If you were a little sister, then you probably remember hand-me-downs.   There is something neat about fitting into the clothes of someone who you look up to.  I have to say honestly that it also has its drawbacks as bell bottoms and mini-skirts had gone out in the five years it took me to inherit my sister’s clothes.  (It is a good thing I was  quite a bit shorter than my big sister.)  But that is just a side note =).  Back to my point:

     I still have sweet friends that pass along treasured items, and when I wear the hand-me-‘over’, I remember the story that goes with it.   The item reminds me of my friend and I often take a moment to pray for them.  I love to say, “My friend gave this to me” when someone compliments me on an outfit.   

     I have been saving this special pair of mittens that belonged to my oldest son.  I needed a pair of mittens for my younger son the other day and I reluctantly went to the drawer where I keep those special mittens and put them on Carter.  As I did, I told him the story behind those mittens.  I told him that one day when Jordan was little we prayed for a pair of mittens to keep his hands warm.  I knew that God cared about us, and I asked Him to provide mittens.  We went to a church and shared a concert that following Sunday.  After the service, a lady took us to the church missionary closet and she apologized that it was not full, as they had just had a missionary  conference so they had very little left.  She said we could take anything we needed.  When she opened the door, I saw straight ahead, on an almost empty shelf, a pair of hand-knitted mittens, just the right size for my son.   I was also amazed that they were just the right color to go with his winter coat! 

    In Deuteronomy 6:6-12,  the Israelites were told to pass on what God had taught them, to keep them written on their heart, “You shall teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  And when the Lord your God brings you into the land …with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant, and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord.”  (ESV)

     What do you have that reminds you of God’s faithfulness?  Something tangible?  Pull it out of the drawer and put it in some prominent place to remind yourself;  and when someone asks what it is there for, you can “Hand-Me-Down” the story of God’s faithfulness!

Joyce Hayes
Artist-in-residence at America’s Keswick