A Few Of The Greatest Moments From My Life

As of today when I am writing this post, I am 17,651 days old according to the Google age calculator.  That is a lot of days and those days hold a lot of memories.  Some good and some bad but most of them are great!

It is always fun when we get together with family and friends and start talking about the “old days” and the things that we did so very long ago.  Or when you start to clean the basement or storage area and instead of cleaning, you end up spending hours just looking through old pictures and memory books because those things brings back so many memories.

I have had some down time this week and have been looking through old memory books and have been thinking of some of my best and favorite memories from my life. Here are a few of my special ones.

A Few Of The Greatest Memories From My Life:

Camping at Kelly’s Island when I was 16.  Growing up, we always went camping–tent camping…..sleeping on the ground with just a sleeping bag…..  (and that was some rough sleeping!!!)  Let me just say that this camping trip to Kelly’s Island was my last camping trip also.   Our family of five, but probably really just my mom, loaded up our car and drove the 3 hours up to the Kelly’s Island Campground.  When we arrived, it began to rain and then rain some more.    It rained for hours but we began to set up the tent and the camp site anyways because we were tough!!  We spend probably about 45 minutes trying to get this tent up and finally when we were done, my mom realized that the tent is inside-out!!!  We have to take it all down and start over and it is still raining.  This whole process took hours.  We laugh about it today but it wasn’t funny then.

Walking around at our wedding reception.  To be honest, I do not remember much of our wedding and I am not sure why.  I don’t know if it was nerves or just the craziness of it all but some of the only memories that I have are from pictures.  I do remember our reception though.  I remember walking around greeting folks, laughing and talking–it was great.  This is one of the few times time you can be the star of the show and everyone is OK with that!

Staying at our favorite Disney resort when our girls were little.  Our family are huge Disney fans.  Our Disney trips are always filled with fun times and lots of good memories. When the girls were little and we were all able to still fit into one hotel room, we would stay at our favorite Disney resort:  Port Orleans French Quarter.  We love it there and still do!!  Every time we visited, I can remember our family being at our favorite dining table, going down the dragon slide, or dancing around the fountain–such good times. When our daughter Allison was about 6, she made up the Port Orleans dance.  We have that on video so I can remember it forever.

Paying off all of our debt.  In 2010, my husband and I took a money course by financial adviser Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace.  This course changed our lives.  We learned how to manage our money, how to not spend more than we make, how to pay off our debt and most importantly, how to teach our children how to mange their money.  We started our paying off our credit card debit.  We owed about $32,000 and were able to pay that off in about 24 months.  After that, we just coasted along paying cash for our cars and trips.  We decided about three years ago to buckle down and pay off the house.   We owned about $27,000 on the house and we were able to pay that off in just 12 months!  I feel that since we were able to that, we can do anything together!  

Our first date and my husband forgot his wallet.  My husband and I met when we were just babies at 18 and 21.  He picked up me up from college and we planned to go get ice cream at a local place downtown called Quaker Square.  We walked around for a while looking through the shops and then went to get ice cream.  We order, he reaches into his pocket and realizes that he has no wallet and no money.  The check-out guy ended up giving us the ice cream for free!   I actually didn’t have a problem with his flub. I thought it was cute because he was so nervous and in a hurry that he forgot to pick up his wallet because he was thinking all about me!  

The moments when my children gave their lives to the Lord.  We can tell and instruct our children on how to go to church, how to live, how to act, praying and hoping that they will follow what we teach.  When they choose to do it own their own and for themselves, those are the moments we live for and remember forever.   It is truly rewarding to see our children walking daily with the Lord. 

Feeling the arm of an angel move around my back and hug me in my ultimate time of grief.  I can remember this moment like it was yesterday.  There have been a few sad moments in my life.  There was one time in particular, we were very low and in need of help and hope.  I remember someone come up beside me, touch my left shoulder and then put their arm across my back.  I turned to see who it was and there was no one–just me.  I was still feeling this gentle hug for a few second more and then a great peace come over me.  I will never forget that–God coming and taking care of me when I needed it most. 

Our memories help make us who we are, help us define where we want to go, how we treat others and how we want to be treated.   Start today making wonderful memories with those you love. 

What are some of your favorite memories?  Please share in the comment section below.