Day 25: Every Remembrance

“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you…” Philippians 1:3

A rain washed day, filled with mothers and daughters meeting in an over-crowded café: Our dear friends. Not a table to be found in the restaurant, so we tucked ourselves on couches in a little waiting area by the window, and they brought us our food. Feeling as if we had been transported to a quaint European café, we ate and talked, warming our hearts against the wind and the rain, and thankful for another year, another day. My one friend, a single mom, has been walking the path of cancer; this is the third Christmas she has fought with valor, as her daughter has grown from little girl to almost teen. My other friend awaits her first grandchild, her son in law having just arrived home from Afghanistan. They are beautiful women of God, who inspire me everyday.

We exchanged little gifts, cookies baked by one of the girls, gifts brought home from a recent travel, or little things that just made us think of the other person: Sweet remembrances.

I love to read, and often the gifts I receive, come bound between two covers filled with words that will encourage and inspire me for years to come. Peeking into a little holiday bag, I find a beautiful handmade cross-stitched ornament for my tree, and a small devotional by an author-teacher I deeply respect. The book is hard-bound, with a rich red cover and glistening gold type. It looks like a book to be passed on for generations, one that my great-grandchildren can share, and say this belonged to my great-grandmother.

Opening the cover I find this passage:

I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,
Always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer,
Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you
Will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…

Philippians 1: 3-6

I am beyond grateful for these two godly women in my life, and in the life of my daughter. They walked with me in the days of my singleness, showered care and love on both myself, and my daughter. They have prayed for me, and I for them, and they have shown me Jesus Christ alive and in the flesh. I thank God for my every remembrance of them!

My Lord,

Thank you for giving me faithful godly friends when I had no time to be a friend. Thank you, for giving my daughter beautiful examples of godly women, who have loved not only in word, but all the more so in deed. We are truly blessed. Carry on your good work in each of us, and in our lovely daughters, until that day, Lord, when we see your face.

Your Grateful Beloved