I got sick a few weeks ago– sore throat, fever, followed by nasty congestion. It was strange to feel the moment the tickle started in my throat. Normally I really can’t tell the moment I got sick, but I sure did this time. Both nostrils plugged up with congestion, headache, cough, etc … it’s a flu, or something like it. I couldn’t think of a better time to get sick – I actually thanked God that it started now, after our big CD release concert, instead of a week before the concert. Jenna got sick a few days after me - my poor wife. It hit her harder than me - she still has a bad cough.

It was odd to thank God for getting sick. I’m not thanking him so much now, many days into it. But I certainly am glad to be alive. This virus has gotten a lot of people around here, and it seems to last for weeks.

So as I was sitting at home, reading a book, watching some movies, doing dishes, I started thinking about comforting memories. I thought – what if I could pick any memory I wanted to relive, or recreate today, what would it be?

My thoughts first circled back to my friend Wyatt and I playing with Legos in his basement, with Star Wars playing in the VCR in the background. I think we probably watched Star Wars at least 100 times that year, or absorbed it in the background anyway. We were always making up our own stories and characters, and giving them adventures that were way cooler even than Star Wars.

Then I thought about the days I first discovered Narnia, reading all seven books in a row while listening to Keith Green music. I still get that magical sense of something beyond these shadow lands when I listen to certain Keith Green songs. The songs somehow trigger a faint memory, or longing for heaven, or something of both. 

I just searched the web for a Keith Green picture - here he is - man, I've got hair envy. :-)


Then I thought of the hours I played Descent 3 (a networked video game) with my friend Mark. And ping pong, and the times we went water skiing and slept outside under the stars. And the girl Susie who I had a crush on at the end of high school, who introduced me to climbing on top of the Healdsburg reservoir and gazing at the stars.

And of course thousands of memories with Jenna, the girl who I fell in love with and who I love even more every year. Walking in the park, writing music with her, hiking, playing Boggle (we are very competitive Boggle players :-), watching 12 episodes of Lost in a row while we were sick together, performing together, leading worship together, going to Latvia on short term missions together …

Well, needless to say, by the time I was done walking memory lane, I felt better. And realized that I really didn’t want to go back in time and relive them – just soaking in them was enough.

Nathan