Out With the Old

Memories. Good ones. Bad ones. Ugly ones. Surprising ones. Forgotten ones. Tragic ones. Happy ones. Teary ones. And those memories you just want to forget. Erase. Delete. Stomp on. Bury in the backyard.

Today’s social media allows us to be reminded of our pasts. Facebook shows us everyday our past memories just in case we want to share it with the rest of the world. Timehop is another app which helps us keep our memories locked up in a vault that is on continual repeat day after day.

Some of these memories I want to be reminded of while others, well, delete should be an option. Today was one of those days. My kid had car trouble. Work was busy. Then we lost power so I went home early only to discover I too had no power. So I sat in the dead silence for awhile trying to decide what to do.

As I was sitting on the couch petting the cat, I remembered what Timehop had shared with me. Today was an anniversary, well it should have been but that memory was one I needed not to dwell on. It was an engagement anniversary for a marriage I was no longer a part of. It was once a happy memory which had turned into just another date on the calendar.

We all have these types of memories. Some of them sneak up on us from around the corner and glare at us until we react or respond. This is where forgiveness is a very effective tool to have. I chose from the very beginning, to forgive my now ex-husband. I think that’s why September 3rd is once again just a date stamped on a calendar.

Sure. I mulled it over. Might have been a little sad today but it was just for a moment. I had to look at it and tell it that I was at peace with it. Some times we have to look our memories in the eye and let them know who the Author of our inner peace is. We need to bury hatchets and choose forgiveness, because Timehop and Facebook will just keep reminding us of our past.

Tomorrow is a chance to make more memories. His mercy is new every morning which means those memories from yesterday have no right to haunt us. Choose forgiveness. Choose to live in the now. And most importantly know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are not defined by your past mistakes even though the devil tries to tell you this.

God defines who you are. Listen to His voice. Trust His memories of you. Let go of the hurts and regrets. Receive the new mercy so freely offered to you day after day. This is where you make peace with the past.