I want to start a list of all these things. The things I will remember, always.
I want to entitle it something simple like, “Things I Will Always Remember.”
I want so desperately to go back and fill the pages with lovely memories of the cherished past. And to collect them in one leather bound place with gold embossed lettering.
Things I will always remember.
And I wonder if I have the discipline to keep filling the pages as I live forward. To fill the white space up with lines , phrases and photographs of these times. The ones emblazened boldly on my heart. And in my memory. In the crevices of my story. In the cracks of my life.
I know I can start today by and in His Grace. I can begin a list of these things I will
always remember.
These moments that dance and sing and take our breath away.
The ones that fill us up so we can pour back out. Those that breathe life into us so we can breathe life into others.
Those that restore and rebuild.
That define us and mark us with beauty.
The ones which we record in technicolor in our memory to pull out on the black and white days, the grey ones too. The ones where we can’t see the grace. The days when we get stuck and can’t remember the beautiful we promised we’d always remember. We swore we’d never forget.
I know that by His grace I hiked a mountain hemmed in by ones I love. With ones who love me back with a deep unfailing love.
I hiked Lookout Mountain with my 74 year old father and my 11 year old niece. And Shadow came too. The rescued dog. The furry family member who is his name to my father and mother.
I look back in my mind’s eye over the pictures and over the moments on the trail and I see so clearly now. How the walking up is life. How the hiking along side one another is life. How the journey is what we do daily. How we are given the opportunity to live well in community. In family. In relationship.
How God tethers us to others to teach and build up. To strength us. To grow us. To challenge us.
We can choose to do this daily. In love.
We can choose to get up and go out to seek the relationship challenges.
We can choose to speak a word of encouragement and be encouraged by others who are walking right beside us. We can be life givers and hope builders. We shared one bottle of water between the four of us, and it was just enough. Under the shade of the green canopy, a sip here and there was all we needed.
Just being with was gift.
Just the presence of the others blessed.
I am grateful that these two spoke encouragement to me and that they undergirded me and accompanied me in on this hike.
It wasn’t easy, the trek up. But it was important.
It was vital for seeing life this one particular way. It gave clarity. I see with a lense focused on journeying in community and in love. The lense is angled and tilted and pointed to perfectly see things this way. On this trail.
To see this life and its relationships.
Again. Anew.
How grace extended to one another on the huffing and puffing parts brings joy to the journey.
How stopping and resting and extending hope, breathing life into each other’s weary souls, its what makes the journey joyful.
I will always remember my father’s cheerful spirit on the trail. His strength and stamina and joyful spirit pushing us up and on.
I will never forget extending hands out, holding on for the hard rocky part. I will remember forever my heart beating hard at the top as we took in the views. Resting after the tiresome parts to savor. To stand in awe of the God-beauty and savor what we had come to soak in at the mountain top.
My book will add this memory to its pages. The book written for now in my mind with gold embossed lettering on the spine.
This I will always remember.
And counting gifts with Ann today too. These gifts I will always remember. I am grateful to have these things in my life, to count, to savor, and to always remember:
*a week of getting to know my niece, her heart, her humor, her sweet sweet spirit
*for all the things I learned from an eleven year old which I could never learn from a book
*for that split second moment when I embraced my husband after a long absence and how the spark and beauty of the moment lasted for hours in my heart
*for the sound of running water over rocks outside my bedroom window for days and days of endless joy
*for cool nights and cool mornings and lots and lots of green canopies
*for an endless supply of inspiration for my photography, thank you Lord for your God-beauty, your creation
*for fresh blackberries and one summer cobbler
*for an “A” in chemistry for a hardworking child
*for a very social monarch butterfly which let me take what felt like a million pictures of him (cannot wait to share the picture here)
*for a daughter who loves the mountains and how late night trips to the Blue Cone for ice cream is her idea of summer nighttime fun.
elizabeth w. marshall 
Once more, lovely words that express thoughts that have laid dormant in my heart. I love that we are tethered together. What a wonderful way to express family. Thank you for your blessing. I was thinking of you today and told the Lord I needed to read something from you. What a blessing this was. BTW, mountains are one of the greatest gifts from God. DAF
To God be the glory. Your kindness lifts me up today. Thank you for encouragement from your end. How very tender that you were thinking of me. I am grateful for that and add that to my list of things to remember and to count as gift.
To be able to store up things we want to remember. I’ve never been good at this, at recording and storing the memories for later. Thank you for sharing.
Humble thank you’s for being here. Great getting to know you here. I am grateful to connect. Your writing is deeply beautiful.
oh we do have a choice, don’t we. To live in love. To seek relationships (including one with Him) wholeheartedly… and to remember the gifts He brings.
What a beautiful, captivating post, Elizabeth! Thank you!
All for Him with hugs to you,
Nikki
Nikki, humble thank you’s. And yes, all for Him. Hugs back your way. My deepest gratitude for you being right here today on this journey and in this community. I count you as gift. Your smiling spirit bring encouragement.
I loved every one of your words. I could almost be on the trail with you. Such beauty and such depth.
I hope you have your special book. It will be a treasure of memory later on to read over and over. Such beauty.
Sharon, I am humbled by your comments today. Oh my, what a gift to this writer. I want to make this book become a reality not a dream. You encourage me to go forward and act on this concept of a memory book, a little different than a scrapbook or a photo album. I am blessed and I feel lead to record it. Thank you for being right here.
Oh you Beautiful Spirit! How you BLESS me! This one… Things TO always to remember – would be how I would need to say it… cause I forget SO MUCH! And so many great, wonderful, awesome, bowl-you-over-with-love-and-joy people, moments, God Gifts, and out-n-out Miracles.
Funny, this morning I was thinking of all the people I needed to touch that I hadn’t communicated with for too long… ebb and flow in touching those who are Always With me, but I nred to Reach out to. Relationships. They require Care to grow…. And you wrote this one…
And This was written so beautifully…. His Spirit FLOWS through You. Yes He is giving you the grace and the gift for this!
Found you with The ART BUS. Go to St Peters. Am head over heals in Christ Love with Margaret…. Got sicker again, and wasn’t the help to her that I wanted to be at the right time…. But He works in His ways…. I saw that bus! (TWO BUSES!) and tears began to fall; He did it! Through His Dearheart Margaret! YEP… Things I will always remember….
MAY HE BLESS AND KEEP YOU! … mari
Thank you for being here, for kind words of encouragement and for the reblog. I am grateful for your visit here and that you took the time to leave me these generous words.
I don’t know how to work this stuff very well, so leaving mgs this way too. – mair
Oh you Beautiful Spirit! How you BLESS me! This one… Things TO always to remember – would be how I would need to say it… cause I forget SO MUCH! And so many great, wonderful, awesome, bowl-you-over-with-love-and-joy people, moments, God Gifts, and out-n-out Miracles.
Funny, this morning I was thinking of all the people I needed to touch that I hadn’t communicated with for too long… ebb and flow in touching those who are Always With me, but I nred to Reach out to. Relationships. They require Care to grow…. And you wrote this one…
And This was written so beautifully…. His Spirit FLOWS through You. Yes He is giving you the grace and the gift for this!
Found you with The ART BUS. Go to St Peters. Am head over heals in Christ Love with Margaret…. Got sicker again, and wasn’t the help to her that I wanted to be at the right time…. But He works in His ways…. I saw that bus! (TWO BUSES!) and tears began to fall; He did it! Through His Dearheart Margaret! YEP… Things I will always remember….
MAY HE BLESS AND KEEP YOU! … mari
Reblogged this on Kbkiddo's Blog and commented:
This woman is a blessing…
Dear Liz,
What a gift for me this morning to read these amazing words and take in the photographs.
Of course I wish I was there and yet that would have changed the dynamic. I loved
sharing my daughter and letting her relationships grow with the family we both love so dearly.
Your writing is so special and inspriing. Lydia has so many amazing memories to add to her pages.
Thank you for your love-
your sister Rebecca
I am full of joy to see you here in the comments. Thanks for reading, commenting and for birthing this most amazing child, Lydia. She is so precious and is a pure joy to be with. The hike was magical and she is a trooper. Blessings to you.