reminiscing

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Pictures Are Needed For More Than Reminiscing

We spent some time today looking at old pictures, but the purpose was not to reminisce. …Mind you, you can’t look at old pictures without remembering back to the day or time the pictures were taken. 

pictures are needed for more than reminiscing

Many of the pictures we looked at had family in them and we were taken back to the days when we were younger and our kids were little.

In looking at all those photos, I did realize one thing: I don’t take a very good picture. I’m not talking about my ability to snap the perfect shot, I’m referring to how I look in the images. 

Though I looked younger and thinner, I still was able to come up with a goofy look for the photographer to capture. 

… Either that or the photographer was trying to get an odd look from me. Most of the pictures were taken by Lily so maybe she’s the reason I didn’t appear very photogenic. 

Though we couldn’t help commenting on the pictures, we were really looking at the photos to come up with something to put on our living room wall. 

Some people display family pictures prominently in their homes, but this wall needs something very sizeable on it, like five feet wide. … I don’t really want such a large picture of my family in that spot. 

We looked at sunset pictures we’ve taken – we have millions of them – but they didn’t seem to be right. 

We looked online at canvas art that we could purchase. But it’s hard to find one that suits us. 

Then I realized that in the thirty-six years we’ve been married, we’ve never picked a large picture to hang in our living room. We’ve had some given to us that we put up, but we have never gone out and looked for a picture or art to place on our living room walls. 

Lily has done some art in the past, but this is not something that she feels confident about or has the time for. 

Our son, Mike, when he was about three years old, had an artistic streak that lasted about one day. He was using poster paint at the time and produced twenty-seven paintings in the span of about an hour. Lily had to stop him when she ran out of places to set them to dry. 

… Even if we still had them, I don’t think any of them would work. 

So we are stumped. We have a large feature wall in our living room that is screaming at us to put something beautiful on it. But we have no idea what that would be.

Should it be an actual picture that we like, a painting, something realistic or abstract? We don’t know. 

We certainly have not seen anything that has wowed us yet. 

And we are not in the market to spend lots of money on an original art piece. 

I just hope we find something before Lily decides to paint that wall again and we have to look for a completely different colour scheme.

Here’s the thing: There are times when we realize we need something in our life. We are sure of it, but we don’t know what it is and can’t really put our finger on it. We make half-hearted attempts to find out what it might be. Let me encourage you to seek God. If you need something in your life, He will be the one who can supply it for you. Don’t look in different directions; start first with God and ask Him what He thinks you need. He knows you best.

That Life!

Paul

Question: What is something you can’t figure out right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Reminiscing Is Good For Your Soul

Have you ever thought of how reminiscing is good for the soul? It creates a “make you feel good” moment.

We reminisce all the time. Any time you run into a long-lost friend or even just get together with long time friends, at some point the conversation always goes back to “remember back when…”

I think when we get older that’s why we like the past, and like to reminisce. The old songs, the old ways make us feel good, so we are drawn to them.

I know that every time I get together with friends I went to high school or college with, we talk about the things we did and laugh about them all over again. Even when they weren’t that funny back then, they are great for a laugh now. 

We are constantly rehashing the past, and finding it more and more comforting. 

Although it is something that we do more often the older we get, all ages reminisce. 

That’s why when you play mini stick hockey in the basement with your son, the next day he’ll hand you a mini stick while you’re watching the game on TV. 

It’s just his way of reminiscing about yesterday and wanting to relive it. 

When we get older the difference is the huge span of time that has elapsed since what you’re reminiscing about … and the fact that if you tried to relive it now, you’d probably kill yourself.

My son called me up just the other day. He was learning to play a song on his guitar and was reminded how I used to play it when he and his sister were young. The memory brought a smile to his face and he wanted to share it with me. 

… And while I’m there, the first line in the last paragraph is from another song I used to play for my kids. It’s a line straight out of “Cats In the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.

I can still see them jumping up and down on the bed as I strummed my guitar and sang as loud as I could.

But there I go, reminiscing a little myself! 

The other day I played my first game of golf this season. I was in a tournament on a team with three other guys. 

I didn’t want to be the worst on the team and I didn’t want to hold them back, but I hadn’t swung a club since last fall. 

I started to think about the parts of my swing that I had been working on last year. I was worried I wouldn’t remember what to do to incorporate them. I didn’t want to go right back to my old habits.

But when I stepped up to the practice tee to hit a few balls, it all came back. As I stood over the ball, I remembered what to do. It was like I was reminiscing about swinging the golf club again.

Here’s the thing: Our minds provide us with a lot of feel good memories. But that also means that there can be sad, painful, guilty memories that show up as well. Just remember if you are a follower of Christ, God has taken all your sin away. So you can reminisce over the memories with a smile on your face.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has this post caused you to reminisce about? Leave your comments below.