I can be “unconscious.” I truly can. I can miss things that others notice. I find that it helps me to have tangible reminders of things, signs if you will, that remind me of things I need to remember. My family knows about my need. They give me visual and tangible signs frequently. One of my favorites is a small pillow that sits on the day bed in my office. My daughter, Kirsten stitched it for me, but my whole family participated in its creation. It has my parting words to my family at the end of visits: “Love you; mean it!.” And around my words are the signatures of each member of my family. It reminds me of how blessed I am, it reminds me that my family gets it and even more importantly that they get me.
I have others that my family have given to me. On my desktop is a coaster for my drink (and I always have an iced tea at my desk) that reads “Love bears all things.” My son made it for me when he was in middle school for Christmas. When I see it, I smile because I remember his joy in giving it to me and mine in receiving it and our relationship. Visual reminders are some of my favorite things.
And there’s the little plaque next to my aloe plant that simply says, “I love that you’re my mom.” My oldest daughter gave it to me the year I was doing chemo. Every day when I see it, I thank the LORD for my children, their love, the love of their father, and the visual reminder of the importance of relationships.
At my desk is a small plaque that I’ve had for nearly 50 years. My husband, Kenneth, gave it to me for our anniversary. It says, “I don’t love you because I need you; I need you because I love you.” I needed it the year he gave it to me. I still do. I just love visuals. They have a lot to do with how well I act and live. They have a way of calling me to be a better person.
And then there are my spiritual visuals and tangibles. They are everywhere. They, too, make me stop, remember, and desire to be whom I am created to be and called to be. They remind me of what the LORD has done for me and stir within me a desire to use that loving grace well for love of the LORD and others. When I walk to my porch, I pass a small set of the holy family. When I go into my bedroom, I see the crucifix by the door. When I reach into my pocket, I feel the crucifix I carry.
All around us, if we think about it, there are reminders, visual reminders of the power and presence of the LORD who brought us into being, who loved us before we accomplished a single thing. And we have the opportunity daily to allow them to inform our mind, to help us as we seek to conform our wills to our LORD’s, and to transform not just ourselves but the world in which we live for the glory of our LORD.
Look around. Can you see them? What do they tell us? What are they calling us to?
Until tomorrow, let us all love well.
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