Keeping Old Notes

My wife, Terra, and I go a few rounds about once a year about what stuff do we keep and what do we give (or throw) away. This is always hard for me since I was raised by parents who were pack rats - though of different varieties. My mom keeps everything regardless of importance or size, I'm sure she has every birthday card ever sent her! I still love her but the smaller her house the more noticeable it is. My dad, on the other hand, is a pack rat but of things that have potential monetary value to someone in the future. He keeps old advertising, furniture, and whatever catches his eye. The difference is that he owns and lives in a three-story warehouse so you never notice how much he has until you start to actually wonder what will happen when he thinks about downsizing to a normal house, say something under 5,000 sq/ft.

All these thoughts came over me today as I was doing some research on spiritual gifts. When I was in college the at the time new pastor, Al Areheart, at my church, 12th Avenue Baptist Church, gave a several week sermon series on spiritual gifts with a test at the end to determine where your gifts may lie. The small group I teach at my current church is interested in spiritual gifts so as I was preparing for this new assignment I found that we had a folder labeled, "Spiritual Gifts" in our file cabinet. Inside was one thing, my test and some notes from February 1995! This brought back many memories of what I learned, the questions I had since I had been a Christian for less than 2 years, and how much I enjoyed the direction that this gave me in how to be a better part of the church.

Taking notes at church, conferences, and even Bible studies can really make a difference. We may not be tested like we are in college over the material that is covered but reminding yourself of why you took a position, what your thoughts or questions you had at that time, and then reviewing to see where you have grown since this can be a great encouragement. These and many other notes have meant more to me than so many things that I could have kept through college, a couple of moves, grad school, marriage, selling a house, and finally moving to Colorado.

Not every bulliten needs to be kept but the notes that really struck home should be. Which notes will those be? Take notes all the time and eventually you'll know and throw the rest out.