Packing my Suitcase

When my husband retired nine months ago, our life took a dramatic turn. Where once we relished our three weeks of vacation, we now had unlimited time to take as many trips as we wanted.

He enjoys competitive skeetshooting, and this sport has taken us to many different cities and statesthese last few months. I always enjoy myself when I arrive at our destination, but packing for the trip seems to be such an ordeal for me. If we fly, we have difficulty limiting ourselves to two suitcases each, and ifwe drive, I load the car with everything but the kitchen sink!

When I was a child, we didn't take too many trips, but now I realize my parents packed a most important suitcase for me. It was ready to accompany me when I left for college, my first time away from parental guidance. They started packing my spiritual suitcase when I was a little baby. They put in it a sense of being loved and wanted. They added the value of worship and showed me by example the importance of Sunday school and churchattendance.

They instilled in me a sense of moral values based on God's plan. They packed, in my spiritual suitcase, a sense of responsibility and awillingness to share. They showed me what compassion was all about and how onecould stand against the crowd when virtue was at stake.

The generosity they showed others was also packed away. Self-control was one of the first things I removed from my suitcase when I got to college. I had to "keep my cool" even when things didn't go my way. My folks gave me so much in that suitcase! It was full to overflowing. I am thankful they didn't leave out anything I needed or even wanted to help me through those college years. The only thing they couldn't pack for me was my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thankfully, I had accepted Him for myself as Lord and Savior when I was in Jr. High, so I had added the most important item in my suitcase... and in my life.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

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Contributed by Marion Smith
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