I Forget

My mom always said, “Be true to your teeth or they will be false to you.” We are trying to stop rotting out our teeth with refined sugar.

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Hope lost a tooth last week. When she went to bed that night she gently reminded us that the tooth would be under her pillow in case we wanted to leave her money for it. That night when Lois and I laid our heads on our pillows we both plunged immediately and deeply into sweet, undisturbed sleep. Our “Tooth Fairy” responsibilities escaped our minds. In the morning Hope announced to Lois, “Hey, my tooth is still under my pillow.”

Lois said, “Leave it there. Tomorrow night we will try to remember to get it and leave you some money.” Hope is a lot like her mother, she likes it when people give her money and she’s not above reminding you to do so.

That night, when she put us to bed, she brought us a little card and said, “Do you have a pen? You need to write yourself a note so you won’t forget to give me money for my tooth tonight.”

Lois wrote a note, “Remember Hope’s tooth.” Hope stuck it on our headboard where we would see it in the morning. Early that morning Lois found the note and slipped some cash under her pillow. She doesn’t have all her teeth, but she had a big smile this morning anyway.

When you get our age things begin to change. You don’t always tuck your children in at night. Often they tuck you in. You notice aches and pains you didn’t notice before. You get in earlier at night and you like quiet more and sometimes you have to write yourself a note to remember the simplest things.

I forget why I wrote this. I am getting older and I forget stuff. Yesterday I sent the boys on a trip. They excitedly packed the trunk of the car with their snowboards and luggage and they were off to spend a few days visiting Kyle in Indiana. A couple hours later they called me.

“Is everything OK,” I asked.

“You forgot to give us the keys to the trunk,” they said.

They say when you get old you repeat yourself because you can’t remember if you said it before and you start forgetting things more. I can’t remember where I heard that. I’m glad God has a better memory than I do. Since I became a child of God when I put my faith in Jesus Christ’s death to pay for my sin He has promised to intentionally forget my sin and remember everything else about me.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands – “. (Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV)

When I get old and loose my teeth and hair and end up wandering around the WalMart parking lot trying to remember where I left my car, or when I can’t remember which car I drove, it’s a comfort to know that my name will still be engraved on the palms of God’s hands. If you are a child of God He will never lose sight of you or forget you.

Ken Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
February 19, 2007