Remember When

I love the song by Alan Jackson called “Remember When” – a song about remembering things from our past life. As some of my memories of my life started flowing through my mind, I decided to stop and listen to this incredible song penned by the simple, strong and quiet man from nearby Newnan, GA.  Here are the lyrics as well….

Remember when I was young and so were you
And time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love and then you cried
Remember when

Remember when we vowed the vows and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when

Remember when old ones died and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other’s hearts
Remember when

Remember when the sound of little feet
Was the music we danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we’d never give it up
Remember when

Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookin’ back, it’s just a steppin’ stone
To where we are, where we’ve been
Said we’d do it all again
Remember when

Remember when we said when we turned gray
When the children grow up and move away
We won’t be sad, we’ll be glad
For all the life we’ve had
And we’ll remember when     (by Alan Jackson)

My memory can often help me make good decisions, because I can remember when I’d been faced with a similar decision.  I have many memories of childhood that bless me to recall. I have some memories that are a bit painful as I remember some sweet family members who have passed from this life into eternal life.  I think it’s HUGE to reflect now and then to where I’ve been in order to clarify where I’m headed.

As I read about King Asa of Judah this morning, I was reminded to remember my own journey with the Lord. King Asa had really leaned on the Lord in his earlier days serving as King. He seemed to forget the Power and the Presence of God in his life. Check this out….

⁷ At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. ⁸ Don’t you rememberwhat happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. ⁹ The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” (2 Chronicles 16:7-9 NLT)

I want to remember the simple things of my journey with the Lord like spending time in His Word.

I want to remember pivotal worship moments when I felt like I could feel the breath from His nostrils as I cried on His chest.

I want to remember the call He placed upon my heart to serve and honor Him with my life.

I want to remember mornings like this when I heard Him speak through a country music song directly into my heart.

My heart hurts deeply for those who’ve lost the ability to remember. As long as I can remember, I want to make remembering a significant part of my life today because it reminds me to be wholly present today, because when tomorrow comes, today becomes a memory too.

Pressing On!

Dwayne