Nostalgia: noun. a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days.

Packing is often so nostalgic for me. I go through my stuff looking at what I can get rid of and find little treasures that make me sit back and reminisce…

I was going through some boxes in my closet this morning. They were boxes that I had never unpacked from when I moved into this apartment almost 3 years ago. In this box, I found an envelope with pictures of Jake. Mostly they were school pictures, but in the middle of them was a picture of him when he had just turned 1. He had his first pair of Nike sneakers on with a t-shirt and jeans which both were way too big for him, but it was an outfit my best friend had sent for him, so we had to take a picture of him wearing them all. I also found several hand-made cards from Jake which I have now placed in my keepsake box for better safekeeping. Those were just a few of the items I was glad I had saved (especially today being his last day of 7th grade…geesh!).

Another thing, I was glad I kept was a program from a Beth Moore simulcast I attended in 2008. Normally, I don’t keep things like that, but this one had pages where I had taken notes. As I read through it, some of the things that I wrote down were pretty deep. The line that I wrote down that stood out to me; “No matter what your background, you can be a woman of substance.”

Now, what is interesting to me was that, that was in 2008. I had just started going to Calvary. I wasn’t too involved in anything. The thought of doing mission work had never crossed my mind. Most importantly, I had not shared my testimony (or background) with anyone. I can’t recall exactly what crossed my mind when I first heard that line, but I’m pretty sure it was something like “yeah, right”.

Fast forward to today and all that the Lord has done since that day when I heard Beth Moore say those words;  fast from dating, Guatemala mission trips, post-abortion ministry. I can’t believe how much I have grown in just 4 years. How much closer I am to Him. How the veil has been lifted and I am seeing Him with new eyes. Those words were the launching words into a new season of my life. Here I am at the end of that season and at the beginning of a new one, reading those same very words, but now they have new meaning.

So, although packing is often nostalgic for me…this time it has been more invigorating because no matter what my background, I am a woman of substance!