A Glimpse

Because of the previous post I have spent a great deal of time in the past few days sorting through our garage. I found a box of keepsakes that Rod had saved while we were dating. Along with many cards and letters there was a huge puzzle cut out of poster board. For Rod's 29th birthday I made him a puzzle. I would give him one piece of the puzzle that had a clue on the back. Each clue was a song title which would lead him to a specific destination that was part of our celebration. There were four total places and four puzzle pieces. I don't even remember which places we went to. I think one destination was probably breakfast or lunch on the beach. I know our last destination was this really lame dinner theater that we almost walked out of. After he had all four puzzle pieces he could put them together and read the other side which was "29 Reasons Why I'm Thankful For Your Birthday." I'm sure my romantic skills seem very impressive right now but if you knew what he did for me when he proposed you would know I had quite the act to follow. I sat in the garage today and put the puzzle together and read all 29 reasons I was thankful for him back on May 2, 1998.

Looking around I realized what a long way we have come since that day nine years ago. Nine years may not seem like a long time but we have a garage full of life. Granted most items would not sell for very much monetarily, however they each are a priceless glimpse to me of the seasons of our life.

Those of us who are parents can so easily place life in two categories. Before kids and after kids. We were married for five years before we had kids so many of our memories were made with just the two of us. As I looked around the garage I saw our breakfast in bed table given to us as a wedding gift. There was actually a time when we spent many days sleeping in and even a few days having breakfast in bed. I saw our old cherry wood coffee table that we would eat hundreds of dinners at in our small, cozy condo. In an old dusty box were my boxing gloves from a time when I needed a strategic exercise plan because my life was not one constant form of movement battling I mean loving a strong willed three year old and sassy one year old. I found old bibles along with endless books, movies and music that we had time to read, watch and listen to. Under an old suitcase was Rod's navy blue Eddie Bauer bag that he used to carry his things to work in day after day after day.

And then there was the KID STUFF. I saw the baby swing that Rhett would rock to sleep in as an infant and be content for hours. I sorted through mounds of clothes and came across both Rhett and Emersen's coming home from the hospital outfits my mom had purchased. In one bag of clothes was a prayer quilt that was made for Rhett by ladies at church right before his heart surgery. There was tiny onsies, shoes, socks, bibs, toys and more toys.

As I was sorting and pricing for our garage sale I thought about how much of the things in my garage are really just material items that will be replaced with a new accumulation of stuff over the next nine years. In the overall time span of our life together nine years is just a glimpse....... but what a rich one it is.