The Keeper of Random Information
“Where are my shoes?”
“Have you seen my keys?”
“Mom, where did my Avenger guys go?”
Most of the time I can easily answer the bombardment of questions I get like this on a day-to-day basis. The scary part is that I can usually guide my kids or husband to what they’re looking for from another room or while I’m in the middle of another task. Call it talent. Call it having a great memory. I like to think of myself as a “Keeper of Random Information.”
While I pick things up around the house, I suppose my brain just holds onto information like this because in the back of my mind, I know I’ll need it later. As unimportant and useless as it seems, this catalog of random information has come in handy pretty often.
Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I suppose I’ve had quite a bit of training when it comes to sharpening my memory. Going to a private Lutheran school all the way through high school came with its fair share of memory work. We memorized Bible passages, hymns, commandments, creeds. You name it, we memorized it … several times. As a kid, I used to think that the amount of passages we had to commit to memory was over the top. I viewed it as something I had to do to get a good grade and then I could just let that information go. It didn’t seem all that important at the time.
It wasn’t until I was about a year into my marketing career that I discovered just how rare it was to be a “Keeper of Random Information.” I was sitting in a meeting going over some graphics with some colleagues. The model in the graphics had a tattoo on his arm that was peeking out from under the shirt that was being featured. As we chatted about the image, the conversation turned to the tattoo. Everyone was trying to figure out what the full message might say. Getting my first full glance at the image, the tattoo immediately became clear from the words I could make out.
“Oh, it says, ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,’” I said nonchalantly. I looked up to realize that my coworkers were staring at me like I had two heads. While acknowledging that the passage I referenced was a perfect fit, they didn’t understand how I could possibly know that. Explaining that it was an often-quoted Bible passage did little to quell their amazement or curiosity.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
It’s a passage that I was assigned to memorize a good handful of times. It turns out that holding onto that “random information” was actually pretty meaningful. It was a fleeting moment in which I was able to witness to my coworkers, but still a moment that made me appreciate my upbringing.
As a kid, the passages that I memorized were little more than homework to me. But the message of the Gospel became so much more than memory work as I grew older. As the people I love have gone through everything from breakups to sickness to coping with loss, being a “Keeper of Random Information” has been part of my calling as a friend and sister in faith. Recalling passages that can bring comfort and peace to a friend in need is such a huge blessing.
As helpful as remembering where my son’s favorite toy can be found (“the big Hulk, mom, not the little guy”) or as useful as knowing where my husband left his wallet is (in the van’s center console … again), it can never compare to keeping God’s Word near and dear and ready to share. Perhaps you didn’t grow up memorizing Bible passages. Maybe you did and you’re a bit out of practice. Whether your favorite Bible passages of comfort and hope are newly found words of inspiration or a message that’s only too familiar, be the “keepers” of those words. Take them to heart all over again and commit them to memory. You never know when the occasion will arise in which God will call you to witness, but you’ll be thankful that you did the memory work in order to share the Gospel with others.