polka dots...

Polka dots... how come there's an 'l' in there? Well none the less I enjoy polka dots and they remind me of several things: childhood, the 60's and how styles and fads always come back. I've always told myself that through each fad growing up I should keep a few of my favorite articles of clothing because it is sure to come back around. I look back at pictures of my mother when she was my age and loved her clothes and wish she would have kept them for me. The high waisted pants that have come back along with platform shoes to skinny pants and flat thin sandles...it will come back around. I wore Levi boys jeans when i was younger because they were the only thing that fit me and for the most part they were tapered to be skinny at the bottom. I wasn't much into style but I remember when I branched out and got my first pair of pants that flaired..or so I thought. They had some silly little twirly buttons on the fly and were a little longer so I could wear high-heels with them. I kept those jeans as long as I could until I realized they were not flair at all, but just regular boot cut, ha!

So I do, I keep a few favorite clothing articles from each era of my life. I love to think that one day I'll get to give them to my daughters and they will think how cool I once was :). I love thinking of my children and what I can pass on to them. How I can encourage them and pour into them all that has been passed down to me! I love to think about the future and the generations of people that will follow me! How I can look back at my family heritage and see this incredible inheritance that has been passed down to me.

My mom and I were talking the other day about how overwhelmingly blessed we have been. I have no idea why, except that somewhere up the line someone chose to follow Jesus and raise their children accordingly and by the complete grace of God I have reaped from that decision. This fall both of my grandparents will have been married 60 years!!!! They are all four alive and well and ammmazing people that I cherish to know! I got to talk to one of my grandmothers yesterday and as she asked me about life I realized how much I wanted to hear about hers. I wish there were enough time so I could hear the details of her life and the thoughts she had when she was my age. How she managed to raise five children and her deep thoughts about life today. My dad and I always talk about how as humans one of our biggest flaws is forgetting. We simply can't remember how we got to where we are today. What decisions we chose to make and the ups and downs that got us here. It is quite an annoying flaw and one that we can see throughout history (especially for Israel) that proved to be quite fatal!

I once did a project in 4th grade about my family history. I had each one of my grandparents and one great grandfather tell me their life story. It was incredible! I think it probably was incredible for them as well. To first remember and then to pass down their story and that of their parents to the next generation. Walking to school (of course up hill both ways) in 3 feet of snow and living on a farm and going to war and waiting for him to return from war and just the amazing grace of God to find them jobs and make them prosper! How do we forget!

As I think of all of this and my own family one day... I realize we are just like Abraham. We are blessed to be a blessing. We have received grace to give grace freely! I know a lot of people who would have very similar stories to mine, because many of them are my friends, but I also have many friends whose stories are quite, quite different. Life threw them a different story, one not so sheltered and gracious as mine might seem perhaps, but the great thing is the things they are called to in their life and the people they will reach because of what they have walked through will be oh so different than mine. And the best part is we all grab hands together and where I may not understand they do and what they cannot comprehend I can try to demonstrate. And when one of us might grow envious of the other we are there to remind each other that we are 'uniquely and wonderfully made' and not called to be identical polka dots!