remember

1 : to bring to mind or think of again
2 archaic a : bethink 1b b : remind
3 a : to keep in mind for attention or consideration b : reward
4 : to retain in the memory
5 : to convey greetings from
6 : record, commemorateintransitive verb 1 : to exercise or have the power of memory
2 : to have a recollection or remembrance

— re·mem·ber·abil·i·ty \-ˌmem-b(ə-)rə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

— re·mem·ber·able \-ˈmem-b(ə-)rə-bəl\ adjective

— re·mem·ber·er \-bər-ər\ noun
synonyms remember, recollect, recall, remind, reminisce mean to bring an image or idea from the past into the mind. remember implies a keeping in memory that may be effortless or unwilled (remembers that day as though it were yesterday). recollect implies a bringing back to mind what is lost or scattered (as near as I can recollect). recall suggests an effort to bring back to mind and often to re-create in speech (can't recall the words of the song). remind suggests a jogging of one's memory by an association or similarity (that reminds me of a story). reminisce implies a casual often nostalgic recalling of experiences long past and gone (old college friends like to reminisce).

remembering...

It is amazing how time passes and though things change, how things can remain very much the same.

Being back in the states and particularly the past couple days in lawrence has been fun, a bit surreal, and makes me feel as if i almost never left or have just been gone a few months. things have changed, little details, but much remains the same.

It has been fun to run into old friends and it's been fun to run into students who were freshmen when i left and who now are about ready to graduate, graduate, and some married or soon to be married.

It has been good to remember both what God has done in the past, to see what He is doing and has done during the time I've been gone, and it's been good to share what He has done and is doing in Spain. Remembering is a good thing, a very good thing. The Bible talks a lot about remembering and about building memorials of God's faithfulness, of remembering who he is and what he has done.

Telling of God's faithfulness and workings and hearing of them are good for my heart and my soul. Both have helped me to be encouraged about the future. Both have helped me to be hopeful even in the midst of life's difficult times. And thanking and praising God as I remember are things that I've realized I NEED. I can't really live and do well without REMEMBERING & WORSHIPPING God for who He is and what He has done.

So thank you to all the people who have been a part of me remembering (and verbally processing and both saying and hearing of God's goodness).

looking back

(picture taken by nathanbhughes)

this morning i just finished my joshua study, that has endured most of this year. it has been exactly what i've needed this year.

as both the book and the study come to a close, it is interesting that in the last chapters of joshua, the people of Israel renew their covenant with God and REMEMBER what the Lord has done (in bringing them out of Egypt, in fulfilling what he had promised, and in bringing them to the promised land (and being the one who went before them in their battles)).

as i read the last little bit this morning and was reflecting, it made me REMEMBER as well how God has shown his faithfulness to me this year, this semester, in drawing me to himself, in the last few years, etc., and it also made me think about how HE WILL be faithful today and in the weeks and years to come. hmmm... :-) good stuff to start the day with.

this helps me to rest at ease with the things I can't control, don't know how they will play out, or the things that I find it hard to let rest in the Lord's hands instead of my own. it also causes me to respond in praise, faith, and the desire to follow Jesus with all that I am. ah... it's nice to be reminded that i am safe and secure.

enjoy the day!