Forgetting A Few Things

No matter how meticulously you plan, it’s inevitable.
No matter if you make lists or not, it happens.
No matter if you have two sets of eyes to do the final check, it doesn’t make a difference.
Things are forgotten.

We moved our daughter into college today.
With four siblings before her, we have this down to a science.
We know which bins to use.
We know the system.

My daughter is an amazing packer.
She brings what she needs.
She does not over pack.
She is organized and can plan ahead in her mind.

The mini van was packed.
The refrigerator that has been in every college dorm for each child was visible.
The few bags of groceries were placed comfortably in the back.
My husband packed efficiently so nothing rattled around.

My daughter had things in her car as well.
Her laptop, her jackets, her backpack, and the few remaining things from the morning.
She left first so she could get her key before we arrived.
We left about ten minutes behind her but I knew my husband would stop for coffee.

I was quiet on the hour drive.
I was listening to music and thinking.
I was not sad but wistful.
I knew that her room at home would look quite empty when I returned later in the day.

After we walked up the four flights of stairs, I was the one that stayed in the room.
As she and her dad get things out of the car, I begin to unpack.
I hung up the clothes in the closet.
I put the sheets and the comforter on her bed.

My daughter is a resident assistant which means she has her own room.
With forty-three girls on her floor, she will be quite busy.
She is an excellent RA and the girls last year loved her.
One of them even posted something on Facebook about her maternal instinct towards her girls.

My daughter and I love having tea together.
It is our afternoon and evening thing to do when she is home and available.
She has carried on that tradition at college.
She has tea every Tuesday for her residents.

Sometimes she makes brownies for them.
Sometimes they have a game night.
All they need to bring is a mug.
My daughter supplies the rest.

Her electric tea kettle came in handy last year.
It boiled the water quickly and easily.
Towards the end of the semester, her tea kettle stopped working.
I bought another one on sale but she decided to keep it at home since it was almost finals.

I knew that after a morning of moving in, a nice cup of tea would be relaxing.
My daughter looked at her small refrigerator and the microwave resting on top.
Oh, no! I think I forgot my tea kettle!
She had just unwrapped her mugs and placed them on her shelf.

I had just put the decorative box of tea on her shelf as well.
I order my tea from Ireland and I love the decorative box it comes in.
The box is covered with tea pots, cups, and saucers.
The box sat whimsically on her shelf, waiting for her Tuesday tea with her residents.

It was decided that the tea kettle waiting for her at home would be a spare.
She could go to the store nearby and buy one later that day.
We had just gotten back from the store.
We needed to go because she had forgotten her laundry basket.

Inside the laundry basket was her fold-able hamper, and the new tea kettle.
I remembered seeing it on the shelf in the basement.
But she has her own system and I did not want not interfere.
As I put the food we brought on her shelf, it was my turn.

I forgot your sprouted grain bread; it is still in the freezer at home.
We both just looked at each other.
We each had forgotten things.
It was not the end of the world but it was inconvenient.

She can buy a new tea kettle.
She can buy some organic sprouted grain bread.
We bought a new laundry basket and hamper.
Things like this are inevitable on move-in day.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Isn’t that a wonderful way to live?
Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on.
I press on.
No regrets; no remorse, just determination to go forward.

Press on.
Two very important words.
Press on when you are weary.
Press on when you are discouraged.

Press on when you feel like quitting.
Press on when you are tired.
Press on because the alternative is retreat.
Press on because there is a goal ahead.

There was nothing we could do about the forgotten things.
We could not drive home an hour, retrieve them, and drive back another hour.
Things can be replaced.
People cannot.

When you’re tired and weary, that is when the littlest thing becomes a big thing.
That is when you lose your perspective.
That is when everything seems like it is going wrong.
That is when you most need to press on.

Pressing on in your own strength is futile.
Pressing on in the power of the Holy Spirit is crucial.
The goal is a heavenly prize.
The prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.

He is worth forgetting what is behind.
He is worth straining towards what is ahead.
He is worth it.
That is what worship is all about.

Worship is literally worth-ship.
The worth of God.
God is worth an exorbitant amount that cannot be fathomed.
God is worth it, so we press on.

Forgetting is part of the human condition.
Pressing on is a bit harder to do on our own.
When Jesus takes hold of you, pressing on is done in His strength.
Take hold of Him.

Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Mathew 11: 28-30)

Forget what is behind.
Straining towards what is ahead.
Press on.
Win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.