Discoveries and Stuff

One of the "joys" of retirement is having the time to work on "projects" that you've put off until...well, retirement!  I know we all have those little "lists" in the recesses of our minds of the things that we hope to accomplish when we finally have the "time" to do so.  

A word to the wise:

• Retirement doesn't really give you any more time than what you had before.  
• There are still only 24 hours to every day, seven days in a week, etc., etc., 
• If you don't organize and prioritize your time wisely, you will still be wondering when you will ever get those "projects" done.

So, here I am, about 3 months into my retirement, and my list is still there...and it seems to be growing instead of shrinking.  Of course, I've had a few interruptions here and there. My retirement began a few days before Thanksgiving...and then there was Christmas...and of course January is always busy recovering from the holidays and getting used to the fact that it is a New Year...and then there was company coming again in February, and so on and so on. All good stuff. Happy stuff! I wouldn't change a moment of it! But NOW...it is time to get to that "list"!  

One of the first things on my list is to reorganize our closets and dresser drawers. Trust me, it is a project that is long overdue.  So yesterday I was determined to get started on my side of the closet and dresser.  

Of course, dresser drawers can lead to many discoveries. I should never have started with my small top drawer. That is the one where I store my first big journal,(click on the link for more about that), odds and ends of pictures, scraps of stuff that need to go into a scrapbook or other permanent places to preserve them, old jewelry, and, well, just stuff! 

Among these "treasures" I discovered an envelope with my Dad's handwriting on it:

Apparently he had been going through some boxes of old pictures and discovered some copies of our wedding pictures, among other older photos of me as a child, and decided to give them to me on our 35th wedding anniversary.  (Hmmm, that would have been almost 12 years ago now, so this envelope has been stuffed in my drawer for 12 years...yes...this job is long overdue!)

Of course, the envelope alone is a treasure to me, because my sweet Daddy has been gone to heaven now for almost five years, and to have something that he put together and presented to me in his latter years is pretty special.

Anyway, back to my story...you can see how easily I get side-tracked with memories and "stuff".  

In amongst the wedding pictures was this photograph that I truly don't recall ever seeing before:

This was me at age six, striking quite a pose! I had to study this picture for a few minutes to be certain that it really was me! But it has my name written on the back in my mother's handwriting, so that cinches it! 

Upon looking at this picture my first impression was that I was quite a sassy little ham. Anyone who knows me well would probably corroborate that impression...and most likely state that nothing much has changed in the numerous years since!

I'm not sure why this little photo has captivated my imagination so much, but I have not been able to get it out of my mind. Hence, here I am even writing about it today! I look at that sassy little girl and see such determination and purpose in her stance. I am standing in front of a "closed door"...Oh my goodness! That is another revelation that has just now this moment occurred to me!  Standing in front of a CLOSED DOOR? Perhaps looking toward an "OPEN WINDOW"...the future?  MY future?  

Wow!  Little did I know at that precise moment in time just what my future would hold. My life was still a mystery awaiting discovery. But guess what? GOD knew! God knew me!  God knew who I was then, and who I would become. How do I know this?  Listen:

"For You (GOD) formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise You,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

and that my soul know very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was made in secret, 

and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in YOUR book they all were written,

the days fashioned for me,

when as yet there were none of them."

Psalm 139:13-16

God knew who and what I would become...and even though my accomplishments are not that great in the world's view, I trust that they are exactly what God had planned. I know that my life is not over yet, and God may still have some new discoveries and plans to fulfill in and through me.  It will be a continual adventure until the day He calls me home. 

Until then, this is my prayer:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

and see if there is any wicked way in me,

and LEAD ME in the way everlasting."

Amen.

Psalm 139:23-24

How about you?