家庭的回憶
在我們每天的生活裡，我们都在製造記憶。每天都添加更多到這些回憶裡，漸漸就決定了這些回憶的最終性質。我們時常與兒女孫子們圍坐在一起聊家裡常，回憶往事。我們在一起時，有歡笑有哭泣，贊美神賜給了我們美好的家庭。耶穌也曾哭。會有人這樣問說，“你還記得那是在什麽時候嗎？”我想耶穌基督傷心原因的一部分是因他離開了天上父親的家成為人子來到這世上受苦。耶穌愛世上的兒女，甘心成為人子，但是祂想念在天上父親的家，祂想念天上的榮耀與喜樂。這榮耀與喜樂必定是將來我們到天上時所會有的情景。我們是不斷地在製造回憶，而在這製造的過程也決定了我們生活的方式。我們的回憶會影響著我們的晚年是快樂或是不快樂。回憶所做的就是那些！我們最美好的回憶應該是自己與孩子們在我們的基督家裡的日常家庭生活的點點滴滴，是關於自己的與關於我們兒女們的回憶。
家庭回憶應該是包括有… 我們一起分享的時間，這些用餐時的，禱告時的,及遊戲時的回憶。包括我們一同去過的旅遊，包括我們所養的寵物以及我們所經歷的歡樂與所面對過的爭戰等等。有時，我們會有矛盾衝突，我們在聊的時候也談到這些。以一個家庭而言，我們一星期內的每一天都在製造回憶，因為你不知道哪一天你所造的是最後的回憶。生命是如此的不定，我們無法知道什麼時候是我們的最後一起用餐，是最後的交談，最後的一起散步。我認識有一家人，他們在彼此間的每個電話上，在電子郵件裡，在留言中以及在道別時都以“愛你”來結束。…千萬不要在你離開家出門時還有任何的誤會還沒有被解決，還有苦毒的話語或賭氣的沈默沒有被化解的；因那這些東西可能成為你一生永遠的痛苦記憶。護衛家庭的最有效的幾個字，是我曾經提到過的: “對不起”，“請你原諒” 和“我愛你”。“回答柔和，使怒消退；言語暴戾，觸動怒氣”（箴言15:1）。
有一個故事說到有一個善良溫和的年輕人離開家去工作。不到一個小時，他的身體被送回家來。在建築工地上他所踩的支撐架攤塌了，他不幸在意外中死了。家人哀痛逾恆，其中一個妹妹比家裏的任何人都傷心。這妹妹似乎有一個特有的悲傷，哭泣不能停止，抽搐的說，“哥哥..早上..出門時，我對他兇..沒有待他好。”
回憶！一旦被造成了，就是永恒的了，无法被改变了。
孩子也有他們的回憶
我遊歷過許多大城市，看大批的群眾在街道上來來去去，在大樓裡進進出出。看人們在各自不同的方向熙來攘往，我已經習慣了。每次我都被提醒，他們每一個人的內心裏面與他們的生命裡，都承載著他們來自原生家庭的印像。
你的孩子將會對於家庭有什麽樣的記憶呢？在他們的記憶裏父母親是個愛主的基督徒嗎？父母有不斷的尋求聖經作為生命的引導嗎？你孩子們的記憶是安慰，激勵，鼓舞和祝福嗎？或是灼燒，傷燙和苦毒與咒詛的記憶呢？我們必須正視面對這件事，要確實知道我們所送出家門`進入世界的的孩子們，他們是永遠不會忘記家庭的記憶的，是永遠無法逃離家庭對他們的影響的。如果孩子們的童年的家庭真心真實而甜蜜的話，這美好記憶會是祝福，伴隨他們一生的生命，一直賜福他們。
“罪惡可以如毀滅的烈火那樣橫掃靈魂；悲傷可以澆熄一切的喜樂和希望；但一個甜蜜幸福的家庭回憶長存不滅，猶如深夜裏燃燒的孤星。即便是在罪惡之中，家庭回憶的影像如同已消失的夢一樣，依然漂浮在我們腦海裏。”
這裏是有一個人的見證：“我記得在無數的夜晚裏，當我靜靜躺在樓上小房間快要睡著前，樓梯會有輕輕的腳步聲，門會靜靜的打開，一個熟悉的身影滑過黑暗然後出現在我床邊。最先是疼愛的詢問關切，逐漸是深度輔導的話語。然後母親跪下來，頭挨近著我，那最熱切的期盼和希望會從她的禱告中流出來。… 母親對兒子的期盼是何等的大啊！她的眼淚說出了她對孩子的殷殷期望。我知道她流淚，因為她的淚滴有時落到我的臉顰上。之後她起身，給我一個晚安吻，就走了。”
像那樣的回憶是父母能留給孩子的最寶貴禮物。這些記憶將成為堡壘護衛著他們，防範世上的引誘與犯罪。這美好回憶就如一條金項鏈把孩子綁在神的腳前。用這樣的記憶來填補孩子的生命，是不是非常值得呢？然而我們身為父母的是多麼粗心！ 多麼怠惰，多麼疏忽啊！上帝啊！求你饒恕，求你幫助我們！
吸引這個家庭更親近神。被聖潔所純潔了的悲傷能轉化一個家庭，並帶來更多與神的同在。所以經常是悲傷的記憶在後來被證明是溫柔又堅固的扣環，牢牢地扣住每個家人的心。
在結束這系列之前，有幾件事是我們永遠不能忘記的。如果我們想要擁有應當有的回憶，我們必需要有主耶穌在我們的家庭中。應該有一個家庭祭壇，每天有一段時間，家人聚集在一起讀經，聽的神的話語並一起禱告。在21世紀的今天，我們正迅速的走過這個世界。很快你會發現，留下來的將唯有我們生命的回憶。而能夠帶給我們平穩，給我們方向及生命意義的最堅固基礎，是一個基督徒家庭。（哥林多前書3：11-13）
有一個美麗的故事講到音樂家莫扎特。他最後的音樂作品是他的安魂曲。經過了幾天的被病魔折磨，以及辛勞的創作，終於完成了這曲子。當他填上最後一個音符時，他漂亮的女兒艾米莉正好走進房來。莫紮特把手稿遞給她，說，“好了，我可愛的艾米莉啊，稿子已完成了；我的安魂曲已經完成了，我也是，也結束了。”
“親愛的爸爸，別這麼說”，溫柔的艾米莉說，“你今天看起來更強壯。”
“我的病是不會在好起來的。” 她父親回答，“但，艾米莉，你來，坐在鋼琴上彈彈這首曲子，用聖母的讚美詩來唱給我聽聽。”
艾米莉順服父親的指示，帶著溫柔的情感，甜美的聲音，她唱了出來。
然後，當她完成時，她從鋼琴上轉過身，期待著父親讚許的微笑; 卻只看到安息在他的臉上。父親去世了，他乘著他自己安魂曲的翅膀回天家了。
聽我說，沒有任何安魂曲，在人的塵世生命的最後的片刻對於心靈的安寧，能如神聖家庭回憶的安魂曲那樣的甜美，那樣的安慰人，那樣的賜福。它會讓心中的音樂比天使的歌更甜美。願神幫助我們在家裡的生活能如此的甜蜜。人一生中最好的獎賞之一是，我們的兒女孫子和後代他們遵循我們建立基督家庭的榜樣，在家裡耶穌基督是家人們經常邀請來的貴客，而主耶穌寶貴的話語是我們生活的標準和生命的引導。讓我們建立一個基督化家庭，“為自己積成美好的根基，預備將來，叫他們持定那真正的生命。”（提摩太前書6：19）
讓我們的努力目標證明出這一事實。…人間最近似天堂的，是基督徒家庭！
The Memories of Home
As we live each day, we are making memories. Every day adds to them and determines more fully their final character. Often, we sit for hours with our children and grandchildren, talking about our home and reflecting on the past. When we are together, we laugh, cry and praise the Lord for the great home He has given us. Inevitably, someone says, “Do you remember when?” Part of the sorrow and suffering of Christ here upon the earth is to be accounted for by the fact that He was away from His Father’s home. He liked the children of men, but He missed the glory and joy He had in His Father’s house. This must be a part of what Heaven will be like. We are constantly making memories, and the process of making them determines the way in which we live. Our memories will make old age happy or unhappy. That is what memories do! Our fondest memories should be of our daily life in our Christian home, both our memories and those of our children.
Memories of the home should include the meal times, prayer times and game times that we shared. The trips that we took, the animals we raised and the fun and battles that we encountered. Often there were conflicts, and we shared them as well. As a family, we make memories every day of the week, for you never know when you are making the last of them.
Life is so uncertain that we never know when we are having the last meal, last talk or the last walk together. I know of a family who ends every phone conversation, email, note and parting of company with “Love you”. Never leave the house in the morning if there has been a misunderstanding, bitter or ugly words, or sullen silence because those things may become a lifelong bitter memory. The best defense to the home is those eight special words we mentioned at the beginning, “I’m sorry,” “Forgive me,” and “I love you”. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (“Proverbs 15:1).
The story is told of a young man with a kind and gentle nature who left his home to go to his job. He had not been gone an hour when his body was brought home. The scaffold upon which he was working had given way, and he had been killed. One of his sisters was more grief-stricken then the others. She seemed to have a peculiar sorrow. She could only say, “I wasn’t kind to him as he left this morning.”
Memories! When made, they are eternal and cannot be changed!
Children Have Memories Too
Having traveled to many large cities and watched the great crowds of people moving up and down the streets, in and out of large buildings, I have grown accustomed to watching people rush in every direction. Each time I am reminded that every one of them bears in their heart and life the impression of the home from which they came.
What kind of memories will your children have of home? Will they be memories of parents that loved the Lord Jesus Christ and continually sought the Bible as direction for their lives? Will there be memories of comfort, inspiration, encouragement and blessings, or will there be memories that sear, burn, bite and curse? We should face the matter squarely, being fully assured that the children we send out into the world will never fully escape from the memories and influence of the home. If the childhood home has been true and sweet, its benediction goes through all of life.
“Sin may sweep over the soul like a devastating fire; sorrow may quench every joy and hope; but the memory of a sweet and blessed home lives on like a solitary star burning in the deep of night. And even in the midst of sin, its picture floats before the mind like a vanishing dream.”
Here is the testimony of one man: “Many a night I remember lying quietly in the little upper chamber before sleep came. There would come a gentle footstep on the stair, the door would noiselessly open and a well-known form, softly gliding through the darkness, would appear at my bedside. First, there would be a few pleasant inquiries of affection, which gradually deepened into words of counsel. Then kneeling, her head close to mine, her most earnest hopes and prayers would flow forth in prayer. How largely a mother can wish for her boy! Her tears spoke the earnestness of her desire. I seem to feel them yet where sometimes they fell upon my face. Rising, with a goodnight kiss, she was gone.”
A memory like that is the greatest gift a parent can leave a child. It will be a bulwark to guard against temptation and sin. It will prove a golden chain binding the child to the feet of God. Is it worthwhile to fill a child’s life with memories like that? How careless we parents can be! How slothful, how negligent! God forgive and help us!
Sometimes, sorrow is not taken properly. If a home is a truly Christian home, sorrow does not put out all of the lights. It rather makes the home more tender and loving. It draws the home closer to God. Sanctified sorrow transfigures a home, and brings more of God down into it. So it often happens that the memory of sorrow proves to be the most tender and firmest clasp that binds home and hearts together.
As we close this, there are some things that we must never forget. We must have Christ in our homes if our memories are to be all that they should be. There should be a family altar where at some time each day all of the family gathers to hear God’s words and to pray together. In this 21st century we are quickly moving through this world. Soon all that remains will be the memory of our lives. The strongest foundation that will give stability, direction and purpose in our lives is a Christian Home (I Cor. 3:11-13).
A beautiful story is told of Mozart. His last musical composition was his Requiem. After days of illness and the most painful labor, it was finished. His beautiful daughter Emily came into the room just as he was writing in the last notes, and Mozart handed to her the manuscript, saying, “There, my beautiful Emily, it is finished; my Requiem is finished, and I too, am finished.”
“Say not so, dear father,” said the gentle Emily, “you seem stronger today.”
“I shall never be well again,” replied her father, “but here, Emily, sit at the piano and play these notes and sing them with the hymns of the sainted mother.”
Emily obeyed, singing with a voice made rich by the tender emotion.
Then, when she had finished, she turned from the piano, expecting the approving smile of her father; but she saw only the look of peace on his features and the seal of death. He had gone home on the wings of his own requiem.
Listen when I say, there will be no requiem so sweet to the heart in the last hour of earthly life as the requiem of blessed and hallowed home memories. It will make music in the heart sweeter than the song of angels. May God help us to live at home so sweetly.One of the best rewards will be our children, grandchildren and future generations that followed our example as we built a Christian home where Jesus Christ was the continuously invited guest and His precious Word was our standard and guide.
Let’s make home a place where “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1Timothy 6:19).
Let our goals be evident of this fact. The nearest thing to heaven is a Christian Home!
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