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“. . . and Joshua said to them, ‘Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, “What do these stones mean to you?“ then you shall say to them, “Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.” So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”                       Joshua 4:5-7

It is a healthy spiritual discipline to record reminders of important events in our lives which cause us to repeatedly ponder God’s long record of recurrent kindnesses.  Such reminders prompt us to appropriately give thanks to God for His stellar record of faithfulness.   What deliverances do you have in your past that you can celebrate?

“This little bronzed shoe is to remind us,” we tell our children who ask, “of little Eric, who was run over by a car when he was only two.  Our hearts were broken; we thought life had stopped.  God worked so strongly through our friends and church at that time, to help us through the long healing process.”

“Do you remember,” we ask our spouse, “the time when we had no income, no job, and no hope?  But how precious it was to see God help us through those circumstances in such surprising ways!”

“Every time I hear that song play, I think of our despair over our daughter’s period of wandering away from her faith and from us.  It was a dark time for us.  But that pain made God’s gradual leading her back to strong faith so incredibly sweet!”

Much of Jewish life was marked by festivals and feasts to prompt them to remember the long record of God’s goodness and faithfulness.  It repeatedly bolstered their faith, and it offered opportunities for them to teach their children of His trustworthiness.  Each of these reminders make it a little easier to trust God when we are faced with the next fearful thing that comes into our path.