It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, how much money you make or how healthy you are.  Life happens.  As I get older, I realize that I don’t remember a lot of life that happened to me.  Probably a good thing.  But there are things that I want to remember.

Throughout the Bible we are told to remember - Here are just a few:

Genesis 9:16 “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth”.

Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”.

Deuteronomy 32:7 “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations.  Ask you father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you”.

Psalm 77:11 “I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old”.

Phillipians 1:3 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you”.

One of the things we need to remember is God’s Word.  But how did the people in Biblical times remember?  Surely their memory got dim as they got older. They didn’t have the Bible we have today to go back and read to remember. The Bible does mention in Deuteronomy chapter 4 that we are to talk to our children and tell them what God has done and they are to tell their children and so on.  That’s one way to preserve the stories. But for me, I am thankful that God was a journaler. (That’s probably not a real word) His Bible contains all the events that happened with details, names and places.  The more I read it, the more I remember.  But when I don’t remember, it is right there waiting for me to look it up. I can only imagine what God’s scrapbook would look like!

But what about what is going on right now in our lives?  Where can we go to remember all that God has done for us?  I have trouble remembering what God has done for me.  God blesses me everyday - but I don’t remember it from one day to the next.  If I had to sit down right now and compile a list of all of the blessings that I know about that God has done, it would be very difficult.  So, a few years ago, I started a blessings journal.  Got one of those blank journals as a gift and each time God blesses me, usually by surprise (something happens that I had no way of knowing would happen) I write it down.  Not every time – I don’t always remember . . .  But it does come in handy on those days when it seems like nothing is going my way and I’m discouraged.  I take out my blessing book and read some of the entries and then I remember how good God has been to me.

For example:

➧Thank you for the free backpack - it rang up the wrong price at Publix, so it was free.

➧Thank you Lord - my computer crashed yesterday and there was info on it that I greatly needed.  You allowed the computer to boot up just long enough for me to get my info before it finally crashed and stayed crashed.  Thank you Lord for giving me that info.

I would encourage you to do something to preserve what God has done for you.  Each night, think back over your day – did you notice the blessings?  Did you get a great parking spot at the grocery store?  Did the grocery cart have wheels that worked?  Did you hit all green lights on the way home?  Did you get an unexpected call or letter with good news?  You may think it’s all coincidences or just plain luck but God doesn’t do coincidences or luck.  He blesses us.  Take time to notice and then write it down.  It will come in handy the next time you feel discouraged.