Remembering

I took this shot of the dawn sky at 5:30 a.m. today, from our garden

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night

Psalm 92:1-2

Two years ago, at around this time, Ernie was battling for his life. He had just had a heart attack. Standing helplessly by while the emergency room staff gathered around him, I honestly didn't know if he would make it.

All I held on to was God's word revealed to me the day before: They shall still bear fruit in old age. Psalm 92:14

Ernie made it.

In Stones of Remembrance, I wrote about this mighty miracle that God worked in my husband's life.

Yes, the psalmist is right. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night. (Psalm 92:1,2)



After that significant event in our family history, God's specific instruction to me was to pick 12 stones of remembrance by which our family will always remember what He had done.



These words touched my heart deeply:

Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God

into the midst of the Jordan,

and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder...

that this may be a sign among you

when your children ask in time to come, saying,

"What do these stones mean to you?" Joshua 4:5-6

...And those twelve stones

which they took out of the Jordan,

Joshua set up in Gilgal.

Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying:

"When your children ask their fathers

in time to come, saying,

'What are these stones?'

then you shall let your children know, saying,

'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land;'

for the Lord your God dried up

the waters of the Jordan before you

until you had crossed over,

as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea,

which He dried up before us

until we had crossed over,

that all the peoples of the earth

may know the hand of the Lord,

that it is mighty,

that you may fear the Lord your God forever."

Joshua 4:20-24

The stones will be used to build an altar where true worship will be offered to my King.

That November month, in 2006, I picked up two stones. The first one was the stone of obedience. With that event, our family entered the season of obedience, learning to let go of our own personal agenda, and aligning ourselves with the heavenly agenda of God for our lives.

That same month, I also picked up the stone of praise. About a week after Ernie was discharged from hospital, I woke up one morning with feelings of weariness, discouragement, and heaviness. Before the day was over I realized that there was an intense battle for my soul going on. And God came to the rescue by instructing me to put on the garment of praise. I have since then continually asked God to help me cultivate the habit of praising Him in every circumstance that comes into my life.

In November 2007, as Ernie and I celebrated this event two months upon our arrival in Chiang Mai, we picked up the stone of forgiveness. We needed to learn to let go of rocks of offense, and not allow our souls to be embittered by nursing and harboring grudges toward people who we feel had wronged us. Cultivating a forgiving and unoffendable heart enabled us to truly enjoy our year in Thailand, where we feel God brought us to teach us vital lessons on setting ourselves and others free from the cold prison of unforgiveness.


Today, I know God wants me to pick up the stone of thankfulness.

Yes, I hear what you are saying, dear Father. Thankfulness is a precious stone that You want me to pick from the river.

Remembering that God has been with us all this time, and thanking Him often keeps my heart soft and ever dependent on Him. This stone helps me to never forget His goodness. It keeps my heart from becoming judgmental and self-sufficient.


Oh, my dear Father, I will never forget Your benefits and Your provision, Your guidance, Your loving care, the miracles You have done, though many of them have gone by unnoticed...

There is so much more. I cannot enumerate all the things that You have done for me.

Today I pick up the stone of thankfulness. Being thankful helps me to always remember, and never forget.