stacking stones

I was 15. We had just left the church I had grown up in a month or two prior and I was visiting my friends at a youth group event there.

Oh, I was really, really struggling.
I wanted so badly to be a part of this group again…
to stay with these friends…
learn about Jesus in this church…

I remember sharing with one of the leaders, Mama DB, about my struggle.
She didn’t have any answers.
No one could explain to me the WHY… it just was, and I had to live with it.
But, Mama DB gave me something I will never, ever forget.

She pointed me to truth.

She didn’t give me a Bible verse to tuck into my pocket.
She didn’t tell me I needed to ‘just trust’.

She told me that I needed to journal.
We aren’t talking, ‘Dear Diary’ kind of journaling.
She made sure to point out my need to dive deep into scripture… to envelope myself every single day in God’s Word, in His story… and then write a prayer to Him.

I couldn’t start fast enough.
Finally, I felt like I had a tool… something to do other than just question what was going on around me.

The next night, I stayed up late in my bed writing in my journal.
I started in Psalm 1.
I wasn’t too sure what to write, so I simply copied the passage… and then my prayer just flowed.

Every night for the next 5 years I would spend time reading my Bible and responding in prayer in my journal. My prayers became a story of God’s redemptive work in my heart… in my attitude… in my life.

Every milestone during that time in my life was documented
every heart cry written
like stones stacked one on top of another.

When I faced struggles, I could refer back to these pages and see over and over again how the Lord met me at every single cross-road. He was faithful before… He would be faithful again.

Journaling… Sharing…
It’s all about the story God is writing in our lives…
How He is using me.
You.
Using US to tell His amazing story of redemptive grace.

The Israelites were told to stack stones as a memorial of what God had done at that place. Then, when their children would ask what the stones were there for, an opportunity was opened to share God’s faithfulness.

“So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:7b

Since having children, I have come again to the realization that I need to journal again. It might not look the same as it did all those years ago. It might look a bit like this blog. It might look a bit like sharing stories with my children. However it looks, it is imperative that I stack stones for my own memory and for everyone to see.

But, if we don’t slow down… the opportunity will be lost. We will forget. If we don’t slow down we will miss it – and we will stop telling our stories… His stories.

I want my children to ask about the story of how we got our home. I want to remember and recall to share with them the ugly… and the blessing of the beautiful.

I want my children to ask about their baby brother or sister that is in heaven… so I can share with them what I learned about getting through life’s struggles when we don’t understand the why.

I want to slow down and remember. To share the story of God working in our lives… to share the ugly, the beautiful.

Then be able to stand back and see a tower of stones stacked as a reminder of the power of my God and His faithfulness to His children. To me.

What is in your stack of stones?