I learned a long time ago that “Feelings are neither right nor wrong. They just are.” Perhaps memories are like that too. There are happy, joyful memories. And there are also painful, unhappy memories. In my scrapbooks, have tried over the years to capture the happy memories. I tend to avoid the unhappy ones, and hope that they just fade into the corners of our minds, or to even vanish as if the events never occurred. But is this a true “picture” of our reality?
I keep chronological scrapbooks…I’ve got volumes of albums full of family photos. They are lovingly placed on decorated pages that are highlighted with stickers or die cuts. I journal my thoughts on the events photographed, for others to read. Most of those events are pleasant to recall. We have had some hard years…but I have managed to find nice things to say, or just skipped over unpleasant things all together. But I am having a hard time as I prepare to scrapbook the year that has just drawn to a close.
I had my heart broken so many times in 2009. Even as 2009 began on New Year’s Eve at midnight, I cried. That year is gone, and along with it, much of the pain has subsided. However, as I look at the photos of the events that have gone by, I can feel that pain as if it was just yesterday. I feel the bitterness begin to surface once again. And I have a choice to make.
God did not spare us the documentation of unhappy moments. The Bible contains many, many examples of men and women who suffered. Many brought it on themselves with sin and poor choices. But not all. Job did nothing to deserve the difficulties he experienced. Jesus did not deserve it either. God tells us that we should “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.” Isaiah 43:1-3. Bad stuff happens…but God is with us even then.
How will I proceed with my documentation of 2009 in my scrapbook? I’m still not sure. But I know that like feelings, memories just are. I also know that God is in control. “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
