When Facebook came out with their “look back videos” this week in honor of their 10th anniversary, I thought there was no way I was going to share my video. I enjoyed watching other’s videos, but I didn’t want to see mine.
Too much has happened in the years since I joined Facebook.
But this morning I gathered enough chutzpah, as silly as that sounds, to watch my video.
I was surprised that it brought tears to my eyes and a full range of emotions to my soul.
Only one picture included Jack–most of the pictures with Jack I had removed. But this was a special picture of a special night…the night Hawaii played in a football bowl game and we had a house full of people over to watch it. What a fun time that was! And I’m grateful I kept that picture, because the kids will want to remember that night as well.
I looked over the pictures of how much my children have changed and have grown. I read the posts that people “liked”, thoroughly encouraging me in whatever small step forward I was posting about. And I remembered.
I remembered that our history–the beautiful, the ugly, the good, the bad–all is for God’s glory. Right now I’m listening through the Bible for the second time this year (I listen to it as I fall asleep). I just finished up Joseph’s story and am now into the story of Moses. And over and over again I see God pointing out to the Israelites that their choices, their history, their future and their story is for the fame of God’s name. Only.
And so it is with us. I have a new friend who is fighting cancer right now, and she is fighting it in such a way that God’s name is being glorified. I have a friend in Sochi, Russia who is there to church plant. He is sharing about the Olympics with us in such a way that God can be glorified. And I look at my small, unimportant life, and yet I desire for it to be a life in which God is glorified.
And yet, I get caught up in selfishness and self-pity. I am blessed yet fail to give God the glory. And I fall often-stumbling hard.
But looking back on my Facebook video has produced a new kernel of gratitude in my soul for my God. Because without Him, there would be no Facebook video to look back upon. There would be no positive, exciting news to share with my friends (such as jobs, accomplishments of the kids, and just God’s overall provision). There would be no pictures that show the joy that God has granted me and my crew in the midst of suffering and grief. No, without God, my Facebook video would look much different.
I bought an Oak Tree necklace recently. You can see my reference to the Oak Tree Here. I know it’s just an necklace, with no special powers, but to me it is a symbol of what God is doing in my life, and a reminder that I want to be an Oak Tree. For God.
I love Philippians 3:13-14: 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I want to make this verse a constant in my life…..forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I want to press forward to the goal that God has laid before me.
But I also know that there is a place for remembering. The Israelites were often told to “remember”. Christ told us to “remember” when we took communion. We remember because we need to be reminded of God’s provision and presence in the past, so we can give God the glory. So He will be glorified. And so we can strain forward to what lies ahead.
So thank you, Facebook, for the video and the reminder of who my God is and what He has done for my crew and I. Whew. God, I am grateful. Amen.
My video: https://www.facebook.com/shelly.duffer
