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A charming past?

~ Today Joanne turns 39.

Two months after her stroke, she continues to fight.
Read below for details on how you can help!


 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
I pull out my clinky charm bracelet. I love its rattling sound. I love the memories it brings up. my charm bracelet
But does it reflect who I am now?

Sometimes we let our past define us simply because it shaped us.
But those are two different things.

  • Who we’ve been isn’t who we are.
  • And who we are is but a shadow of who we can become.

With Christ, new creations are born every day in young bodies and old bodies alike. Those with a short past and those with a sordid one. opryland charm

Joanne now has “stroke” as part of her past. We all have tokens—good and bad—from our past that we wear: “cancer” and “traveler” and “divorced” and “mother” and “lover” and “broken” and “believer” and on and on. charms

Those things changed us, to be sure.

But in the Lord’s hands, our charming and not-so-charming past is purified into a beautiful present.

And our charm bracelet is traded up for a crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

While my trinkets indicate who I once was:

  • a tennis player
  • a roller skater
  • a kid at Opryland
  • once a Sagittarius—am I now a Scorpio?

piano charm...and who I still am:

...they can’t come close to reflecting who I one day will be:

  • new-bodied
  • pain-free
  • and in the full presence of God.

Sounds completely charming to me.

* * *cross charm
~ Do you have a charm bracelet?
Will you wear it today?
as a reminder to pray for Joanne when you hear its jingle?
Visit The Simple Wife
to leave a birthday message.
 
 

3 comments:

Jenny said...

This is absolutely beautiful! I love how you reminded me that what's in my past, or the "tokens" I might carry because of my past, are purified by the Lord into a beautiful present. I love the scripture used as well. Thank you for blessing my heart today!

Lisa notes... said...

Jenny,
I think we all need reminding from time to time how the Lord takes care of our past as well as our present and future.

justcallmerie said...

I don't like to think about who I used to be. Unless I'm reminded in ways like this. Thank you.

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