The Significance In Remembering
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Hi, friend, and welcome to the Life on Purpose podcast. I'm your host, Amy DeBrick, and I'm thrilled you're here with me today. If you're new, thank you so much for tuning in. I'm excited to have you listen. And as we lead into this holiday season, as you can see, I've got my decorations up, the trees behind me here.
I wanted to talk about the idea and the importance of remembering. And the scripture that immediately comes to mind when thinking about remembering is Psalm 4610, which is be still and know that I am God. Now, I love this verse for many reasons. And one in particular is because I'm naturally a person who's inclined to be a little bit more hyper.
And so the concept and the idea of being still is one of those practices and disciplines that I need to be reminded of. So every time I think of this verse, and I think of this time of year where we're so rushed to do all the things right, I'm like, We've got baking to do. We've got [00:01:00] parties all different kinds of events.
We're trying to either for our children or ourselves, there's so many commitments, there's so much going on and so much overwhelm that a lot of times we overlook the beauty of the stillness in the season has to offer. And so again, every time I think about this, I think it's just a really great. Way to recenter ourselves and refocus on what the season is all about and what we should be looking forward to.
Now, one of the pictures that I came across, I don't know about you, but every time I do my yearly Christmas card, I run into scrolling through old pictures. And I get sidetracked. It takes me 10 times longer. But one of the things that I came across this year when searching out a photo, a family photo was a picture that had been taken 13 years ago.
It was in Maine, Scarborough, Maine. It was our first RV trip with our children. We even took our old Labrador Retriever, [00:02:00] Chloe, who's no longer with us. And it was just a fantastic vacation. Yet, if you looked at the picture, it's this, granular raw unfiltered image. But there were so many things at that time really that picture could have represented that we're negative yet I chose and still continue to choose to see the blessing in it all and it has really just become One of my favorite photos because of that and I'll give you a little backstory around that time before that picture was taken Or when that picture was taken rather it was weeks before my last chemotherapy treatment And to say that I was at an all time low point is an understatement.
My hair was almost non existent. It was really thin. Very unattractive looking. I was emotionally and physically just exhausted. And, but I still wanted to keep things as normal as possible. That was my goal through my whole treatment is to just keep doing the same things with my [00:03:00] children in between, if I had to take a nap or whatever.
And so in this particular summer. I wanted to ensure that we would still take our annual summer vacation. And so we did. And we packed the kids up. We rented this RV. We wanted to just do something entirely different. And it was amazing. And the time away as a family has always been something that I've cherished.
But especially this particular summer, as you can understand why. And my husband, I always say was a saint,, he carries the financial burden, but at this time also he was carrying all the burden of our family, which was just a very consuming when you have four children and a sick wife. And even if you have one child it's a lot. And so those things were not lost on me, but at the time I still was limited in what I could put out there and the way I was feeling yet. Every time I see this photo It brings me joy because it reminds me of God's goodness and what felt like a not so good time.
[00:04:00] And maybe you can relate to that. In that season, I found myself distracted and wanting to push through it instead of pausing, but now every time I see the image, the pause is what allows me to remember God's faithfulness in that season. I think it's easy for us to forget, right? God knew that.
It's easy for us to forget where he showed up in the past, especially when we weren't feeling it. We get caught up in our present circumstance and forget what he has already brought us through. And so that to me is really the connector here and the significance in remembering is if we can pause in a difficult season to remember what he's already done in a prior challenging time in our life, then we can have the confidence to move forward on the situation that we're dealing with at the moment.
So I want to really encourage you in this episode to pause and remember this Christmas season. We're going to talk a [00:05:00] little bit more about that in a minute, of course. ways to practically do that, but pausing and remembrance and remembering the significance. Like I said, remembering is the thing that brings you hope.
Remembering is what brings you encouragement and it brings you healing. And so my prayer for you today and this week or whenever you're listening to this episode is to in the coming weeks with all that's going on with the holiday. is to take a minute and to be still and know what Christ came to do and has already done in your life.
So when we're talking about remembering, pausing to remember, what does that look like? That's always the follow up for that. It's like people have these statements that they make and then it's okay what is the practical step in being able to do that? Because it is a busy time and so I want to encourage you with just a few things.
I think first we need to Seek God's goodness. That has to be a [00:06:00] mindset. I think it's easy to not seek God's goodness. We get so beat down by just life in general, things that aren't going our way or just one thing that seems like after another, whether it's finances or just Children or home or marriage, whatever the case is it's easy to Have a shift in perspective.
But if we really re center, refocus our perspective on looking for God's goodness, instead of the opposite of that. We're already on the right path to finding it and seeing it. And again, I realize sometimes that is hard, but it is possible. And I think we have to go with that mindset moving forward.
We may not get to choose our circumstances, but we can choose to focus on God's goodness and to seek it out and to remember and recognize his hand on us when we have walked through things in the past and has that as the reminder and assurance that he's walking with us right [00:07:00] now. So my first step that I want to recommend for you to do is to pray and meditate And so there's nothing like a daily uninterrupted time alone with God and the reason that I say that is because The minute I know for myself that I step out of bed, my list just starts running, everything that I have to do, or people that need me and all of that, the ball just gets rolling.
So for me personally, I do my prayer and meditation before my feet even hit the floor in the morning, because that is a time where, I know that nothing is going to disrupt that, that's an assurance for me that I'll have that time. I'll be able to pray over my day and be able to take the time to seek out God's goodness and get in that frame of mind.
This is a great way also to shut down those external and internal noises because like I said, You can maybe have a quiet house, you're staying in your bed, but [00:08:00] if you're still, your mind is running of all the lists of things that you need to be doing and okay, I just need to hurry up in this moment.
But if you can shut that down as well, when you're meditating, and maybe it's just a few words, or maybe it's just a single prayer and you repeat that, whatever the case is, your request to God or your gratitude to God, immediately it recenters and shuts all those other noises down. The other thing I want to encourage you to do is have it be a regular routine.
And the reason I say that is, is because what we do regularly is what becomes our routine. So if we regularly get up and check our phones, that has become our new routine. But if we stop that and make, a pivot or a change where we can, then We can also change our routine for something healthier and something better.
The second thing I want to encourage you with is to find pictures. And the reason that I say [00:09:00] this is, go back to your photos. Like I said, I was looking for a Christmas photo, right? I'm looking, always looking for a photo with all six of us, which sometimes can be a challenge in and of itself.
But go back to that time when it was a challenging season. Most likely you're going to find a photo or photos of happy moments of joyful times in that challenging season. And that's what you need to be clinging on to. Those are the times where it's yeah, God was here. He allowed this joyful moment for me.
He allowed this intimate conversation or whatever the case was, but sometimes it takes a physical seeking to find it. And so that's a really great thing. I feel is to go through the photos and look and healing also is sometimes found in our history. because it's harder to see things in the actual moment that we're experiencing it.
[00:10:00] So take a minute to go back and look through some of the photos in your history and see, you'll be amazed in what you'll be able to find. The third thing I want to really recommend is talking to others. Sometimes listening, just listening to someone acknowledge or recognize God's goodness in their lives.
Provokes a thought or a memory of God being good in your own life or God's goodness that you're recalling in your own life. So it's always good to talk to others. I always encourage that. That was something that was always a struggle for me. I was somebody who tried to internally process things. That is not always helpful.
And I'm not, again, and I always say this, if you've heard these episodes before, I'm never advocating to share everything with everyone. I think discernment is definitely essential when you're talking about stuff like this. But in general, when you're in another group and you hear somebody being vulnerable.
And it's something that provokes [00:11:00] a feeling in you of where you're maybe struggling. That's a great opportunity, whether it's a separate conversation with that person or just it gives other people their permission to do the same. And so that is healing in and of itself also. And it allows you to showcasing God's goodness that yeah, He was there, and I need to just go back and find it and remember.
The other thing I would say is to choose to find the goodness, like I mentioned earlier. It is so easy to be cynical. A lot of things go wrong, right? Nothing's easy. And I try to tell my kids and myself that easy isn't the place where we grow from. Those are the challenges, and even though we don't like being in the challenges most of the time That's where we stretch out of our comfort zone and that's where we rely on God more.
And that's when we start trusting him more. And then those times is when we can see his goodness and the work he's [00:12:00] doing in us, which is truly important. And it is life giving. That's the other thing. Choosing optimism is life giving Because when we are hopeful, then we're trusting what God is allowing instead of trying to fight it.
The last thing I want to just mention as a practice is to avoid dwelling on God's goodness in someone else's life. For example, even though I just mentioned if you're in a circle and you're talking to other people and you're hearing somebody say, Oh gosh, this is a time where God really showed up for me and you're not there yet.
Don't let that be a discouragement. That is not your story. So therefore that is not your history. And so that's not where you're going to find God's goodness in your life. This is somebody else's story. And so I think it's important to make that point. Because I know for myself, one of the reasons that I [00:13:00] did not seek out other people is because I was struggling to hear somebody else say something positive when I was feeling so negative.
And I know it just depends on the person. Sometimes it's just the opposite. Oh, I'm going to be around all these positive people and they're going to lift me up. Sometimes they can backfire depending on the situation, but I think it's important to just remember that rather than feel like that's a comparison or I'm envying this about them, use that as a glimmer of hope.
And again, an opportunity for yourself to go back and remember God's goodness in what he's doing with you. And lastly, I just want to encourage you to say, to pause as if it were a gift. This time of year we're, that's all we're talking about, right? Is who gets what and what to get people and all these kinds of things.
And we all know the cliche that, just presence is the present, but pause is also a gift and treat it as such the [00:14:00] ability to remember is number one means you're still here. And I know for me, having gone through a cancer treatment, that's a gift. A huge blessing without anything else attached to it.
And the other thing with that is, is that when you're using pausing as a gift, you're also realizing that not only are you still here, but you're. You're getting through it. You're making it through right now. So I just want to encourage you with those things this week. I hope this is helpful, especially going into the holiday season.
I also just want to add on a few other just small tips because I know for most of us, we're When we are showing up now, we're showing up with a lot of different personalities, a lot of different people, some that we connect with well, some that we don't. So I want you to lead in this holiday season with more joy and less stress by adjusting your expectations, not only of yourself, But of other people don't expect everybody is going to be approaching the holiday [00:15:00] season like you and that's okay.
The other thing I just want to make sure that we're all doing is setting appropriate boundaries. I think it's okay to say no. I know this time of year, it feels like we should be saying yes to all of it, especially when 99. 9 percent of it is all good. You feel guilty, but there's no reason to do that. So set some healthy boundaries and remove the guilt and allow yourself to say no.
Like I said, being still sometimes has to come from saying no I can't do this or no I need to just stay home. I need to just be still tonight. I need to just stare at the lights, on my tree. Or watch a Christmas movie with one of my children or my husband or whatever the case is. Or maybe it's just to be alone, but it's okay to set boundaries and to not feel guilty about it.
And lastly, I just want to really encourage you also. To communicate honestly, don't expect people to be able to read your mind. And if [00:16:00] you're struggling somewhere, say it, it's okay. I know some of the most helpful things I've ever done is to really communicate.
Honestly, with not only my friends, but also my family, my children are now young adults and I think it's really important to not pretend anymore as far as if I'm having a bad day or if I'm struggling with something or whatever the case is. I think they appreciate the honesty. I know my family appreciates the honesty, and the same goes with friendships.
I think we need to lay down the putting on airs and trying to be all for everyone and really just be honest about the situation, the feeling that we're having or the season of life that we're in.
It's okay ,to let people know how you're feeling. And that doesn't mean you have to be a Debbie Downer. It just means that They can't they can't step up if you don't give them the opportunity to know what's going on. And it also gives them permission to be honest and do the same. So with that, friend, , I'm going to end this [00:17:00] episode today in the coming weeks, I'm going to be dropping more interviews with some fun and exciting new guests. So stay tuned for that. I'm also going to have to be sharing some big news coming in January starting with a free masterclass called radiate confidence that I'm going to be hosting in 2025.
It's an awesome way to kick off the new year. with practical methods, you can apply to really any of your goals. So we all need confidence moving forward with whatever it is that we're doing. So I hope you join me for that. You can look for those things and more resources on my website at amydebrucque.com but in the meantime, don't forget to live your life on purpose, and God bless.
