December 08 Martha's Musings

Several years ago, I made a “Family Tree” as one of our Christmas decorations. I took several photos from storage boxes of our combined family members and attached them to a silver metal tree that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I trimmed the photos to highlight separate individuals, framed each with various colors of cardstock, punched a small hole, added a gold hanging thread, and VOILA! Our “Family Tree” was born! This year, I realized that our current tree was too small to hold all the pictures that I needed to add. Several new members – spouses, nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren – were noticeably absent. So several evenings have been spent rectifying this situation. I finished it up earlier today, and I am so pleased, as they all fit quite nicely on the new, larger, white tabletop tree I found at Kirkland’s. (It was even on sale!) As I looked over all the pictures, my mind was flooded with memories. Wonderful memories of times past, which hold such promise for times to come. Cameras afford us the ability to capture all the special times that the Lord gives us. Our memories are so precious, as they give perspective to our lives, and the ability to share these moments with others. Interestingly, the Good Lord gave us the gift of memory, which I guess He did simply because He loves us. God is not required to do anything at all. Every gift we have – every loved one, every vacation, every award, every birthday, every new dress/haircut/certificate of achievement, etc. – is a gift from above. Do you understand what a “gift” really is? It is something that is given out of love. One does not “deserve” a gift: one just gratefully receives it. The most perfect gift ever given is God’s gift to us of His Son, Jesus Christ, which affords us the hope of salvation. Prepare to gratefully receive it.