A cake topper from my grandparent's wedding, two tiny pairs of shoes, one mine, one my mothers. A puppy toy that was drug on many adventures. My sorority sisters' notes of encouragement. A handful of graduation tassels. a few hospital bracelets, still intact, unlike my nerves on the days where my little boy thought he was invincible. Cupcake's dress that she was wearing the day I met her. An autographed t-shirt from my first NFL game. Cards, notes, letters and i love you scrawled by little hands.
And then there, pressed between a few other papers was a list. A prayer list nearly 7 years old. The corners tattered and dog eared. As I read down through the list, I remembered. The lives requests and praises jotted down. Illnesses, losses, and joys, hopes, firsts. My son's first tooth lost made the list. The children's prayers are always so beautifully transparent. Boo-boos. pets. a cat who died 3 years ago makes the list again. All important. All treasured.
Some wonderful people now home with Jesus. Some struggles come to an end, some good, some not so good. Families adopting waiting. waiting. waiting. now home!
I read the list over a couple of times, embracing the emotion that went with it.
I placed each treasure back in it's place. The discard pile minimal, pretty much just the brittle pasta jewels.
In fact, I didn't really clean out anything. I guess my soul was just longing to remember. remember that life is special and those in it are treasures. When i think i've not gotten very far, i need to peek back over my shoulder and smile. Through the peaks, pits, praises and prayers, i'm looking ahead eager to see what lies before us. In the meantime, i may need a bigger cedar chest!
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