Cleaning out the closet

I have been cleaning out my closet and drawers. I've found some interesting things. A journal from when my kids were little. Old pictures. Clothes from 20 years ago. Letters, emails, catalogs of things I thought I wanted so I saved them, but obviously didn't want bad enough to remember I saved the catalog. I threw some stuff away.

There are things I want to remember. There are things I want to forget. Mostly today, though, I'm so thankful for healing. I have a scar on the inside of my left knee where I had a mole removed. I had this mole removed on a day I will never forget because of circumstances in my life. As I shaved my legs today and didn't have to worry about the scar (or the mole) I realized it's healed. It's not tender when I kneel on it. I don't have to be careful shaving around it. It's healed. There is still a scar, signs of the trauma, but it's healed.

I have scars. But the wounds heal, scars form, and I feel good again. The scar doesn't leave pain, it just leaves a memory of what happened.

I'm a firm believer in our power to choose. We choose to love. We choose to forgive. We choose to forget. We choose to move forward. We choose. We have that power.

I'm reminded of a song a friend sang when we were in high school.

"Yes, I'm headed to a home, built by God alone, Hallelujah, praise the Lord I am. And the only thing there that's been made by man are the scars in the hands of Jesus."

Even our perfect, sinless, holy Savior has scars. Scars that were put there by me, for me. So I choose to live the best I can to honor this sacrifice, these scars that are there to give me eternal life. Because if Jesus bore my sins, took these scars for me, then I can forgive. I can love.