RIVER ROCKS

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? - Joshua 4:6

Years ago, I was a member of a Bible study group that met on Friday evenings to read and discuss a book entitled DESIRE OF AGES by Ellen G. White.  This book explores and discusses various aspects of Jesus Christ's life and ministry while He lived here on earth.  At the end of the Bible study, one of the members gave each of us a polished rock, similar to the ones in the photo attached.  With it, she gave a note with the attached verse and a message saying that she wanted each of us to have a stone - not only to remember our Bible study experience together, but to also remember how God is always with us and how He always brings us through.

It has been a long time since I have written on this blog.  When I gathered up my favorite blog postings and self-published them in a book a few years ago, I somehow lost my way - my love for writing - my "daily" insights into why I feel/proclaim I am God's Favorite Child.  I don't know, the "pressure" to write after the book just became overwhelming.  While I was humbled and encouraged by the comments of support from readers of the book, I guess I felt that, where before I just wrote from my heart, without really considering who was reading or even the impact of my words on them, now there was an expectation that every blog posting would be deep and profound and spiritual.  Basically, I put ME and my feelings/demands/expectations in front of God's purpose for my life and for this blog.

In the past two years of not writing, a lot has happened.  A LOT.  But through it all, God has been (and always is) faithful to His Favorite Child.  As 2018 approached, I read lots of stories on Instagram (I gave up Facebook in October 2016) about the challenges of 2017 and how people were glad the year was over and how they hoped that 2018 would be better.  Goals they were setting, things they wanted to achieve, plans they were making.  And I realized that the time had come for me to write again.  Not only in my personal journal, but here - in a more public forum.  

So, why the rocks?  The story in the Bible of the children of Israel crossing the River Jordan as they FINALLY entered the Promised Land gives me hope for the coming year.  For 40 years, the children of Israel had been on a journey that many Biblical scholars estimated should have only taken weeks.  FORTY YEARS!!!  That's a long time to be wandering around a desert with your destination in sight, right beyond your grasp.  As they finally gained the victory, as they were finally crossing the River Jordan to enter the land God promised them, their leader, Joshua, made a profound statement.  He told the leaders of each tribe to pick up a stone.  HUH?  Pick up a stone, he said, and when your children ask you "What is the meaning of these stones?", you will tell them the story of how God brought you through the River Jordan on dry land.

There are a lot of spiritual lessons in this story, but here are my favorites:  1) By their very nature, children are inquisitive, but they also have short memories.  Joshua knew that even though some of the children he was thinking about were in the crowd that very day, in time, they would forget the miracle of walking through the middle of the River Jordan on dry land.  The altar made of the stones would prompt their curiosity and they would ask, giving their elders a chance to recall and tell the story of God's glory.  By telling the children, the elders would be reminded.  2)  Memories should have tangible evidence.  Whether you take a picture, record a video, keep the ticket stub or theatre program, pick up a rock - if you don't have something tangible to remember an experience by, you tend to forget about it.  Life gets busy, it's understandable.  We need things we can touch and hold to remember things from the past.  And finally, 3) God is with us - always.  Whether we are approaching our "River Jordan", standing in the midst of it with the waters still swirling around our ankles, or we have reached the other shore and waters are slowly falling back into place - GOD IS THERE - and sometimes, we need to pick up a stone in the midst of our illness, in the midst of our spiritual crisis, in the midst of a loss ... pick up a stone and remember His faithfulness in the past guarantees His faithfulness in the present and the future.

God bless each of us as we embark on the journey we will come to remember as the year 2018.  Be blessed.