"DO YOU STILL REMEMBER?"

January 20, 2010, Wednesday

Daly City

In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. - Psalm 16:11

Yesterday, I dismantled the last Christmas decor in our home. It was the floral centerpiece, one of the 10 table accents used during our Church Christmas party, last December 20, 2009. A month has passed. It was a " love gift " by a very dear friend to her Lord and Savior for HIS BIRTHDAY...In the middle was a red candle, the flowers were very deep-red carnations and white ones, and golden balls, and mistletoe, ribbons, and evergreen leaves, that hold all these stuff together,set on a bottle-green colored clay pot. It was beautiful! The flowers have wilted, ( but of course!) The other items could be recycled. But one thing, I was amazed.. was the " evergreen leaves ". It was still very evergreen fresh! ( It has to be that way, to live up to its name, right?" ) Ha ha ha!!

EVERGREEN...Right infront of our new home, were evergreen shrubs.. When we transferred here last October 2009, my daughter pointed them to me.. " Ma, those are evergreen shrubs. The ones they use for Christmas wreath and decors" .."Ah, ok"... I simply said.

The thousand and one details of keeping things, and organizing, and reorganizing a new home, plus, the so hectic skeds of the past holiday seasons, left me no time to really check on the 2 big patches of evergreens infront of our house..And always, every morning when I wake up, when I open myglass windows, I will just give said evergreens a brief look, or none at all.They are simply, part and parcel of my everyday life, no more.. no less..This is small stuff.. I want to focus on the bigger things..especailly in this New Year 2010. What are evergreen leaves??? They are so insignificant!! In our Tagalog dialect..BALE WALA ITO.. meaning... this is no BIG DEAL!"

TILL THIS MORNING... Wednesday...The past days has brought forth hard rains in the Bay Area,and that includes our place here at South San Francisco. I opened my windows, and I was " FORCED" to look at the evergreens in front of our home! They were beautiful and really evergreen fresh!!! For the " first time" I gave it a second long look!

And as I looked at the evergreen leaves on my table and tenderly held them in my hands. ( I air-dried them yesterday, to be pressed today in my flower-leaves presser,) Lo and behold, I heard a gentle whisper in my heart.. a still, small voice said - " Lynn, DO YOU STILL REMEMBER?? " ( For most of us, if not all of us have had these " precious moments" with God.) " Remember what, Lord God? " Remember in your FIRST CHRISTMAS HERE IN THE USA ( I arrived here October 14, 2008.) As you were admiring all the beautiful fresh flower arrangements and Christmas wreaths, in a big organic supermart you uttered something like, Lord, - I wish we could have an evergreen tree in our garden so I could make fresh floral and wreath arrangements for our church, in our home, and give some to our dear friends here if not this Chritmas, next Christmas, 2009.." Did I say those words, Lord?" " YES, YOU DID.. and I REMEMBER ".

I was so silent... I want to cry... " I AM SORRY, LORD." I forgot.. I thought that it was just one of the many countless " wishful thinking" that I have had." But ..." I REMEMBER."

Then suddenly, I REMEMBERED... During the early days before Christmas, when my son-in-law Joby,who has a knack for interior decoarating and who is in-charge of said ministry in our church told me as he was checking on the Christmas decors,said something like, " O, Ma, baka gusto ninyong gumawa ng Christmas wreaths para sa bahay, lalo na sa church natin.and pointed to the evergreen shrubs in front of our home." I heard it..But did I really listen??? I CHOSE NOT TO LISTEN... BUT GOD LISTENED... and ANSWERED my " wishful talking." HE DID...BECAUSE HE LOVES ME...FORGIVE LORD... FORGIVE...