Memory and Anticipation

This motley crew is enjoying a sandwich lunch after a morning of scavenging for beach treasures on Cat Island, Bahamas. My parents had moved there, taking early retirement in order to teach Bible classes in the public schools up and down the island. All told, we enjoyed five memorable vacations there.

Here's a display of the treasures we took back to Michigan from our first visit:

Now we're preparing to go to Cat Island on May 13. We hope the grandchildren will collect as many wonderful memories as we have. Well, how can they, actually? My parents are no longer there, and they were key to all the connections we were able to make with local people. And we don't expect to experience any of the primitive conditions of the past. So it can't be the same, and maybe won't be as much fun. But we're excited about the prospects.

We had such a delightful surprise yesterday. A Michigan friend came to town for a conference, bringing her husband whom we'd never met. We had dinner together last evening, and didn't nearly get caught up, so we've also planned to get together for church and lunch on Sunday. People are precious, aren't they!

Which reminds me: every person I'll see today and every person you'll see today is precious and the personal object of God's passionate love. He may give us the privilege of extending his love to them--to be "Jesus with skin" for them at whatever point of need they're facing. I hope I don't let myself become so task-obsessed that I miss those opportunities.

Blessings,

Carol