This morning I set out to clean the garage. I know that is usually the man's job, but since my job sends me package after package after package, 99% of the garage is full of my stuff. Today I got more packages and to make room, I needed to do a little purging of useless stuff. You know the garage is where things go to die and if you don't go through it, next thing you know you have stuff where cars should be. So on this hot and humid day, I set out to get rid of a few things.
What I didn't expect was to find two boxes full of happy memories that made me smile. The first box was from High School. Those who know me well know I'm a social butterfly and in high school I was no different. I found old pictures from my senior year and old notes from boyfriends. Now why did i save those boyfriend note I will never know other than my mom said that one day it would be cool to share them with my daughter...although after reading some of them, if i ever have a girl, she would probably laugh her head off. Not because the boys said silly things, but because at that age you really don't know how to write or express yourself well. Heck, even now at 32 its still difficult. In the HS box was also all my journals. I started really writing in a journal when I was in 5th grade and Mrs. Fox made us write in a spiral notebook daily and since i had her for two years, she taught 5th and 6th grade English, I got into the habit of writing in them. So after i didn't have to write, i kept writing and have about 5years of journals detailing my daily life as a teen. One day I'm sure ill really sit down to read them but just glancing at them made me smile. Blogs for the most part have replaced writing in journals and although blogs give your friends and family a chance to see what your up to and your thoughts, it is to public to sometimes share your deep thoughts. But just looking into this box and organizing it made me smile.
The next box not only made me smile and laugh, but it also gave me huge encouragement. It was my college box. This box reminded me of what good friends I had at Harding. I ran across old Squire letters from the boys in Knights, some of which made me crack up, especially the attempts at poetry because their Sir Knight made them do it. I also found a bunch of pictures from different times in my Harding life. Freshman dorm pictures, wedding pictures from all the weddings I had been in, Knight function pictures and some pictures from different trips to Pinnacle Mt. and Heber.
But the most treasured things I found in that box were several notes of encouragement from friends over the years. One thing i loved about Harding was you could take a few seconds, write a quick note to someone and drop it in the mail. It's a Pre-facebook way of chatting with friends and letting them know you love them. Some were written to me when I was having a bad day. Some where just friends letting me know what they think of me or how my actions encouraged them. But ALL of them made me smile. Two of them suck out from two of my good friends in college. When I read them it encouraged me in my daily walk with the Lord and reminded me that I'm a child of God who is deeply loved. Those two friends I have lost touch with over the years but they still are encouraging me with notes that are over 7 years old.
My trip down memory lane was so fun that I hardly realized that I was cleaning the garage. But it reminded me that I need to do better about writing notes of encouragement to those I love. Now with e-mail, text messaging, facebook and blogs, most of us don't take the time to hand write anything other than maybe a grocery list. But if you get a chance, send a note to someone you love, better yet...MAIL a note to someone you love and encourage them. You never know when they need it, even if it is 7 years later in a hot humid garage.
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