From Your Eyes to Your Mind and Heart

Many of us keep diaries. Even more write down notes to themselves, annotate photos, and perhaps save letters, postcards, or other mementos we collect along the way of our lives or the ones someone else sent to us. Remembering the past is a sometimes sad, sometimes happy, yet always intensely personal experience that is different for each of us. Some find it hard to revisit certain memories; some of us find it extremely difficult to share memories with others, especially if these memories deal with feelings.

Interestingly enough, God is concerned about our memories. In the book of Deuteronomy, God, through Moses, strongly cautions the Israelites to "watch" themselves so they would not "forget the things" their "eyes have seen" or allow them to "slip" from their "hearts as long" as they would live. In and of itself, this is a great admonition, but God does not stop there: He also demands that the people of Israel would teach these things to their children and grandchildren (Deuteronomy 4:9).  The threefold implication is striking: memories are to be kept in our minds, in our hearts, and shared with our children and grandchildren.

From Your Mind and Heart to Your Mouth

I once heard it preached not to "waste good sin". The example the preacher used was of sharing his own failures and mistakes (within the confines of reason, age appropriateness and good taste) with his sons, in order to spare them the same experiences, prove to them that God's Word is true, especially when it comes to consequences, and to help them understand that everyone is tempted once in a while to throw caution to the wind and deliberately walk down that garden path leading to destruction that the Bible warns us exists.

Taking this admonition a step further, I strongly suggest that anyone taking this advice must not simply dwell on the negatives, i.e. the punishments, consequences, and wrong turns while disregarding God's commands, but must focus on the miracles God has worked in her/his life: the answered prayers, the saved relationships, the times s/he stared temptation in the face, but instead of giving in to it, sent Satan packing and running for the hills. These, much more so than the negatives, will inspire the children we seek to train in the way they should go. After all, what is more depressing than listening to someone drone on and on how God punished her/him this way and that, without a victory or a miracle to be found (perhaps I am superimposing a personal limitation here, but work with me)?

A Stroll Down Memory Lane Or A Never-Ending Road Trip?

When we do decide to share our memories, especially with our children, we must take into account that there appear to be few things more boring that listening to mom or dad recount their (seemingly) inane recall of a (somewhat) tepid relationship with their parents.

Of course, the answer to this apparent dilemma is closer than we give it credit.... instead of continuously recounting the memories we have deemed "safe" for public consumption and personal recall, why not take the spotlight off us, at least half the time, and put it where it squarely belongs: on God! The bug crawling on our countertop is a miracle in itself. Let's talk to our children about that miracle. Remember the first time a lizard crossed our path; the wonder of its scaly skin; remember how it felt when we first touched a goat? These are the memories God wants us to share with our children! Remember the awe we felt, the surprise, the majesty we saw, the experiences we hold onto that come to our minds as flashes of color, like the cloudy swirls of red and purple that so often accompany a sunset over the Colorado Rocky Mountains. These memories will inspire our children more to stand in awe of their Lord and Creator than any command to do so, read out loud and filtered through us, can ever accomplish.

Remembering The Fire Of Our Early Discipleship

Of course, at this point of the game, we must take stock of the amount of awe and wonder we still experience in our walk with God...do we recognize the miracles or have we become so jaded that we do for the sake of doing, work in the name of Jesus instead for Jesus, but lack the heart and soul of the very discipleship we avow? Do we remember the time after we became members of God's household...the challenges, the victories (Hebrews 10:32-34)? Are they on our hearts daily with gratitude, eager to be shared with our children and others? This heart of treasured memories and eager sharing will inspire our children, and even more when they see our lives changing in response to the gratitude that accompanies the remembering and living in the optimism that is found in one who understands the weight that was lifted, the hope that is held out, and the simple road of obedience that lies ahead.

It's Been A While...Now What?

It is still possible to (re-)create the memories that we might lack (no, not the dour sackcloth and ashes ones, but the fun ones, the ones the kids will want to hear about time and again). We can make and keep flashcards (or carry a little notebook with us) where we write down things as they come to our minds.... for example, what is the strangest place we ever shared the gospel with a stranger? What is the hottest (coldest) it ever was when we were volunteering to do something outdoors for our church? What is the biggest bug we ever saw when we volunteered to clean up the backyard of someone we were reaching out to? What was the first prayer we remember that was answered within a matter of minutes? What is the longest prayer we ever prayed? What is the funniest Gideon joke we ever heard? What is the most number of new converts baptized in our church within one month?

These are examples of memories that God wants us to keep in our minds and hearts, and then share these freely with our children and grandchildren.