Faith and Family

Stones of Remembrance

BY DONNA WHARTENBY

Old Testament scripture tells us how God delivered His people out of slavery from Egypt. God chose Moses to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. They spent 40 years wandering the wilderness because they did not have faith in Moses or in God’s promises. But then, they finally arrived near the Promised Land.

This story is told in Joshua, chapter 4, where Joshua played a vital role for God’s people. God miraculously parted the waters of the Jordan River for them to cross. Joshua instructed one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a stone as they crossed the riverbank. These stones were then stacked and placed in the middle of the camp where they lived. As people walked by, seeing these stones of remembrance, they would remember how God was the center of their lives and tell the next generations the stories of God’s blessings and promises.

We can use stones of remembrance today to help us remember times when we experienced God’s presence in our journeys. We need to share with our children and grandchildren who God is, what He has done in our lives, and how God is in the center of our lives. We must share His promises and His truth.

How do you start?

1. Ask yourself: What are your stones of remembrance? What did God do to be in the center of your life that is important to share with your children and grandchildren? Remember how God provides, protects, and loves each of us.

2. Take your children and grandchildren on a walk to gather smooth stones, large enough to stack and pile together. Write God’s name or other identifiers on each memory stone to help you remember the unique situation(s). These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4:7, NIV)

3. Make a pile of memory stones in the midst of where you live: near a front door, a nearby garden, or under a favorite tree. Set them in a place where you will walk by them regularly. When the children ask what the stones mean, share your story and teach them how God was in the center of your life and how He is still there today.

4. Gather and pile memory stones of gratitude, provision, protection, healing, faithfulness, or love and share the stories with your children and grandchildren. Teach them how God’s power and might impacted your life so they, too, will want to remember His love, power, and healing. They will soon want to tell these stories of remembrance themselves.

5. Teach your family to pray together with gratitude and thanksgiving, identifying how God is the center of your life’s journey and how He has brought blessings, joy, peace, comfort, healing, and love to your lives. Teach them to expect God to be there, and He will!

If the pile of stones is not possible, some other ways you can “pile up stones of remembrance” are to: keep a family journal of gratitude, create a scrapbook with pictures documenting the details of times to remember, keep cards that are reminders of God’s blessings and interventions, or create memory cards of family gatherings where you saw God’s blessings, using stories, poems, or pictures.

In these ways, you can pass on your own stories of remembrance to your children and grandchildren - the next generation. Teach them to remember the story and show them how to find God in the center of everything they do. Teach them His love.

Donna grew up in a Christian home and attended weekly church activities with her family. Family is especially important in her life. She married her husband, Keith, 38 years ago and, together, they raised a nephew after his mother passed away from cancer. Donna has three grandchildren and loves to spend vacations and holidays celebrating family traditions.

The Lord stirred Donna’s heart to teach women’s studies and coordinate women’s church events. Donna loves singing and traveling. She has a new passion for writing for this women’s magazine.