What do Beach chairs have to do with Memory?

I am patiently sitting in a straight back uncomfortable chair in a sterile doctor’s office with my Dad waiting on the doctor. The room filled with the necessary equipment for exams and procedures, the ominous-looking machines with scopes attached, and monitors glaring at us. Although that captured my Dad’s attention, he was most enamored by the picture on the wall. You have seen them, the almost cartoon-like drawing of a beach with the Wooden beach rental chairs and an umbrella in the middle. This picture prompted a memory of more than 50 years ago of a young teenage boy, earning gas money during the summer on Clearwater beach, and my Dad began to talk about the job of putting out the chairs, the fact that it was $2.00 a day to rent them. “It wasn’t a bad job, but when I got the job with the City as a Lifeguard, it was a pay raise and a promotion. I was the one in charge on the beach.”

A sweet conversation ensued about his time working on the beach. I believe with all of my heart that the ocean is God’s best work! It is my happy place. I do my best work on the beach, listening to the waves crash, watching the waves creep up the sand, but never go too far, and thoroughly soaking in the vastness of the deep blue-green ocean. When trouble abounds, I head to the beach for clarity and direction. My Dad instilled in me a love for the big beautiful body of water, from my first swim in Clearwater beach at the ripe old age of 3 weeks. (yes, three weeks old)

Sweet memories of times gone by are more available than the simple things of now, like, what was eaten for lunch or how long he has to stay in rehab. I was reminded this morning that we need to reminisce, and we need to reflect on our journey with God as well. Through all of our good times, today and yesterday, God is with us; He reminds us of what He has done in our lives, through the lessons from Deuteronomy 8:2-3:

“And you shall remember the whole way that the

Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”

Lord, help me to foster those memories and not get frustrated with answering the “today” questions over and over again.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Dt 8:2–3). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Share on Facebook