Today Mickey and I attended the life celebration/memorial service of a good friend’s mom who recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. It was a very beautiful and fitting service for a life well lived. To me, it says a lot for a person when their memorial service not only has tears, but also times of smiles and laughter through remembrances. That’s what I would want my own memorial to be like, actually. I would like to be remembered, some day, with smiles and laughter. That’s a great testimony to a life filled with family, friends, love and faithfulness.
One thing that really stood out to me in today’s service was when entries from a journal were read. I found the sharing of written thoughts very moving. It occurred to me that these journals would be a treasure for the family for years to come. I think that is just incredible. That makes me want to be a better journal keeper. If not written down into a beautifully bound book, then maybe typed on a blog or a computer journal. What was shared today were thankful lists and it was a blessing to hear each of them. If it blessed me, as a congregation member today, I can only imagine how it blessed the family and close friends to hear those thankful words being read. What a beautiful treasure!
I would encourage each of us to keep thankful records. This is one of my yearly goals, but, really, it’s a nice lifelong goal. I haven’t yet recorded our family thankful items in a journal, but each evening before we have the blessing before dinner, we all go around and tell what we are thankful for in that day. Tonight, Macey even asked to go first. It’s catching on already! I really need to get a journal and write down these thankful items each day. A friend recently told me that she used to do this with her three children too and that it helped them all to see that they could find something to be thankful for in even the not-so-happiest of days. So, we’ll continue with our thankful offerings each evening and I’ll get a journal soon to record them.
When I remember our friend’s mom, I will remember her sweet smile, the way she adored her family and what I learned today which was the way she was known for faithfully journaling. In journaling, she left behind a precious set of written memories that can be treasured by her family. And, whichever way I can, I’d like to do the same.
Blessings,
Kelly
(I decided not to include names, outside of our family, in this post out of respect for privacy.)