Stony Reminders

“So Joshua called together the twelve men and told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan River, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder . . . We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’” Joshua 4:4-8 NLT

I guess I am not the only one who needs reminders! Throughout time, people created ways to pass down important information to their descendants. In Old Testament times, stone altars served the excellent purpose of commemorating God’s intervention in the lives of the Israelites. “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘I am going to give this land to your offspring.’ And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the Lord’s visit” (Genesis 12:7). Later, his son, Isaac, built one after the Lord appeared to him announcing: “I am the God of your father, Abraham, do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation” (Genesis 26:24, 25). Still later, the Lord visited Isaac’s son, Jacob, in a dream, promising many blessings for him and his descendants. Upon waking, Jacob “took the stone he had used as a pillow and set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named the place Bethel – ‘House of God’” (Genesis 28:18, 19). A few generations on, Moses built an altar after God promised to “blot out every trace of Amalek from under heaven.” He called it, “The Lord is My Banner” (Exodus 17:14, 15). These piles of stones focused on divine intervention - every time you stumbled into one, you were reminded of something, or Someone, significant!

What if, today, we used stone pillars as reminders? I can just picture it . . . Stores would entice us with special deals. Pillars would come in every kind of style, colour and shape imaginable tying in with the latest décor trends. There would be luxury models made of marble or granite and plastic versions for the not-so-rich. We would compete with our neighbours to see who would have the most reminders in their backyard. Thankfully, today we use other things such as books, art, movies, and photos as memory triggers and do not need to litter our gardens.

Importantly, it is only through words that we can explain and hear or read about the details of an event. Although I love to memorialize special events through photography, it is hard to use that medium, like stones, to explain a moment when God intervened in my life. Photos and stones serve merely as the reminder. That is why, recently, my desire to share significant ‘God Moments’ in my life has lead me to start writing down these events in the hopes that they may be encouraging to others on their journey with God. Writing allows me to include the details that make the story complete and easy to accurately repeat in the future. When my children ask me about my encounters with God, if (and when!) my memory fails, I can open the binder that keeps my stories safe and share the details of my wonderful relationship with Him who loves me.

So, dear reader, may you be encouraged by my words, by the words in the Bible, and by the words of other believers. Why not start your own spiritual journal? Write it in your own style. Share it if you want. Create some reminders that will cause you and others to stop and ask, “What went on here?” Then, reading from your journal, you can say, “It all started . . .”