Sometimes you see those cute, decorative wooden signs and they make you laugh. Other times you see them and they really hit home. Recently I went to a craft and home show and found some wooden signs from a particular vendor. I purchased three different signs. Here is what they said and the why behind each purchase.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.”

I chose this sign because when I was little this is a song that my dad sang to me and my sister. It was special. Then when Abby was born, he sang it to her as well. Since he has been gone for 15 years it is something that reminds me of him and in the moments that I look at the words it quickly takes me back to when I was a little girl. I hear his voice singing this song over myself and my sister. I see the harvest gold and avocado green that adorned our 70’s home, I hear the crackle of the intercom speakers as an 8-track player blasted Willie Nelson throughout our home. There are few songs, smells, and memories that are this vivid from my childhood, but this one, I will keep this one and remember every time I look at this sign. 

“I love to tell the story”

This sign has this phrase painted over a piece of sheet music from this old hymn. This one stuck out to me because that is what this platform is for, to tell my story…to tell our story. In addition to this platform I truly love to tell my story because while it is hard and sad, it is also full of the grace, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness of my Heavenly Father. He has never left me or forsaken me. His Word is just as true today as the day it was originally written. I have this sign hanging above my desk between photos of Jason and the painting I did at Christmas for our Abby and I. It is a special place because when I look up from my desk I see things that remind me of Jason. Remembering Jason helps me to remember the reason why I share our story, it also helps me to remember all the moments where God has met me and provided peace, comfort, healing, and joy.

“Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you’re living.”

I had seen this sign at a specific vendor’s home store in Colorado a couple of weeks before seeing it in their booth at the show, but seeing it again, in that moment, the words almost screamed at me from their wooden frame. As I read it I felt every word. 

You see, up until last July I had a picture of what my life was going to be like. I had a plan and I had a dream. Then, July 7 happened. It truly rocked me to the core, because everything I had known…my best friend, my love, my husband was gone. Nothing was the same and everything was the same. Nothing in my life was normal and yet everyone around me seemed to be experiencing normal. So, slowly in the moments after and every day since I have had to make a choice. I have had to choose joy. I have had to choose to get up and press forward no matter how much it hurts or how empty I felt. I had to get up and choose to press into the presence of my Heavenly Father where I knew I could find peace, comfort, love, and a joy that could not be taken away or diminished. 

This sign is in my bedroom. It is in a place where I see it daily. It is a reminder to me that while my life now looks nothing like what I thought it would, it is still a beautiful story that is daily and in every moment being redeemed and rewritten by my Heavenly Father. 

So what would your sign say, where would you hang it, and why?

Even if you do not have a sign yet, you can still answer this because we all have quotes, confessions, or scriptures that resonate with us. These sayings can help us to remember a specific moment or moments in time. These moments may be positive or negative, but know this…both types shape who you are.