Memories...

Read Hebrews 13:7, 17

I am writing this devotion on a Wednesday morning, and I am feeling a little nostalgic. I was thinking of my Grandfather and Grandmother that is in the heavenlies. What an inheritance they provided for me. I remember all the times spent with my grandmother at my uncle’s cabin or driving to Pierz, MN to see her sisters. I remember the 10 minute jobs for my grandfather that turned into 3 day fiascos.
What I remember the most about them, however, was their faithfulness to God. I remember sitting in their living room (usually while she was making Swedish pancakes) and picking up her Bible and looking at it thinking, “If I could just be like her someday.” I remember my grandfather leading all the children in the Sunday School (he was superintendent forever) in such a simple, yet for a 7 year old, deep prayer to the Lord. As I was thinking about them, I remembered a poem that a friend named Brenda Orfer wrote way back in Bible College that I pulled out, and I want to share it with you now.

Happy memories walk the hallway of my mind,
Memories of exciting occasions and joyous times.
The picture of your smiling face is framed within my heart,
And my love for you grows fonder though now we are apart.

More than just a father, you were my dearest friend;
But as the cliché says, “All good things come to an end.”
The days, the weeks, the months and years continue to pass by,
Slowly fading the hurt and sorrow hidden deep inside.
How I wish that I could see you as I gaze the heavens above,
With tear stained eyes that blur the clouds and send you all my love.

Brenda (Hartley) Orfer

"[Memory is] a man's real possession...In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor."
Alexander Smith (1830 - 1867)