Oh, the memories…

Childhood memories are sometimes so happy. Do you remember your favorite memory? Are there family vacations, loving moms and dads, and homes full of intertwined comfort and peace? If so, please feel loved, feel blessed, feel the gift you were given.

My earliest childhood memory is sleeping in the back driver side floorboard of my mom’s old beat up red car. Why do I even remember, at three years of age, which spot was assigned to me? I’m not sure. We parked each night in the driveway of a “friend”. Really it was the house where my mother would go to feel connected and to feel like she was part of something. She needed to chase away all the pain and fear of what might be ahead for her and her three young daughters.

My second most stunning childhood memory is the abusive man that became mom’s boyfriend. I vividly remember the beatings in the middle of the road, the anger, the hospitalizations, the blood. He never hit us girls, it was always mom. There is something that happens when you watch your mother being abused. Something I can’t yet put into words.

Rounding out my top three earliest memories is the death of my grandmother. My eldest sister and I were spending the night when she passed away. I was three years old. I remember this event with such clarity that I can hear the EMT’s words, I can see my mother’s reaction to just losing her mother, I can feel the pain, the sorrow, the agony of losing the only person who was capable of caring for us.

I tell you this: Sometimes circumstances seem absolutely unconquerable. My childhood pain seemed like it would last forever. But God had a plan, He is Gracious, He is Love. One day my mom decided to move to Roanoke and there a wonderful stepfather walked into our story. Little did we know our lives would be changed forever! No more cold nights, government cheese and powered milk. No more homelessness and beatings. Because of this gift, God has grown me, my mother and my sisters into amazing women with lives so beautiful we cannot imagine! We have all found not only an earthly Father, but all are children and believers in a Heavenly Father who is irreplaceable.

Childhood memories are sometimes so sad. But God knows the plans he has for our future! My Heavenly Father has built a mansion in glory for me and He reminds me daily that this life is temporary; this life is meant to glorify Him, not to worry about what I have or where I live. Sometimes a humble beginning in the back driver side floorboard will bloom into a beautiful, fulfilled life God had just around the corner.

What situation might you be in that you think will never end? I encourage you, with this scripture:

Isaiah 43:1-3 Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”