Remember

Well, I'd say 2012 hasn't exactly gone according to plan for our family. :)

For those who followed Anna's story, you certainly know what I am talking about.  Then, just as things began to settle down for her out in California, we heard news from Georgia.  Our three-year-old niece had pulled a chair over to the stove to help cook dinner just as my sister-in-law, Rebecca, had turned her back.  Let's just say, a gas stove and clothing don't mix well.  2nd degree to deep 2nd degree burns all over the left side of her sweet little body.  From her hip, all the way to her armpit.  Here's a news clip of our niece and nephew that literally circulated around the world this week:



         


I'd say we were the lucky ones of the bunch with *only* one trip to the ER this week with a two-year-old and her dislocated elbow.  Popped it right back in. :)

Yup, it's been one of those months.  And yet, through it all, God has remained faithful to our family.  In each circumstance, He has shown that He alone is God and that we CAN trust Him, even when things don't go according to plan.  The past couple weeks have been hard for our family as a whole. Yet, through it all, we have found ourselves surprisingly encouraged by our trials.  Sensing that something greater is happening that we don't yet see.   My sister-in-law posted this quote that she had read that same day that her baby girl ended up in a burn unit in Atlanta:


"Try to view each day as an adventure, carefully planned out by your guide.Thank me for this day of life, recognizing that it is a precious, unrepeatable gift. Trust that I am with you each moment, whether you sense my presence or not. A thankful, trusting attitude helps you to see events in your life from my perspective.  

A life lived close to me will never be dull or predictable. Expect each day to contain surprises! Resist your tendency to search for the easiest route through the day. Be willing to follow wherever I lead. No matter how steep or treacherous the path before you, the safest place to be is by my side."

                                                                  ~Excerpt taken from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young


I talked a little in my last post about not wanting to forget what God has done over the past few weeks. 


His faithfulness. 
His mercies. 
His unfailing love. 


But isn't that what we do so often?  Turn back to what is comfortable?  Life as normal?  I know that is certainly my tendency.

"Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children

and to their children after them."

~Deuteronomy 4:9

A few years back, I decided I did NOT want to forget the things God had done in my life.  In the book of Joshua, after the whole nation of Israel had finished crossing the Jordan River, the Lord told them to gather twelve stones from the middle of the river.  Then God told them:

"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 4:6-7

 

The memorial was to be a constant reminder of what God had done for them.  Their children would see the stones, hear the story, and learn of our great God.  Enter my stones of rememberance:

Every time the Lord has taught me a lesson, impressed a verse on my heart, or allowed a miracle to unfold before my very eyes, I added a rock to my collection.  Lest we forget or go back to the comforts of an ordinary life lived out in the flesh.  Check out my newest stone:

So, I invite you to mark out a place in your home as a memorial to our God.  A rememberance of sorts of all that He has done in YOUR life. Over and over throughout scripture, God reminds His people of how far He has brought them. 

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

~Exodus 20:2

He didn't do this to pat himself on the back, but to remind His people of how far they had come.  Why?  Because it's too easy to forget His goodness.  It's too easy to look at our current circumstance and wonder where God is in the midst of chaos.  Won't you join me in remembering? 

As we enter through the doors of 2012, my prayer is that we would........that I would.........

REMEMBER.

Kirsten