Stones of Remembrance

Stones of Remembrance


It started eight years ago, at least that's as far back as I recall doing this. I was on my second mission trip ever, also the second one within six weeks. I was in Alaska, and we had stopped at a beautiful lake (name, I don't remember). I found a rock on the shore, grabbed it and said, "It looks like a pickle!" Against the law, I removed the rock from the premesis, and it became a stone of remembrance. Although at the time, I didn't see significant meaning. This rock moved with me each time I relocated, and people always picked it up and commented about the rock on the shelf. "It's my pickle rock from Alaska!" I would announce.

The next summer I travelled with my dear friend Erin to Michigan for vacation with her family. We visited Lake Michigan, and again, I picked up rocks. She did too, and we took home a bucket full of rocks to remember our trip by. Some of the rocks became the base for two stepping stones on her patio. The others were put in a bucket in the basement.

The next fall I started leading a Bible study for high school girls. Within the first three months, we came to a lesson on stones of remembrance, based on Joshua 4. The girls and I drug the bucket of stones out of the basement, grabbed some Sharpies, and began writing things on the stones that we wanted to remember that God had done in our lives. By the time we were through, we had a large pile of stones. We arranged them around our candles, and there they stayed. They were always the first thing I would unpack when I moved, and we looked at them every week that we met. By the end of the fourth year of our meetings, there were only a few girls who had been there for the first stones of remembrance. At the beginning of our fourth year of meeting, one of the newer girls asked, "What are all those words on the rocks for?" One of the young ladies explained why they were there, and they all agreed that is was time to add more, seeing as three whole years had passed, and God had been active and moving in each of their lives. We read Joshua 4 again, and so the pile of stones grew. At the end of that year, as a graduation gift to my girls, I presented them with their very own container of stones and a Sharpie, for them to begin their own pile of stones of remembrance.

Then things began happening in my own life, things I wanted to remember. I had a friend email me to tell me she thought I needed to start a pile of stones, because God was doing so much so fast, she didn't want me to forget His faithfulness. She knew that times of doubt would come, and she wanted me to have something to go back to, to remind me of all God had done, and all He would continue to do.

Needless to say, I didn't start the pile. I started a pile of things (not stones) that would help me rememeber the things He was doing. But no stones. Things started moving even faster, and before I knew it, I was in Haiti in the middle of May. So much had happened, so much to remember, yet I found myself in a whirlwind of activity every day. I wanted to remember. I wanted to build a monument to God, so that whenever someone saw it, they would ask what it was for, thus giving me the opportunity to give glory to God for all He's done and continues to do in my life. I kept telling myself to pick up some rocks.

When we went to visit the land that the new orphanage and Christ-centered community will be built on, I gasped when I saw a pile of large stones lying there. It was as if God had put them there to say, "Look! Look what I'm doing! Don't forget how this is happening, or Who is going to build this community. I'm glad you are here, and that you recognize my presence here. Show others what I'm doing." I grabbed the mission team, and had them count the rocks. There were ten. We needed two more, which someone quickly found. We built our altar to the Lord right there on the edge of the property. We paused to take a picture of it. We gave thanks for all God has done to bring us to this point, and for allowing us to be part of everything so far.

This idea of stones of remembrance just keeps coming up for me. Someone from a different team gave us a stone from the land (not knowing what we had done the previous trip there) to keep in the orphanage office to remember what God is doing on the land.

As I walked along the beach, I was struck at the smoothness of the stones. I wanted to scoop up as many as I could, to keep as stones of remembrance. I don't want to forget God's goodness and faithfulness in my life. I want to live expectantly for Him to move and work, but never failing to be in awe of His wonders and works. Today I started gathering what I hope will be an enormous pile of stones testifying to His provision and goodness in my life, so that for generations to come, others will see the stones of remembrance and praise His name.