep without her parent’s? Pulling out a story book, I settled on the couch to read to the pajama clad cousins. My son snuggled up next to me, but my sweet little niece wasn’t going for that. Instead, she climbed up into my lap. As I began to read, she laid her little head on my chest. That was it. She had me for life. By the end of that weekend, I had become her favorite auntie, and she had become “my girl.”
That weekend changed everything. The bond between us only grew tighter with the passage of time. From baby dolls and doll clothes, we progressed to shopping trips for earrings and sweaters. We took wintry walks and shared heart to heart talks. Oh, the adventures we shared together on our family trips abroad, the giggly fun on our girl’s trips with Grandma. Precious moments indeed.
And now, another one. Adorned in white satin, eyes shining, cheeks rosy, she paused before me for just a moment, letting all the other well wishers wait. She wanted me to see her clearly, to see my girl in her gorgeous wedding dress. She showed me her new necklace, her great grandmother’s bracelet on her wrist, the wedding band on her finger beside her beautiful engagement ring. For a moment, the world around us faded away, and it was Just the two of us once more. For one precious moment, we shared a look, a smile, a hug. For one tender moment, it was just me and my girl.
It was only a minute, maybe two, but it was enough.
I snapped the picture, not with my phone, but with my mind. It was a perfect picture, one to be captured and stored safely in my memory bank. It is a picture that I will pull out and cherish for the rest of my days.
If there is one thing that’s certain, time passes. Things change. Little girls grow up. Little boys do too. One minute, they are looking so cute, toddling around the living room, and the next, they are walking down the aisle on their wedding day. We cannot stop time, but we can seize the moment. We can pause and take notice. We can experience the precious moments fully, treasuring their beauty, storing them in our memory banks forever.
I am reminded of the words of the Serenity Prayer. “Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.”” Friends, let’s not miss the moments. Let us pause and savor them, giving thanks to God for their exquisite beauty. May we cherish the sweet smiles, the tender words, the laughter, the love. May the memories linger, and those precious moments be ours forever.
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Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14 – NIV
PRAYER
O Dear Father, how great is Your love for us, for it is from You that we learn how to love fully, completely, and unconditionally. How precious is our love for our children, just as we are precious in Your sight. Teach us to treasure the tender moments of this life, to experience their beauty, and to commit them to memory. Let us approach each new day with a heart full of joy, enjoying each moment and giving thanks for our countless blessings.
In the Loving Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Blessings,
Anita
-APS 7/12/2021
Faith Beyond Sight 