Finer Things: Happy Memories

Link-up with Amy at Finer Things Friday and feel a smile overtake you! The images below are Steve Edson's.

My Fine Thing this week is fond memories. That could be anything right? But for a young mom submerged in the overwhelming day-to-day struggles of motherhood, it’s hard to even remember anything past yesterday. My mind is filled to the brim with to-dos and I-didn’ts that only this week did I find myself smiling and remembering good things about myself.

On Thursday, I was reminiscing with my husband about the one time in my life I played sports. Well, most won’t even consider Crew a sport. But that’s what I did for 4 months in high school. Before then, I grew up in Manila and it was either you did well in academics or sports. Both was not an option since most of the intramural games were during school hours.Somehow, my newly immigrated mom allowed me to sign-up for crew my junior year in high school. We ran 3 miles to and from the lake everyday after school and spent a couple hours rowing. It was late winter when the season started and ice floated along the banks of the lake. The water was freezing cold and we would dip our bruised knuckles to numb the pain. We would row to the middle of the lake and lay on our backs, looking up at the sky. What peace I felt then. And as we rowed, the stillness of the water ahead reflected the houses and trees perfectly like a painting.
It didn’t matter that I couldn’t tell right from left, which was vital for that sport. I must have been the worse one in the bunch! But the camaraderie I felt healed a lot of the wounds I felt being the new kid in town. Here I was part of a team on a boat in a country I never thought I would live in. All these good memories have been a balm to my soul:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” - Philippians 4:8