I have had the privilege of visiting with people who are several decades my senior.  Often during our time together, they shared various memories – times of war, family vacations, or other life experiences.  I am always amazed by their power of recollection, especially when they start talking about other people, where they are from, or what they did as an occupation.  The gift of detail seldom skips any of them until you ask them what they had for lunch.  I have come to recognize the fact that memory is a fickle thing.  Somethings we can easily recall with vivid detail and other things were to mundane or insignificant for our brains to waste space logging it into our memories. 

The other thing I have learned is that we can be witnesses to the same event, but each of us will recall differing details about the event.  If you want a case study in this, watch the movie Vantage Point.  A great lesson for us to learn, especially as couples, is that we will never recall the exact same details about a shared experience; we will each tell the story of this moment from our own unique vantage point.  It is not that we are telling the story right or wrong but simply from the details about the event that made an impression and that we recall. 

Two things come to mind about this:  first is that to share a story about something, you must be engaged in the event.  Second is the fact that our individual stories are not complete; God is still writing out the remainder of our unique story.  There is much for us to still be witnesses to and to bear witness to.  For me, the most powerful part of my story is God’s grace.  My life’s journey has been marked by it in very specific ways and I am blessed to be able to remember nearly all of them.  I have been the prodigal, I have been the older brother, I have been the tax collector and sinner on the outside, and I have been the Pharisee who takes comfort in being on the inside.  I have been granted the insight to see myself through the lens of each of these characters.  Thank God, I have also been given the spiritual sight to see how God’s grace has and continues to transform my heart, mind, and soul as I strive to be a fully committed disciple of Jesus Christ.  I believe each of us have this ability; the ability to see our story through the mirror of God’s grace.  I propose that it is there that we find all we need to live an abundant life.

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above as you move to reflect on the questions below.  Take a moment and recall your journey in God’s grace and how your story is still being written by God.  Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.