In the old Testament, the children of Israel built several 'memorials'. One was built at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 24) as a testimony to their deliverance from Egypt another when the people crossed the Jordan River on dry ground (Joshua 4). These ‘Standing Stones’ were a way to remind God’s people of important events in their lives, and used as a reminder of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
I recently realized that our family has many of these ‘monuments’ in our lives too. These are not birthdays, Anniversaries, or holidays, those are special in their own way. These are dates like January 1988, when our young family of 3 (soon to be 4) got on a plane headed for the Netherlands to live. We were terrified! Or more recently, June of 2004 when we again moved our family from a familiar place to a “foreign country” or at least that’s how it felt when we first landed in California!
The month of November has now become another ‘standing stone’ in our journey.
Although I technically didn’t arrive until a bit later, November officially marks the one year point of our Alaskan adventure. I know I’ve said this nearly a million times, but I have to say it once more… it’s been an amazing year!
There have been far more ups and downs in this last year then ever before in my life, and times when dread and lack of focus on God have threatened to undo me. During those times, God was always faithful to send a reminder of who He is, maybe through an unexpected phone call or e-mail, through the beauty of creation around me (like a bear in my back yard!) or a song on the radio, etc... On one particular day, a Sunday morning, I was feeling totally overwhelmed with retirement plans (military retirement, that is) and all the questions and uncertainly that holds for us. My focus was certainly not on God that morning until we sang a song called We will Remember. It was like being hit over the head with a 2x4! As we sang the 4th verse I was filled with the thought of 'how dare I doubt that God can handle this one too…"
I recently realized that our family has many of these ‘monuments’ in our lives too. These are not birthdays, Anniversaries, or holidays, those are special in their own way. These are dates like January 1988, when our young family of 3 (soon to be 4) got on a plane headed for the Netherlands to live. We were terrified! Or more recently, June of 2004 when we again moved our family from a familiar place to a “foreign country” or at least that’s how it felt when we first landed in California!
The month of November has now become another ‘standing stone’ in our journey.
Although I technically didn’t arrive until a bit later, November officially marks the one year point of our Alaskan adventure. I know I’ve said this nearly a million times, but I have to say it once more… it’s been an amazing year!
There have been far more ups and downs in this last year then ever before in my life, and times when dread and lack of focus on God have threatened to undo me. During those times, God was always faithful to send a reminder of who He is, maybe through an unexpected phone call or e-mail, through the beauty of creation around me (like a bear in my back yard!) or a song on the radio, etc... On one particular day, a Sunday morning, I was feeling totally overwhelmed with retirement plans (military retirement, that is) and all the questions and uncertainly that holds for us. My focus was certainly not on God that morning until we sang a song called We will Remember. It was like being hit over the head with a 2x4! As we sang the 4th verse I was filled with the thought of 'how dare I doubt that God can handle this one too…"
We Will Remember
When we walk through life’s darkest valleys
We will look back at all you have done
And we will shout, our God is good
And He is the faithful One…
The one thing that 20+ years in the military has done for us is shown us first hand God’s provision in our lives. And although I am sooooooooo done with the moving thing, I am also so thankful that when life gets tough, I can look back at those ‘Standing Stones’ and know without a doubt that He is God, and that He is always faithful. Now that's really something to be thankful for this week!
5 comments:
God is good. Thanks for this reminder! Love you and miss you - wish we could be celebrating the holidays together this year.
Cheryl I waited to read this today on Thanksgivng... What a blessing this is to me! God IS FAITHFUL! Since that is Him, He cannot be anything other than that... WOW! How comforting. When I think about God knowing every detail about my life in the future whatever it may hold, I have peace... As long as He knows & it didn't catch Him off guard (-: I am just fine... How sad that people who don't know His peace are filled with fear, worry, and torment...
Have you read the book, "The Shack" yet? You must read it!!! It is life-changing! Thanks again for blessing me! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
amen to that!
precious vandegrifts! thanks for reminding me to look back on the monuments! miss u! love the photos alaska is amazing would love to see it!
Cheryl said...
It took me moment, but there is only one person who calls us 'precious'... I guess everyone else is just a bit more honest about us...*smile*
We love you and miss you too, and you are more than welcome to visit ANY time!!!!
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