Did you grow up surrounded by family?
If you answered Yes to that then when you think back to your childhood memories its probably filled with a whole stock supply of great memories with your siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents or parents. I know that personally I’m blessed to say that mine was. I talk about those memories all the time. They shaped me. There’s a Disney movie that focuses on how memories shape who we are, its called “Inside Out”. In this movie they refer to a select few memories that will impact our lives forever called “Core Memories”. I’m sure if we all spend some time we can focus on those memories. Some are joyful, some sad, but they all impact us on levels we could never truly understand. I know I have some that I would want to relive over and over, and some that I wish never happened. These memories involve other people. How they impacted us, affected us, or was with us during something hard.
Who are the people in your core memories?
I obviously can’t answer that for you, nobody can. For me its family and a few childhood friends. One of the things I truly valued about my childhood was growing up with cousins all around me that served as friends. We weren’t just family we were a pack of kids who hung out daily. Even though I had friends in school I spent countless hours with those cousins. Wiffle ball seasons in the summer, frog hunting, fort building, trampoline wrestling matches, you name it. Those countless hours were filled with memories I still talk about on a daily basis. I use to wonder how kids without cousins would spend their summers or time out of school, It was a foreign concept to me. I learned that obviously there are still memories there, they are just filled with people who meant something to them usually other family members or friends. But being on the race it’s not unusual to spend months at a time with the children who feel alone in this world, the people who have almost nobody in their lives. The children society would dem as “family-less” the orphans all around us. I then began to wonder who made up their “core memories”. It broke my heart to think the only ones they have are created from sad or traumatic memories. They have been through things that most people couldn’t imagine in their worst nightmares. I couldn’t tell you how often I hear a story that brings tears to my eyes. Stories I never thought could exist. This month had some stories like that. Our host ran a school in their house which was created for the children in their community that were rejected by the public schools. A majority of these students came from a girls home called “Love in Action” where over 20 young girls and 1 boy live because this home opened up their doors to them when the world came crashing down. Each child has a different story, and each has a piece of God’s love they show daily. I bring these children up because on one of our last days in India our host really opened up her heart behind the school and her passions behind it. In a few simple sentences she brought light to the idea of the core memories these children have. Along with the school this family has also opened up their home to two young boys who are about 18 years old who also grew up in a boys home. She began to tell us how one of the boys still to this day will talk about the young men who would come and visit them at the boys home and just simply play soccer with them. He was about 7 when this happened and he still brings it up. Sounds like a core memory to me.. The reason I write this blog, my heart behind this is something that is actually very simple yet something we overlook all too often.
We often look back and think about the people involved in our core memories, but do you ever consider if you are apart of someone else’s? Whether it’s somebody you’ve known for years or someone you spent a simple afternoon with? Being on this trip and only spending a month in each country I find myself struggling with one major issue, question if you will. “Is a month really long enough to make an impact?” I’m not here for people to remember “Jon Ames” But I am here to impact their lives on some level. But her simply sharing that one sentence made me realize a month is more than enough time. A couple hours is enough time. It doesn’t take lots of money or an afternoon of spoiling someone with anything but your time. It could take a dirt field and an old soccer ball. It could take a simple smile and shared laughter. There really is no limit to what can change someone’s life. Who really knows what life decisions that boy has made because someone spent a day playing soccer with him. But I do know I don’t want to have to know to take the chances. Who knows how many times God has given us opportunities to impact someone. But we are the only ones who get in the way of that. Don’t become a roadblock. We dont have the right to deprive someone else of a core memory or an impactful afternoon. We simply have the privilege to be apart of it.
So I share these thoughts with you because I began tell myself each day when I wake up to 1)Focus on those around you. See people for who and where they are and give them something more valuable than objects, give them yourself, your time, and your energy. 2)Its not the results that should motivate us, we most likely will never know what impact we have on someone. Why would that stop us though? Love doesn’t need nor want a “paycheck”. And 3) Make sure you do your best to leave the best impact on someone that you can. You will never know what they take from it, and it may just be 1 of many interactions that you have but it may be the only one they have.
Stop and think back on your “Core Memories”. What would your life be like if those people or situations never gave you the time of day? And one thing I’m also starting to learn is, when you put yourself out there for others, not only do you have the possibility to impact them. But before you know it, they start to impact you. So what’s stopping us from spreading and gaining core memories? Ill tell you my guess, its Only us. Don’t allow that to fall on your shoulders anymore. Just go love on people. Tomorrow is never promised. But each day you wake up is another opportunity so jump on it.
