Life’s Threads

Through the years we gather and carry with us so many experiences and acquaintances.  All of these are mingled among the successes and failures in the different testings and affirmations of faith.  I marvel: the handiwork of the Lord;  I marvel that He never misses a thread.  Things I think are wasted, things long forgotten, prayers and petitions, praises and disappointments… God’s still holding all the threads of these things.

Time passes and memories fade — and then, seemingly by chance, an old friendship is rekindled, a memory is brought to mind, a photograph sparks thoughts of an event rarely remembered.  But God remembers… His memory never dims and He’s not constrained by time or recollection.  The threads, unseen or unknown to us, continue to be woven by His gracious and skilled Hands.

I’m reminded to not think He’s forgotten or that life’s experiences have little meaning.  I’m reminded that all my yesterdays have tomorrows.  The seeds sown in years past may seem to by lying dead in fallow ground… but in time I will see what became of those seeds — some carelessly, some intentionally planted in different seasons of my life.

A long distance phone conversation with a friend last week seems to have opened a floodgate of memories that leave me longing for the early years, smiling at the thought of the babies — now men and women — with babies of their own.    And then, another surprise, a phone call and plans to spend some extended time together with dear old friends.  Surely we’ll be reminiscing and talking over days gone by when we meet — I can hardly contain my excitement!  Were that not enough, and surely not by chance, another old friend posted a couple of photos on Facebook… ah, the endearing faces,  photos of little boys — now men — our first two sons.  This led to my husband (who very rarely ever even logs on to Facebook) posting some photos of babies and little children… old photos!  Threads of connection… bringing life circles around again.

The threads of photos and conversations seem to connect us to our past like nothing else — these are the good threads — the sweet threads. How sweet to think the Lord is holding all these threads together, that not a time is wasted or lost — even though we don’t keep tract of or keep tying threads.