This past week my sisters, brothers, and I moved our near 93 year old grandmother out of her New York City apartment to a senior community in Cresskill, New Jersey, that she might be closer to us and receive some of the help she currently needs. The apartment she left behind was one which she had rented for 68 years. It was the home my mother grew up in, having moved there at the age of 2 years old. And, it was the home my siblings and I have gone to since we were born. Although just another one of the thousands of apartments within New York City, Apartment 24 of 609 W. 114th Street was to us a place where we played, ate, and launched out from towards Chinatown or RadioCityMusic Hall, or that great big world called “The City.”
From my earliest years I remember visiting not only my grandmother there, but also my great-grandmother (and even vaguely my great-grandfather). I recall having to move the kitchen table and chairs into the living room each time we gathered for a holiday meal. It was there that we played dominoes and cards (they were always available), colored with the crayons found in the big tin under the coffee table, and raced my blue plastic race car down the long linoleum covered hallway. As children, we slept there many times after having spent a day out in the city. I even remember the night my sisters and I were there and received the phone call that my first brother, Chris, was born. (I was thrilled that I finally had a brother!) As I think about that apartment, I can’t help but remember all that we did throughout the years in that space which to others was Apartment 24, but to my grandmother and to us was so much more.
This past week we boxed things up, decided what to move, what to dispose of, and what to hold onto as keepsakes. Eventually the movers came and took the stuff away, leaving an empty apartment behind. I took a couple of looks around, let a few memories flash through my mind, and then it was time to leave. Although, apartment 24 is no longer part of the family, the memories created there will always be ours.
Life moves on as it always does. Time never feels as if it is on our side. Few things in life last forever. Thus, we put our trust not in what is material, but instead in God who is eternal. And, we do our best to live our lives “making the most of every opportunity…” (Ephesians 5:16 – NIV)
Have a great day!
Pastor Harris (Friday Devotional 2/27/09)
Englewood Assemby of God
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Yesterday morning was recycling day in our part of town. As usual, each street was lined with dark blue buckets overflowing with plastics, glass, and aluminum. But there was one difference from most other recycling days: many of the buckets were laying on their sides with their contents spread across the street. Because of the incredibly windy weather, many of the buckets had been blown over. As I drove my son to school, I couldn’t help but notice all the people out in the street chasing down the items that had spilled out of their blown-over blue buckets. |