Forgotten
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the
child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have
engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah
49:15-16 NIV
My husband has a terrible memory. He forgets birthdays and dentists
appointments, deadlines and due dates. We tease him about it. He's usually
good-natured in response. What else can he do? He knows he has a problem.
One time he forgot me at the grocery store. He dropped me off to buy bread and
milk while he drove a block away to pick up the kids after basketball practice.
He should have been back in ten minutes. After twenty minutes, I knew he had
forgotten me. Rather than call and remind him, I decided to see how long it
would take him to remember. I walked slowly down the aisles of Piggly Wiggly,
checking prices and wasting time. It had been a long day and I was tired. My
goal was to get home and get dinner on the table. But something stopped me.
Somehow, I would make him realize that he needed to pay attention to what was
going on around him. He couldn't continue his absent-minded-professor routine
forever. He was still in his forties, too young to claim old age as an excuse.
At forty-five minutes, I looked up to see him standing beside the cart. He wore
a sheepish expression.
"You forgot me", I said.
"Yes", he answered.
He didn't say another word all the way home. I seethed. Not even an apology.
When we got in the door, the kids were howling. It seemed he was puzzled by the
absence of food on the stove, although the table was set. The phone rang for me
and though he searched high and low, he couldn't find me.
"Have you seen your mother?", he asked the kids.
Suddenly it dawned on him. He raced back into town. He has never lived it down.
As devoted as we are to those we love, we fail sometimes. Mothers may forget to
watch their children, siblings forget to hold their little brothers' hands while
they cross a street, and husbands even forget their wives in grocery stores.
I'm glad that, although people may sometimes forget, God has promised that He
will never forget us. Our names are tatooed on the palms of His hands. His
thoughts toward us are greater than the grains of sand on a Florida beach.
Because He cares so much for us, we can freely trust Him with all our cares and
concerns. Why not put your trust in God today?
Candace Simar: simar@tds.net
Candace is a freelance writer from Pequot Lakes, MN. Her work has appeared in Dust & Fire, Lake Country Journal, Talking Stick, Talking 7th Street Blues, Country Echo, and Home Health Care Nurse Journal.