Rocks + Remembering = Happy Friday!!

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,  and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,  to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."  Joshua 4:4-7

If you've known me very long, you know that Joshua 4 ... and well, rocks are an obsession of mine.  My students have heard me talk about my rocks for so long that they even bring them to me now ... and one of my favorite birthday moments was my nursing girl who wrote that she hoped I had a "rock worthy day" ... ahhhhhh, love it!

Several years ago I read an article in Discipleship Journal about a family who had taken the stones of remembrance to heart.  They had a rock jar that served as a tangible reminder of God's faithfulness, blessing, and provision in their lives.  When God did something significant in their lives, they would collect a rock and record it on that rock and add it to their rock jar!  I fell in LOVE with this idea and became obsessed with rocks and rock jars ... I mean OBSESSED. I think maybe I should be in a 12 step program where I say, "My name is Karen and I am addicted to rocks!!"

But here's WHY!  I give the Israelites a hard time about their peanut sized brains that seem to remember NOTHING ... but I am sooo much the same.  Someone asked me how in the world I remembered some obscure detail of something yesterday and I have no idea because I don't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday!!  And I am no better than the Israelites at remembering the goodness, provision and blessing of the Lord in my life.  Psalm 77:11 says, "I will remember the faithfulness of the Lord.  I will remember your miracles of long ago."  And do you know what I've discovered??  Remembering makes us thankful people.  It makes us faith-filled people.  The same God who parted the Red Sea and pulled back the Jordan River is the same God who created the earth and raised Lazarus from the dead.  He is the same God who put a baby into a virgin and the same God who sustained Jonah in the belly of the whale and Daniel in the lion's den.  And He is the same God who listens to me, provides for my needs, and has my name tattooed on the palm of His hand.  But I forget who He is sometimes and I just need a reminder ... so I can once again be thankful.

Best I can recall, my rock jars started about 7 or 8 years ago. I'm pretty sure I made Gavin crazy making him let me pick up smooth river rocks EVERY time we went to the mountains ... but then I discovered that you could even buy them at Home Depot and I was in business!!  There were some girls I discipled in Amarillo that I persuaded to love rocks right along with me.  Amarillo wasn't the easiest place I've ever lived (but that's another story for another day) ... and on my toughest days there, my girls would sweetly boldly remind me to dump out my rocks.  It's certainly a perspective changer.  One of my favorite rocks is the black rock shaped like Africa that I found last summer when we were walking around the orphanage.  Isn't it amazing??? 

I feel like as the people went to POSSESS the Promised Land at long last that God was determined that they NOT repeat the sins of their parents.  They sent out spies again, but they did not waiver in their belief this time.  They faced a HUGE obstacle in that the Jordan River was not only between them and their land, but it was also raging forth at flood stage.  Really?  God reminded them this time, that they needed to follow Him by having the priests go before the people carrying the ark of the covenant.  And once they had all safely crossed, God instructed Joshua to have one man from each tribe heft a bolder from the dry bed of the Jordan and carry it to where they would camp that night.  They complied and there built a monument of remembrance ... a memorial to God's faithfulness.  He told them when their children asked why it was there to tell them that God held back the water of the Jordan so they could cross over just as He had the Red Sea.

This is not the only time stones were used as a memorial in Scripture:
In Genesis 35, Jacob set up a stone altar to commemorate where He heard God.

In Exodus following the giving of the 12 commandments, Moses fashioned an altar out of 12 stone pillars.(Exodus 24:3-5)

In Joshua 24, Joshua sets up a stone as a reminder of the promises the people made to the Lord.

Later in Israel’s history, Samuel gave a specific name to the raising of a single stone as a memorial to God’s faithfulness. He called the stone “Ebenezer”—or “stone of help” (1 Samuel 7:12).

We need Ebenezers as well, help in remembering God and His faithfulness and His work in our lives! That's what my rock jar(s) are!  I fill in dates and occasions where I've seen God's faithfulness, His provision, protection, character. Then, like the Israelites, I will be able to share with generations to come of the work of God in my life. And I am a more thankful girl because of the days that I dump out my rocks and REMEMBER my God.  Even today as I've looked through some of my rocks, I had forgotten some of the things God did.  But I remember His work in my life and I am confident that He's not through!  I probably should have shelves and shelves of rock jars ... because God is, indeed, that faithful to us!

It's a yucky, rainy Friday here ... but who's up for a little rock collecting??  Makes for a :0) heart!  ENJOY!