October 2, 2026
Camden, our 6-year-old grandson, spent the night and was telling the girls all about some new cartoon people he had seen on a video game. They looked them up on the computer and spent most of a Saturday afternoon drawing pictures of them.
On Sunday we gave Camden a good amount of warning that we were going to have to leave soon. We give the warning to try and prevent the tears.
Laney, our 11-year-old granddaughter, asked for the glue gun and ran upstairs to work on something. She reappared right before we were to leave with one of the little cartoon people she had made out of a sock and other items. His name was Blue. She presented him to Camden which immediately stopped the tears.
He was so thrilled and excited to have Blue to take home with him.
I wish I had a picture of this creation because from Camden’s reaction you would have thought it was made by professionals and sold in Target. It really was so sweet of Laney, but I have to be honest and say it really was and looked homemade – by an 11-year-old.
We left and went to Camden’s sister’s cheer competition. He carried Blue around with him. All. Day. Long. He even fell asleep at one point holding onto it. He asked me to take him to the concession stand, and I told him he probably needed to leave Blue in his seat.
As we are walking around the arena looking for the candy he wanted, he informed me that he had a little piece of Blue with him. He proceeded to show me a little piece of blue fuzz he had pulled off Blue, and his words were, “Did you know if you have a piece of something with you then you won’t miss them because they will always be with you?”
I have thought a lot about that statement from a little 6-year-old boy. And it is so true. We might not physically have a piece of something or someone, but God is good to give us those “pieces” in the form of precious memories.
This certainly doesn’t keep us from missing someone, but it does keep them close to our heart. I feel like we all have people in our lives who have had huge impacts on us in one way or another. Maybe they have passed away, moved away, or changed jobs. Whatever the case might be, we miss them.
We miss their friendships, their presence, their voice, and, honestly, we just miss THEM.
But God has given us the beautiful gift of a memory. Memories allow us to relive moments that were so very special to us.
Someone once famously said: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” Isn’t this so very true? We go about our lives, and we have experiences that we participate in all the time. We enjoy the vacations, birthdays, weddings, family get-togethers and many other things. We don’t realize those moments are what we will hold in our hearts as memories when we might not have all the people we love together again.
Memories are special moments that tell our story, that make up our lives. We should store them as timeless treasures in our hearts.
In Philippians 1:3, Paul said: “I thank my God every time I remember you.”
God gave us those unforgettable memories, and I am ever so grateful.
I am sure Camden’s Blue will get lost or torn up in the coming weeks. I am also sure Camden’s sweet words, “if you have a piece of something with you they will always be with you,” will echo in my mind forever. It will continue to remind me of God’s blessing of precious memories.
My prayer is, if you read this article, that it will trigger a sweet memory for you. If you are missing someone, remember to thank God for the moments that became the memories that we are blessed to hold in our hearts.
Thank God for the memories.
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Jill Johnson, a staff member at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, finds spiritual applications in her everyday experiences as a wife, mother, grandmother and Georgian. Reach her at jjohnson@gabaptist.org.
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