My Mementos, His Promises

Three years ago this month, almost to the day, I was in Israel.

G-d, how I miss it.

I know I’ve written about it before, multiple times, possibly to an annoying extent.

I’m not sorry.

Unless you’ve been to Israel, you may not understand how such a place can change you. Forever.

And I think I’ll be writing about Israel for just as long, too.

Of all the changes which continue to affect me, I believe the greatest of all is the strengthening of my trust in Hashem. Going to Israel, paying to go to Israel, was the culmination of years of dreaming, hoping, and praying. The reason it happened was because He willed it so and helped me.

While there are plenty of other instances from my life where I could say Hashem stepped in and took care of me, the intimacy which I experienced throughout planning for my trip and during my visit in Israel exceeds them all. Thus, I continue to cling to these memories as tokens of fulfillment of Hashem’s promise to me.

Delight yourself in the L-RD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Tehillim 37:4

Recently, I’ve had to endure some difficult challenges, painful challenges; curve balls coming out of left field I never saw coming, whacking me upside the head. A lot of them continued to bring up this deep seated fear of a specific, plausible failure in my future, and it was not until last evening I realised I had not put all of my trust in Hashem regarding this fear.

Did not a wise man once say, “Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself”?

What a fool I have been.

Thus, today as I created a collage (on my cubicle wall at my day job) of a handful of photos from my Israel trip, I was reminded of His faithfulness to me.

Me. For no other reason other than I’ve chosen to say “yes” to His purposes for my life; I said “yes” to loving him.

Now whenever I look up from my computer screen, I will see glimpses into this past moment, relive those memories, and remember how Hashem helped guide me to make it possible.

I know I could have never done it without Him.

My mementos will encourage, inspire, and remind me to not lose hope, especially in Hashem, for he is faithful to keep His promises.