Pressing and Keeping

I saw two things this morning that made me go back to when I was a little girl.
It’s funny how a sight, a smell, or a sound transports you to another time.
First, I heard the sound.
The crunch of leaves under my feet as I walked.

I looked down at the mosaic that was before me.
Russet, orange, flaming red, brown all making a kaleidoscope of colors beneath my feet.
If I was little, I would be collecting these leaves, I found myself thinking.
I remember doing just that, many times.

Often in early elementary school, collecting leaves was a fall assignment.
You knew just the perfect tree.
You knew the tree with the largest leaf.
You knew the tree with the most brilliant colored leaf.

I came home from my walk and needed to get a trash bag out of the drawer.
That’s when I saw it.
The roll of wax paper.
The memories came flooding back.

After collecting the fall leaves, I would bring them home to my mother.
She got out the ironing board and I got out the wax paper.
I had fun making a leaf sandwich.
I arranged the leaves any way I wanted on the piece of wax paper.

I carefully placed another piece of wax paper on the top.
My mother placed an old rag on top of the ironing board.
I laid my leaf sandwich on top of the rag.
She placed another rag on top of that, so that the melted wax didn’t get on the board.

She would put the iron on HIGH but she never used any steam.
She ran the iron back and forth over the rag making sure she didn’t press too hard.
Once the wax began to seal, she would hold the iron over each leaf for 4-5 seconds.
When the wax paper was cool, I cut around each leaf.

There they were.
Perfectly kept in wax.
Preserved.
Beautiful.

Those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. “They will be Mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:16-18)

A scroll of remembrance.
A way to preserve, just like my leaf sandwich between two pieces of wax paper.
A way to see the beauty without damaging the leaf.
A way to hold it and keep it; a way to protect.

Any girl will admit that she pressed flowers in a book from time to time.
A way to remember a special bouquet, or a favorite flower.
The method was similar.
The flower was place in a heavy book between pieces of parchment paper.

The book was closed and weighted if necessary.
The book was left undisturbed for about ten days.
When the book was opened the flowers had a papery feel.
A memory of a moment kept between the pages of a book.

If we really thought about it, God’s Word is filled with moments.
Moments kept between the pages of His book.
Moments held within its pages, the weight of the cross keeping them, preserving them.
Undisturbed until that time when God the Father accepted Jesus’ sacrifice.

Then weight lifted; what was closed is now opened.
Jesus rose from the dead.
His Father’s wrath was satisfied.
The pressing finished, the waiting over.

Because of that sacrifice, we who believe are preserved.
Kept in the sandwich of God’s love and mercy.
Pressed and kept in His hands.
Held until that time when He brings us Home.

We are colorful leaves of God’s Kingdom.
The pressing and the crushing of this world is real.
But He who knows how to keep His people, will keep His people.
The scroll of remembrance has been written.

The distinction between the righteous and the wicked.
Between those who serve God and those who do not.
Pressing often brings forth much beauty.
Preserved and kept in the pages of His Book.